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500 years ago there were flourishing civilizations in many parts of the world specially Asia and there were tradesmen and tradescraft of all sorts practiced by

500 years ago there were flourishing civilizations in many parts of the world specially Asia and there were tradesmen and tradescraft of all sorts practiced by the population. Those mind boggling buildings and roads did not build by themselves.

ben_w 3y ago
Yes, and 95% of the people in those civilisations were farmers and fishermen. The old buildings, the wonders of the world, are both neat and in many cases big, but I wouldn't call them "mind-boggling"; Now, One World Trade Center in Manhattan, that's mind boggling. Seen it in person, it's of a grand enough scale that my normal distance cues like parallax didn't work and it became like a skybox in a videogame to my perception until I got really close. I think, ironically, all those nice old bits of architecture from c. 1523 kinda prove my point: doing that with 5% of a population roughly 1/10th to 1/20th of todays in size, and one which didn't have power tools and mechanised construction equipment, means you could replicate all those things again by hand, one or two hundred times over and still have half the population be idle.
- tuatoru 3y ago
  The true figure is probably more like 60%. Most of the rest were military types ("aristocracy" at various levels), but there were also millers, potters, masons, wrights (makers), carters, smiths, priests, and so on. (Observe that all of those occupations remain as surnames in use today.)
  - ben_w 3y ago
    I've never heard claims even remotely that low in that era; but even at 50% agriculture and fishing instead of 95%, the world population has grown enough for 10-20 times as much fancy architecture made by hand with half the population idle. And we aren't limited to muscle power and mediocre bricks and mortar these days, which is why we can do fancier architecture than the middle ages ever could.
- la64710 3y ago
  Where do you get the 95% number from? My guess comes from observing closely their culture and the diversity they’re in , but I am curious where your 95% number comes from? BTW it was also common for folks to practice multiple profession at the same time and it was not uncommon for all families to raise a little bit of food or have a few livestock while practicing other occupations.it is still true in many of the rura areas.

ben_w 3y ago

Yes, and 95% of the people in those civilisations were farmers and fishermen. The old buildings, the wonders of the world, are both neat and in many cases big, but I wouldn't call them "mind-boggling"; Now, One World Trade Center in Manhattan, that's mind boggling. Seen it in person, it's of a grand enough scale that my normal distance cues like parallax didn't work and it became like a skybox in a videogame to my perception until I got really close. I think, ironically, all those nice old bits of architecture from c. 1523 kinda prove my point: doing that with 5% of a population roughly 1/10th to 1/20th of todays in size, and one which didn't have power tools and mechanised construction equipment, means you could replicate all those things again by hand, one or two hundred times over and still have half the population be idle.

tuatoru 3y ago
The true figure is probably more like 60%. Most of the rest were military types ("aristocracy" at various levels), but there were also millers, potters, masons, wrights (makers), carters, smiths, priests, and so on. (Observe that all of those occupations remain as surnames in use today.)
- ben_w 3y ago
  I've never heard claims even remotely that low in that era; but even at 50% agriculture and fishing instead of 95%, the world population has grown enough for 10-20 times as much fancy architecture made by hand with half the population idle. And we aren't limited to muscle power and mediocre bricks and mortar these days, which is why we can do fancier architecture than the middle ages ever could.
la64710 3y ago
Where do you get the 95% number from? My guess comes from observing closely their culture and the diversity they’re in , but I am curious where your 95% number comes from? BTW it was also common for folks to practice multiple profession at the same time and it was not uncommon for all families to raise a little bit of food or have a few livestock while practicing other occupations.it is still true in many of the rura areas.