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That's an interesting thought experiment. Any technology that much more advanced than our own would require intermediary technologies before we could replicate

That's an interesting thought experiment. Any technology that much more advanced than our own would require intermediary technologies before we could replicate it. If you took a car back to ancient Rome, they wouldn't be able to replicate it in one step even if they understood it, because you need sufficiently refined fuel, metallurgy, manufacturing precision, etc. The technological baseline needed to rollout any wildly advanced technology would necessarily lead to an incremental advancement before we got to the end result, and each step would be a plausibly "natural" advancement on current technology. There doesn't seem to be any particular place where a bunch of wild advancements are emerging from, which leads to a few likely possibilities: we haven't found alien technology; we have, but it's so advanced that we haven't cracked the surface yet; or we have, and have cracked the surface, and are replicating it, but they're doing a very good job keeping it secret. I don't think it's possible to keep the lid on something that big, and space is so big that I'm very inclined towards the first one.

Sunspark 3y ago
> If you took a car back to ancient Rome, they wouldn't be able to replicate it in one step even if they understood it, because you need sufficiently refined fuel, metallurgy, manufacturing precision, etc. A bicycle is an even better example. It is 100% understandable to a Roman just via looking and touching, but replicating a bicycle in Rome isn't as easy as it looks. The chain alone is a problem.
- avar 3y ago
  Why would the chain be a problem? The Romans could make metal rods, rivets, and some of their finer metalwork is crafted with more precision than any bicycle chain. The real difference is that it would take an army of ancient craftsmen to make one bike. The real distinguishing factor with modernity is mass manufacturing and precision at scale. Even moreso income inequality and competition with slavery. Any roman who could afford a bicycle would rightly think it was rubbish compared to a horse. All this expense just to propel myself around?! The same goes for most modern conveniences. Even the best modern dishwasher is less efficient than a human slave doing the same task, if you're indifferent to the suffering of the slave, as the Romans were.

Sunspark 3y ago

> If you took a car back to ancient Rome, they wouldn't be able to replicate it in one step even if they understood it, because you need sufficiently refined fuel, metallurgy, manufacturing precision, etc. A bicycle is an even better example. It is 100% understandable to a Roman just via looking and touching, but replicating a bicycle in Rome isn't as easy as it looks. The chain alone is a problem.

avar 3y ago
Why would the chain be a problem? The Romans could make metal rods, rivets, and some of their finer metalwork is crafted with more precision than any bicycle chain. The real difference is that it would take an army of ancient craftsmen to make one bike. The real distinguishing factor with modernity is mass manufacturing and precision at scale. Even moreso income inequality and competition with slavery. Any roman who could afford a bicycle would rightly think it was rubbish compared to a horse. All this expense just to propel myself around?! The same goes for most modern conveniences. Even the best modern dishwasher is less efficient than a human slave doing the same task, if you're indifferent to the suffering of the slave, as the Romans were.