> Where are we going to encode the knowledge of how to build or acquire these things, if already having them is a prerequisite for accessing any of our records?

> Where are we going to encode the knowledge of how to build or acquire these things, if already having them is a prerequisite for accessing any of our records? It's not a prerequisite, you can have a smaller batch of knowledge on how to build the tools to access all the knowledge in various other more accessible systems. Besides, you presuppose that just because there is no machine, there is also no knowledge re. how to build a machine and you only have twigs and leaves. That's a false universal assumption, you could just as well be in a situation where you don't have the machine, but you have tools and resources to build it. This is yet another difference to the "the medium is broken and can't be used" situation