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I wouldn't say fragile. A bit of Roman stuff is still functional today. The pyramids are holding up too. Cathedrals also have a massive stability streak. The st
by 1970-01-01 2y ago
I wouldn't say fragile. A bit of Roman stuff is still functional today. The pyramids are holding up too. Cathedrals also have a massive stability streak. The stuff that has been falling over is mostly brick, steel, and concrete. And that's due to lack of required maintenance. I could even use the opposite word to describe them: strong and solid.
- brookst 2y agoBut isn’t that survivor bias? The Romans built all sorts of things that didn’t last.
- kibwen 2y agoAnd plenty of cathedrals collapsed without proper maintenance, or were destroyed by invaders, or had their stones taken by locals for use in building. All it took was a spark in the wrong place to destroy Notre Dame.
- 1970-01-01 2y agoNot if you actually look. Romans invented a concrete recipe that was lost for a millennium. Their ports were holding together longer than any modern concrete. This Roman concrete recipe was recently rediscovered and has been getting traction again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete#Modern_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete#Modern_use
- eponeponepon 2y agoOn a long enough timescale, all of these things are dust, though. ...basically, label your axes.
- rbanffy 2y agoOr a planetary nebula