7 ms·

The use of the word dependencies in this context is perfect. Untangling the history of technological innovation is an adventure into dependency hell.

moffkalast 4y ago
Hell, even today if a CME or something wipes out our electronics we'll have to go way back to vacuum tubes or even simpler setups to restore our society since most modern electronics need modern electronics to be designed and manufactured.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  You can make something as complicated as a 6502 processor with just electricity for furnaces, motors, and pumps, without using any electronics. You’d have to go back to hand-cut Rubylith for the mask sets. Hand made transistors are no problem, just more expensive.
  - mywittyname 4y ago
    People still do this stuff for fun too. So it's not some lost knowledge. I wouldn't be surprised if some colleges taught this as part of a history of computers course.
OJFord 4y ago
It could be a pretty nice 'coffee table book': a walk through history of inventions, with the dependencies of each one listed (to one or maybe two degrees only of course). You could pick it up anywhere, read forwards; back from something specific (or forward, if you made it a doubly linked list?); or back from whatever 'the end' would be.
- BoxOfRain 4y ago
  It would be interesting to see if there's a way this dependency graph could be captured and saved for future generations in the event of civilisation collapsing. I suspect something like that would rapidly reduce the time it takes for society to rebuild because it wouldn't have to spend energy figuring out what doesn't work all over again as much.
  - I-M-S 4y ago
    Both of you might be interested to check out "How to Invent Everything" [1] - it's even got flowcharts the kind you mention at the end! [2] [1] https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ [2] https://mohamadacma.com/content/images/2022/04/825235c6-665f-41af-8bd5-b2fddab011c7.jpg https://mohamadacma.com/content/images/2022/04/825235c6-665f...
    - BoxOfRain 4y ago
      Cheers for this, looks interesting!
- zehaeva 4y ago
  You might be interested in James Burke's TV Show Connections! Which does this sort of thing for like 8 episodes. Go and learn why you can't have cars without swamp gasses!
  - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    Connections is also a book too!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

moffkalast 4y ago

Hell, even today if a CME or something wipes out our electronics we'll have to go way back to vacuum tubes or even simpler setups to restore our society since most modern electronics need modern electronics to be designed and manufactured.

wrycoder 4y ago
You can make something as complicated as a 6502 processor with just electricity for furnaces, motors, and pumps, without using any electronics. You’d have to go back to hand-cut Rubylith for the mask sets. Hand made transistors are no problem, just more expensive.
- mywittyname 4y ago
  People still do this stuff for fun too. So it's not some lost knowledge. I wouldn't be surprised if some colleges taught this as part of a history of computers course.

OJFord 4y ago

It could be a pretty nice 'coffee table book': a walk through history of inventions, with the dependencies of each one listed (to one or maybe two degrees only of course). You could pick it up anywhere, read forwards; back from something specific (or forward, if you made it a doubly linked list?); or back from whatever 'the end' would be.

BoxOfRain 4y ago
It would be interesting to see if there's a way this dependency graph could be captured and saved for future generations in the event of civilisation collapsing. I suspect something like that would rapidly reduce the time it takes for society to rebuild because it wouldn't have to spend energy figuring out what doesn't work all over again as much.
- I-M-S 4y ago
  Both of you might be interested to check out "How to Invent Everything" [1] - it's even got flowcharts the kind you mention at the end! [2] [1] https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ [2] https://mohamadacma.com/content/images/2022/04/825235c6-665f-41af-8bd5-b2fddab011c7.jpg https://mohamadacma.com/content/images/2022/04/825235c6-665f...
  - BoxOfRain 4y ago
    Cheers for this, looks interesting!
zehaeva 4y ago
You might be interested in James Burke's TV Show Connections! Which does this sort of thing for like 8 episodes. Go and learn why you can't have cars without swamp gasses!
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  Connections is also a book too!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]