I remember back in the 1960s Steve Allen had this TV show where all these historical figures would sit down at a table and talk to each other. Leonardo di Vinci asked for a pen and someone handed him a ballpoint. He was impressed.
Then, I panicked. I would not know how to make the ball, the ink, the plastic case! I could not tell medievals how to make anything as good as their quills.
That’s funny! 😂 Crazy to think about, isn’t it, when you break everything out into its constituent parts and consider what goes into making each one? I think the Industrial Revolution did us all in with mass machine-produced goods. None of us knows what goes into making so many things anymore. Thanks for reading and the comment!
Oops. Now I have to figure out just how long ago Steve Allen's show was. I think it was entirely scripted, but the actors were excellent. I am also reminded of The Atlantic series, years ago, where real, unexpected historical figures met each other.
I guess my fear was if I was sent back in a time machine, I couldn't really tell anyone something to improve their lives. Now older, I feel the same way for less "technical" reasons.
Alas, the show, Meeting of Minds, played from 1977 to 1981 on PBS, not in the 60s. I forgot that Steve Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows, played many of the female roles.
I broke my arm at 7. I would not have made it to adulthood in any other time period. Nor would 3/5 of us. Not to sound harsh, but modern society allows a lot of people to exist who, by historical standards, shouldn’t.
whenever I've heard this argument made with the word "shouldn't" it always sounds a little eugenics-y—I think what you're talking about is the case for all societies and their corresponding technological advances at all times throughout history in the Now—so not that one shouldn't exist, but, would've been a lot more painful of an existence ___ years back... also I wouldn't put breaking an arm up there with insurmountable even back in the BCEs! history is full of the addled and maimed survining regularly into old age
we became temporarily so "dumb and helpless" via convenience, as you know, but that's a software issue—it's more fun to think of the opposite, and seek out examples of how the hardware is still there humming away, waiting one almost gets the sense to be tested, and how there are countless Daves and Lindas of the amazon ordering, paper towel requiring, Zara shopping, Tiktok hypnotized ilk (etc.) getting lost on a hike, or cruise ship tipping over, or Groupon spelunking gone wronging, and "somehow" (answer: instinct, hundreds of thousands of years of it) managing to survive conditions that, sitting in their McMansion, or average, or even tiny ;) home a week prior they would've said "No Way I Could've ______'d _____!".
P.S. Adam Curtis's work provides a sense of how the old world of brutal exploitation, slaving, subjugation vs. the new world where that seems barbaric—is indeed the same exact world, and that the difference is that we in the west are ***literally hypnotized*** by modern media to where it's "impossible to see" the exploitation that enables our modern lives, even those that are off grid still inescapably linked to horrors we think are reserved for the past but are a mere flight away if we could have unadulterated, unhypnotized, access to such Spaces—one recalls influencers being corralled around "a" "Shien" "factory" a few years ago
P.S.S. jk, rambling over, I think about this a lot too lol
also whenever I think of vikings I think of the Paul Cooper "Fall of Civilizations" episode about the Greenland vikings (epi 2?) and what that boat voyage was like after googling what kind of boats they were in, whew... now those may be composed of a diff hardware entirely :P
And war! Dan Carlin in an episode of HH was talking about how an army started walking back when winter came away from a battle they assumed would resume the following spring, only to be pursued and routed by the more creative foe hah
Thanks for these thoughts. Yes, I agree with your first line, as you see in the piece where I mention our "disposable" lifestyle in the past 75 years. I do think the hardware is still there in many ways, as it's biology. I was just saying to my husband yesterday that one thing I think often about people is that they are much stronger than they often either know or give themselves credit for.
The only Curtis thing I have seen/read is the documentary "Hypernormalisation," which I enjoyed mostly because I'm a historian, so his "how did we get here from there?" approach appeals to me. Especially so in this time when history is not known to what seems like very large swaths of the population.
The confidence and security that come from preparedness are priceless. The more who discover the wisdom of self-reliance, the better off we will be as a people. Well done!
I've been talking to my family about these things, especially my grandchildren, who were born into Amazon Prime Time. I live on a farm (not mine) and am preparing to learn how to keep chickens and bees. I've been looking around at our ready resoueces here (running water, a tilled garden, a huge deer herd, two large meadows) and making plans. The b scariest thing, though, is how helpless we've let ourselves become. Thank you for talking about this!!
Thanks Susan! Sounds like you have more of a head start than many people. We've not kept chickens, but we have done bees off and on for several years. We have enough honey at this point to last us for the rest of our lives :) Unbelievably amazing creatures!!!
It’d need a bit of set-up, but one thing that a lot of places in Norway have for keeping their heating going is a windmill that stirs the water tank, so it adds just enough energy to make up for what the house loses to the outside
Interesting! Both hydro and wind power :) Yeah, I firmly believe that if we didn't have so many "labor-saving devices" that we'd get pretty darn creative pretty fast like that practice in Norway you mention. As the phrase goes, "necessity is the mother of invention."
Supposedly they came about during the oil price spike in the seventies, when it suddenly became ruinously expensive to run a normal boiler. Like you say, necessity.
I remember back in the 1960s Steve Allen had this TV show where all these historical figures would sit down at a table and talk to each other. Leonardo di Vinci asked for a pen and someone handed him a ballpoint. He was impressed.
Then, I panicked. I would not know how to make the ball, the ink, the plastic case! I could not tell medievals how to make anything as good as their quills.
That’s funny! 😂 Crazy to think about, isn’t it, when you break everything out into its constituent parts and consider what goes into making each one? I think the Industrial Revolution did us all in with mass machine-produced goods. None of us knows what goes into making so many things anymore. Thanks for reading and the comment!
Oops. Now I have to figure out just how long ago Steve Allen's show was. I think it was entirely scripted, but the actors were excellent. I am also reminded of The Atlantic series, years ago, where real, unexpected historical figures met each other.
I guess my fear was if I was sent back in a time machine, I couldn't really tell anyone something to improve their lives. Now older, I feel the same way for less "technical" reasons.
I loved that show!!
Alas, the show, Meeting of Minds, played from 1977 to 1981 on PBS, not in the 60s. I forgot that Steve Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows, played many of the female roles.
I broke my arm at 7. I would not have made it to adulthood in any other time period. Nor would 3/5 of us. Not to sound harsh, but modern society allows a lot of people to exist who, by historical standards, shouldn’t.
whenever I've heard this argument made with the word "shouldn't" it always sounds a little eugenics-y—I think what you're talking about is the case for all societies and their corresponding technological advances at all times throughout history in the Now—so not that one shouldn't exist, but, would've been a lot more painful of an existence ___ years back... also I wouldn't put breaking an arm up there with insurmountable even back in the BCEs! history is full of the addled and maimed survining regularly into old age
we became temporarily so "dumb and helpless" via convenience, as you know, but that's a software issue—it's more fun to think of the opposite, and seek out examples of how the hardware is still there humming away, waiting one almost gets the sense to be tested, and how there are countless Daves and Lindas of the amazon ordering, paper towel requiring, Zara shopping, Tiktok hypnotized ilk (etc.) getting lost on a hike, or cruise ship tipping over, or Groupon spelunking gone wronging, and "somehow" (answer: instinct, hundreds of thousands of years of it) managing to survive conditions that, sitting in their McMansion, or average, or even tiny ;) home a week prior they would've said "No Way I Could've ______'d _____!".
P.S. Adam Curtis's work provides a sense of how the old world of brutal exploitation, slaving, subjugation vs. the new world where that seems barbaric—is indeed the same exact world, and that the difference is that we in the west are ***literally hypnotized*** by modern media to where it's "impossible to see" the exploitation that enables our modern lives, even those that are off grid still inescapably linked to horrors we think are reserved for the past but are a mere flight away if we could have unadulterated, unhypnotized, access to such Spaces—one recalls influencers being corralled around "a" "Shien" "factory" a few years ago
P.S.S. jk, rambling over, I think about this a lot too lol
also whenever I think of vikings I think of the Paul Cooper "Fall of Civilizations" episode about the Greenland vikings (epi 2?) and what that boat voyage was like after googling what kind of boats they were in, whew... now those may be composed of a diff hardware entirely :P
Indeed. And now you know why the trading and raiding season (aka, sailing) was often largely done in the summer :)
And war! Dan Carlin in an episode of HH was talking about how an army started walking back when winter came away from a battle they assumed would resume the following spring, only to be pursued and routed by the more creative foe hah
Thanks for these thoughts. Yes, I agree with your first line, as you see in the piece where I mention our "disposable" lifestyle in the past 75 years. I do think the hardware is still there in many ways, as it's biology. I was just saying to my husband yesterday that one thing I think often about people is that they are much stronger than they often either know or give themselves credit for.
The only Curtis thing I have seen/read is the documentary "Hypernormalisation," which I enjoyed mostly because I'm a historian, so his "how did we get here from there?" approach appeals to me. Especially so in this time when history is not known to what seems like very large swaths of the population.
ah yes my first exposure to his œuvre as well, all of which is on youtube by the way! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25q3it0rDs&list=PLtsknc8NVnKMWXbxbm5STDuaBoxrYEtjk&ab_channel=AdamCurtisDocumentaries
a recco: I've seen bitter lake over 20 times which deals with history of afghanistan and it being the "graveyard of empires"
The confidence and security that come from preparedness are priceless. The more who discover the wisdom of self-reliance, the better off we will be as a people. Well done!
Yes! Thank you.
Very good post.
Thank you!
I've been talking to my family about these things, especially my grandchildren, who were born into Amazon Prime Time. I live on a farm (not mine) and am preparing to learn how to keep chickens and bees. I've been looking around at our ready resoueces here (running water, a tilled garden, a huge deer herd, two large meadows) and making plans. The b scariest thing, though, is how helpless we've let ourselves become. Thank you for talking about this!!
Thanks Susan! Sounds like you have more of a head start than many people. We've not kept chickens, but we have done bees off and on for several years. We have enough honey at this point to last us for the rest of our lives :) Unbelievably amazing creatures!!!
It’d need a bit of set-up, but one thing that a lot of places in Norway have for keeping their heating going is a windmill that stirs the water tank, so it adds just enough energy to make up for what the house loses to the outside
Interesting! Both hydro and wind power :) Yeah, I firmly believe that if we didn't have so many "labor-saving devices" that we'd get pretty darn creative pretty fast like that practice in Norway you mention. As the phrase goes, "necessity is the mother of invention."
Supposedly they came about during the oil price spike in the seventies, when it suddenly became ruinously expensive to run a normal boiler. Like you say, necessity.
wonderful essay
Grazie mille!