• FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Skip electricity. That doesn’t matter until you can make reliable turbines with copper and magnets. Go to steam power first. It can move things. Which will speed up delivery of copper and magnets. But also teach them to plant trees. Every tree removed to smelt and power a steam engine needs to have three more planted. You could start greening the Sahara before umit even starts collapsing. “he sure had this steam thing figured out. I guess we will forgive him for all these useless trees”.

    • ramblechat@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I read they knew about steam power for a long time but couldn’t make the engines / containers / doohickies strong enough to contain the pressure.

    • jarfil@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Go to steam power first. It can move things

      They had steam power over 2000 years ago, they used it in temples and as toys to amuse the rich.

      Slaves could move things, and were much cheaper.

        • jarfil@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          They had no incentive to use it any better.

          Without a printing press, which would increase the levels of literacy, and allow sharing knowledge orders of magnitude faster, there was no indication that a kettle could ever outperform a hundred men or a few dozen horses.

          • LufyCZ@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            It’s a loop - they didn’t use it right, so it sucked, which is why they didn’t try to make it better = they didn’t use it right.

            With the right knowledge, they might’ve just made proper use of it

            • jarfil@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Yeah. But, could a single person break that loop? It seems to me like it would still require centuries.

              • LufyCZ@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                I’d say it depends on the person. I’m sure there are some that would majorly change the course of history and then some that would get killed within an hour