Homemade CPU

[m35]

I strongly hope this never happens. If we lose our technology (that is, that developed since the industrial revolution), we can never get it back.

Why's that? I think it'd only take a few hundred years to get reasonably close to where we are now, assuming there are at least a few million survivors.

[Owen]

I strongly hope this never happens. If we lose our technology (that is, that developed since the industrial revolution), we can never get it back.

Why's that? I think it'd only take a few hundred years to get reasonably close to where we are now, assuming there are at least a few million survivors.

Because the easily accessible resources were, well, easily accessible. We have mined all the coal, iron, copper and other important resources (those which are relatively easy to work with) that it was possible to mine by hand. If we lose access to the technology which brought about the industrial revolution, we won't have the technology required to make it work again.

[m35]

I strongly hope this never happens. If we lose our technology (that is, that developed since the industrial revolution), we can never get it back.

Why's that? I think it'd only take a few hundred years to get reasonably close to where we are now, assuming there are at least a few million survivors.

Because the easily accessible resources were, well, easily accessible. We have mined all the coal, iron, copper and other important resources (those which are relatively easy to work with) that it was possible to mine by hand. If we lose access to the technology which brought about the industrial revolution, we won't have the technology required to make it work again.

If the US switched entirely to coal power, it would be self-sustainable for at least several hundred years. Not sure about the other resources.

[Love4Boobies]

Well, some of the other resources could be recycled even after. Even if it were impossible for some reason, I'm sure people would prove creative enough, given enough time. But food would still be a huge problem for a while---it would almost certainly take a lot longer than a few hundred years to get where we are now.