I have long been a devotee of the odd sub-cult surrounding a series of books titled the 1632 universe by Eric Flint et al. I would strongly recommend that all of you go to the Baen book free website and download the book 1632 for enjoyment and/or possible edification. All of the books on the website are free. Some are quite good. Others are....well....books.
Start here
The story in a nutshell is that a small town in W. Virginia gets transported back in time to the thirty years war.
I like it because good and decent folks band together and win. But more important to us is the fact that the knowledge we currently enjoy allows the protagonists to be effective. One of the issues that they speak of all the time is "gearing down" and "downshifting". In my mind, this is what we as a society ought to be discussing. Not whether or not we should keep trying the eternal ponzi scheme of constant upward growth, but rather, what level of technology is appropriate and enough.
I have a sneaking hunch it isn't a microchip on a coffeepot or weekend jaunts on a jetliner.
2 comments:
Ah, yes: wisdom. What do we really need to live happy, healthy lives as compared to what we 'need' now? Good idea to think this one through from 'now til then' rather than be surprised 'then' and found desperately in need of understanding and skills.
Shy
Hmmm..'s-u-r-v-e-r-i-v' is the verifcsation word today. Interesting.
I'll give it a look. It's an interesting premise. I think things will basically go back to ahout 1840 or 1850. There is enough junk arond to make tools and such.
Michael
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