Would you have survived in the middle ages?
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Would you have survived in the middle ages?
1–10 of 36 posts
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#2This was my favorite kottke.org post from last year,
"I wanted to ask for survival tips in case I am unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else. Any advice would help."
http://kottke.org/08/06/survival-tips-for-the-middle-ages
Jason even opened it up for comments.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#3This was my favorite kottke.org post from last year, "I wanted to ask for survival tips in case I am unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else. Any advice would help." http://kottke.org/08/06/survival-tips-…
Great post. It was also discussed here. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=418516
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#4Brings up the point of our continued evolution towards weaker bodies - the more cures we have for asthma, children's diabetes, etc., the more the people that have those ailments reproduce, and the more people there are with those ailments.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#5Brings up the point of our continued evolution towards weaker bodies - the more cures we have for asthma, children's diabetes, etc., the more the people that have those ailments reproduce, and the more people there are with those ailments.
And the contrary point: we are likely to find fixes for genetic diseases, halting the deterioration there.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#6Brings up the point of our continued evolution towards weaker bodies - the more cures we have for asthma, children's diabetes, etc., the more the people that have those ailments reproduce, and the more people there are with those ailments.
Actually humanity is not really part anymore of the "survival of the fittest" or evolutionary cycle. We are actively changing ourselves and starting, in laboratories at least, to modify genetics. Won't take long before parents can "modify" their children to be smarter, healthier, etc.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#7Brings up the point of our continued evolution towards weaker bodies - the more cures we have for asthma, children's diabetes, etc., the more the people that have those ailments reproduce, and the more people there are with those ailments.
I wouldn't worry too much about this. Scientific/technological progress is one of the fastest things out there; evolution is one of the slowest. In other words, our ability to treat disease is greatly outstripping any theoretical effects of these treatments on human evolution.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#8This was my favorite kottke.org post from last year, "I wanted to ask for survival tips in case I am unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else. Any advice would help." http://kottke.org/08/06/survival-tips-…
In reading the Kottke thread for about 30 mins (it rules), I just had this thought: What if Michaelangelo (or some other prolific inventors) weren't that special. What if they were simply average Joe's like you and me that were transported back in time. They used their basic knowledge of stuff around them to "invent" things.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#9Brings up the point of our continued evolution towards weaker bodies - the more cures we have for asthma, children's diabetes, etc., the more the people that have those ailments reproduce, and the more people there are with those ailments.
And the contrary point: we are likely to find fixes for genetic diseases, halting the deterioration there.
And another point - how much would remain of an original nature-made human after that. So far, every optimization/fix we made to our body's protective system led to a more serious illness that would avoid the invented cure. I'm afraid fixes on gene level would open the door to the new kind of threat, it's a race we can't win.
BTW, site shows http 403.
Re: Would you have survived in the middle ages?
#10This was my favorite kottke.org post from last year, "I wanted to ask for survival tips in case I am unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else. Any advice would help." http://kottke.org/08/06/survival-tips-…
In reading the Kottke thread for about 30 mins (it rules), I just had this thought: What if Michaelangelo (or some other prolific inventors) weren't that special. What if they were simply average Joe's like you and me that were transported back in time. They used their basic knowledge of stuff around them to "invent" things.
assuming that could be true, we get the paradox of "who actually did invent this things, then?" :)