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The British empire's resilient subsea telegraph network

subseacables.blogspot.com

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Re: The British empire's resilient subsea telegraph network

#61
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Made it that much less likely that anyone would withdraw their gold from banks due to the disparity in utility between deposits and cash. Paved the way for the downfall of physical money, and over a century of warfare in the absence of any sort of monetary discipline. Thankfully we now have the necessary tool to fill that vaccuum.

Paper money was well established at this point. When the pound replaced the Spanish silver dollar as the default global currency, it did so with a nascent international banking system where banknotes issued by a certain bank in a certain location could be exchanged by other banks in other locations. Payments were thus often settled in metal rather than being transacted with it.

[deleted]

Re: The British empire's resilient subsea telegraph network

#62

An interesting book on the subject of telegraph networks is The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage [1]. As well as the technical and commercial drivers, it also describes how the telegraph forced people to confront concepts like simultaneity, information being distinct from its physical medium, privacy, early approaches to encryption, etc. A fascinating book. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victorian_Internet

Second this one. I've recommended it before and I'll recommend it again. Read it as a kid and had to grab a physical copy as I couldn't find digital. Well worth the read.

Re: The British empire's resilient subsea telegraph network

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a serious question? Then here’s a serious answer - the difference between employing a 9 year old and a 19 year old for a dangerous job is All the difference in the world .

Did you answer the question? Your answer to "how are they different?" was... "they're different". Children have been working in dangerous environments since the dawn of humanity. Genuinely interested in why you think the industrial revolution and X years old is where we should draw the line.

Because we reach a certain point where it's possible and reasonable to do so.

The ultimate goal of humanity should be UBI and all humans living a content, peaceful life in which they can pursue the things that interest them.

But because of evolutionary behaviours that result in things like capitalism, we'll never reach that goal. I'll say it now: humans are currently biologically incapable of sustaining a true utopia.

Re: The British empire's resilient subsea telegraph network

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you answer the question? Your answer to "how are they different?" was... "they're different". Children have been working in dangerous environments since the dawn of humanity. Genuinely interested in why you think the industrial revolution and X years old is where we should draw the line.

Because we reach a certain point where it's possible and reasonable to do so. The ultimate goal of humanity should be UBI and all humans living a content, peaceful life in which they can pursue the things that interest them. But because of evolutionary behaviours that result in things like capitalism, we'll never reach that goal. I'll say it now: humans are currently biologically incapable of sustaining a true utopia…

I still do not understand how this relates to child labor during the industrial revolution.
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