ralphpnj wrote: > So gee how is that the Egyptians managed to build those pyramids? There > is an overwhelming bias in today's world that mankind lived in the dark > ages until Steve Jobs appeared on earth to save us mere mortals (I'm > exaggerating :)). Seriously there is a strong bias in favor of "modern" > science which only serves to discredit the very real scientific > achievements and discoveries that were made and that were well known > prior to The Dark Ages. For example the concept of logarithms was well > known hundreds of years ago > (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithm#History). > > In particular this bias runs strongly in favor of electronics and > computer science and against what I would Newtonian science, i.e. the > everyday physical world. Of course my feelings on this issue are also > very biased by the fact that I am a mechanical engineer. Funny thing is > when one needs to dig a hole a simply shovel works a whole lot better > than an iPhone app. > > I'm not trying to be a Luddite but only to point out that much of the > foundation for today's modern marvels was laid many, many years ago.
We actually agree. Perhaps I was unclear. I'll try again. Science is a method that has to be learned. In general people can actually plan things and that must be one of our few advanteges on this harsh earth. But some individuals have always been really good at that they are genetically equipped with a sizable working memory, greater than the average. It can also be trained. It enables deeper, more abstract thinking, which is needed to think logically, plan ahead etc. Everybody can't just mimic each other, nothing new would ever be invented. We have made a great many inventions over the time, not just fire and baking, which may have been found out in the wild and mimiced. Also very important ideas like money, credit, insurance etc, that are not found in nature. Not to mention hunting methods, building methods and materials etc. Our forefathers may not have used the precise scientific method, but they could think. However, at some point in time we might have reached a critical mass, where the average intelligence enabled us to make our living conditions significally better? It could perhaps happen because people started living in larger communities. (If you live in a tribe and meet 50 people in a lifetime, your brain might not get as much impressions, and therefore training, as if you live in NYC.) Best Regards, Gandhi not often enough well recorded and mastered cds *|* dbpoweramp with accuraterip *|* flac *|* fanless asrock z77e-itx intel i5-3570t *|* ubuntu 12.04.1 lts 32-bit *|* lms 7.8.0 *|* brutefirdrc 3.0 (rewv5) *|* transporter (balanced out) *|* thule ia252b *|* audio physic scorpio *|* no fancy cables. *+* also some booms. *+* harmony 525s for them all, including waking the server from s3. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gandhi's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=58909 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=103842 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
