kslusherplantman

Maybe the world would be a little different if we gave less weight to sheer numbers

I would be very interested! I can normally out talk people on true survival knowledge/useful knowledge, not all this 'prepping' that is currently the rage. It seems like if the collapse happened, humans would revert to some form of tribal/feudal system, based around some extant level of technology. I see the collapse ending much like the games fallout, just maybe no nuclear war, just the detritus of a once massive society.

I never checked to see what those solvents were, very easy then. Ether is simple to produce assuming you can produce sulfuric acid...

You make a great point on viability. It was much the same at first with insulin for diabetics. The figured how to extract usable insulin from sheep/pig, but you had to have lots of pancreas for decent output. Then they engineered that E. coli and away we went.

True, I mean it more in the sense of just gathering knowledge in a repository, but touche!

I have not but one of my friends did for an advanced mirco class. It is essentially just solvent extraction and purification. The difficult part would probably getting the necessary solvents. But assuming a collapse, I imagine solvents are not high on people's 'rush out and grab what you can' list.

I think that chemistry and physics are of the highest importance to not lose. So much of our current advancement came out of the understanding of those two disciplines.

No joke intended, did you get inspiration from the Foundation series, and should we attempt something similar?

Everything that we have learned is essentially irreplaceable in my eyes, it is a precious resource. Just look what happens in areas after the fall of great societies. Many times knowledge is lost and people regress, and it takes too long to recover. We are still figuring out how the Egyptians made the pyramids so well, and apparently without any of our modern tools.

The knowledge that I have learned to date, JIC something happens: i am a trained horticulturist; have a good understanding of chemistry, geology, and metallurgy; know how to work glass and form base glass from its raw constituents; can build kiln and furnace; know how to make concrete and clays; a passable knowledge of astronomy; the basic physics engines and some of the more complex; learned how to identify and culture penicillium; I am a decent shot with gun or bow; know how to create diesel on the go from crap restaurant oil; know how to make gunpowder;

After the coffee is roasted, how long until it gets to Starbucks to be made for us? I buy freshly roasted coffee, and Starbucks can't meet that quality...