• Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    There’s a lot of things like that where some technology or other is really, really, really old, but they didn’t have the right combination of materials, worksmanship, and material needs for it to take off like it did at some other place or time in history. Like everyone in the Americas knowing how wheels and axles work, but not bothering with carts because they weren’t useful enough when they didn’t have large draft animals to pull them, along with like the Inca having roads that go straight up and down mountains that were navigable for people on foot and llamas, but would never accomodate horses. Meanwhile they were making fiber bridges far in excess of anything seen in Europe because of those same mountains.

    • 7bicycles [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      it’s insane that the bicycle was invented like a solid 10 years after the goddamn train, even going by the original model by drais which was more of a balance bike. It’s basically the wheels and a plank between them, I feel like anywhere after the invention of the cart you could’ve gotten there

    • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      There’s a lot of things like that where some technology or other is really, really, really old, but they didn’t have the right combination of materials, worksmanship, and material needs for it to take off like it did at some other place or time in history.

      Haha, like fusion! :deeper-sadness: