Give up Technology

[Zombie615]

If you had to give technology up right now an go back to the DIY or die way of life. Would you be able too?

 

[ssddx]

of course. i may not want to give up technology but i can live without it.

are we talking rubbing two sticks together and chipping obsidian to make knives basic or just no computers and cell phones?

 

[Zombie615]

We are talking the bare essentials. There is no Walmart down the road to buy your groceries. Lights are non-existent. Anything that includes modern day technology. So basic food stands like you would see in china-town or in the middle eastern countries are okay. Just no electronics making life too luxurious an easy.

 

[ssddx]

honestly thats not so hard a thing to do.

it does typically involve quite a bit of physical labor to be self sufficient however that isnt a bad thing.

also, do not forget that lighting and other such things would still exist. we have oil lanterns and if those arent available then we have candles. both can be made without high technology. heating can be done with wood, cooling with natural caves & springhouses.

its possible to make everything from automated washing machines to grain mills to knitting machines which run on pure mechanical power from wind or water sources. with a little more work its not impossible to work with steam.

just look at the machines available in ancient china. some rival technological concepts we have today.

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now for the average person who is on facebook/twitter 24/7 while mall hopping and calling all their friends it might be a problem.

there are people who dont realize where things come from at the supermarket or simple concepts like how to make fire from nothing. these individuals would be hit the hardest.

while certainly you cannot expect every person to be good at self sufficiency, everyone should have at least a good idea where things come from and how things are made. it also never hurts to know a few self sufficiency (or survival type) skills.

 

[Zombie615]

Yeah that way a life would be so much better if you ask me. No satellites orbiting earth spying on everyone. Thing is if Technology instantly disappeared I'm sure 80% of the American Population would die within 5 years after all the premade resources vanished from store shelves an such.

Ditzy Blonde: "Oh no! I have to walk down the street to speak to my friend?" blows breath,"just shoot me!"

Praise the lord no more facebook! I hate when people ask me if I'll get on facebook to look at a picture an like it or comment. I'm just like god why don't you print them off an make an album. Just because I don't get online an press a damn like button doesn't mean I don't like it.

 

[ssddx]

the thing is... its easy to say "but that would be so much better" until you realize how it would affect the world.

lets just say that some calamity did cause a complete loss of electronics and technology... life wouldnt just revert to olden days. no, instead people with know how would try and survive and those who know nothing will try and steal it. you would need to defend yourself against the masses of those who dont know anything. also chances are that we would eliminate our food sources. people would raid farms and steal everything which means no future production and before you know it there would be mass starvation.

people, when you think about them in terms of masses are not what i would call intelligent. one person alone yes. mobs of people no. mob mentality rules and what is right and wrong does not apply. this also occurs when your life is on the line. people care less about the consequences and more about how to save their own skins.

the trouble is in the sudden change which people cannot cope with not so much the lifestyle.

be careful what you wish for.

 

[aperimachine]

This is really a big problem. Considering that in modern society, people goes farther and farther away from the traditional community life (absolutely not the kind like the community on line), and relies more and more on technology which gives us much more convenience and independence than ever, but also increases our incompetence to the natural existence. As a result, it will be very difficult for us modern man to exist without technology.

For me, it's not that hard, because I grew up in a traditional village, and the traditional rural community is still living there.

 

[Zombie615]

Trust me I'm not saying I'd be doing great without modern technology, cause it truly would suck. Though after awhile I'd find it enjoyable as I love nature an I prefer fresh air vs a new car smell with a Bluetooth radio which comes from a factory that pollutes the air.

Mobs of people? I'd make sure I was far out in the wild somewhere with a nice setup of traps along the way. Besides not everyone is going to be on a rampage. However I know life would not go back to the old days. The consequences of instant technology loss would be catastrophic. Though look on the bright side.... no one would have the power to launch a nuclear weapon (I'd hope)

Some tv shows I watch like River Monsters, I see those little villages. I wonder how rough their life really is. Getting up everyday an fishing an gathering for dinner that night. Might be roughing it but I feel it would be more peaceful. No government looking over my shoulder telling me what I need to do to survive in a society built for their ill-gotten gain.

 

[ssddx]

the trouble is that people panic. stores would be picked clean and after that there would be rampant theft of items. people would live off the stores they have for awhile but once they are gone they will be looking for more. people with guns or arrows will hunt all of the local game and eventually there will be no food to sustain everyone.

humans are one of the few species which will completely hunt an area dry of game animals. there simply isnt enough meat to sustain the large populations we currently have from hunting alone. the higher population areas will have the most problems while lower population areas will be alot better off. instead of focusing on how to sustain their food most people will instead not think about it and keep on hunting. to sustain our current populations we require farms to raise chickens and cows along with plant crops. this wouldnt change even with technology loss however when people get desperate they lose the ability to think rationally and farms will be the first places people storm.

i'm in the tri-state area so population density is really high here and it would be hit very hard. out west there is so much more space between people which makes it easier to be self sufficient.

i really do hate to sound pessimistic.... but i've seen how so called civillized people can act under pressure.

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living in a little fishing villiage such as shown on those tv shows like river monsters is definitely another way of life. things are much simpler and you are right that you have nobody watching over your shoulder. its a harsh life though. if you get sick the chances of you surviving are pretty slim. the same goes for if you get injured. if there are storms or for some reason you are unable to get food you starve. as long as everything is good though i do suppose it is pretty peaceful.

 

[USAFRet]

There's a good 'end of the world' book on this, One Second After.
It goes into many aspects of 'no tech' that people don't think of.

No power = no refrigeration = no insulin = sucks to be a diabetic.
No power = no comms = panic because people do not know what is going on.
Unless you already have your own well-defended farm, food will be a MAJOR issue. You have to 'not starve' until the first crops come in. Your local grocery stores will be emptied quite quickly.

And many, many other issues.

 

[Zombie615]

How about fishing though? I could just fish for my daily food. Might get old after awhile but I could also use the fish I catch to trade for other supplies. Food would become the new gold an I could probably get almost anything with it. So only problem would be trusting someone enough to do an honest trade without them stabbing me in the back an taking their stuff back an running off leaving me too die.

Another plus though is that everyday items would retain real value again. Today people won't hardly even stop on the side of the road at a beef jerky shack because they'd rather go to the store an get that processed crap that cost nearly $3.00. I just don't understand what it is about people eating processed junk. That is another topic altogether though.

 

[ssddx]

do you think that you are the only person who would think about fishing? unless you live next to the ocean chances are that streams and lakes will be fished to extinction. if fishing in the ocean its possible that fish may become scarce around shorelines. as i said earlier... hunting alone is not enough to sustain the huge population of people on this planet. to sustain them we need farm raised livestock and crops.

lets say that we didnt hunt everything to extinction... a country like the usa would probably suffer a 50% or more mortality rate within a few years. after that it might be possible to live off of hunting provided again that we didnt impact the environment to severely.

everyday items would retain value if useful for survival. this is true however doesnt really help unless you fix the whole food/water issues. once past such issues then yes having tools like knives, hammers, rope, etc could be good trading items. although there will always be someone with a gun or other weapon who wants to take everything.