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What would your contribution be for a book put together to restart a a civilization? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by qyron@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

146 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The title is a bit over dramatic but, per the title, if you could contribute with one piece of knowledge to a book that every single individual should learn from in order to kickstart a civilization, what would be yours?

My personal choice would be the process of soap making, from scratch.

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[–] trafguy@midwest.social 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Crafting bows to hunt. Wood selection, shaping, tillering, natural bowstring materials.
Some edible wild plants
Some basic farming knowledge
Some construction/shelter repair techniques
Algebra and concepts of calculus, and why they're useful
How to preserve foods
Basic concepts of electricity's importance and how to make it, but someone would need to explain how to go from raw material to a functional wire, find some rare earth magnets, and figure out how to make LEDs or something else worth using the electricity for.
The scientific method
Concepts of how to engineer/design a solution to a problem
Troubleshooting techniques
Some basic concepts of boat stability and construction
Some concepts of modern psychology
Concepts of critical thinking and rejection of groupthink
Basic physics. Loose explanations of kinematic equations, gravity, friction, pendulums, air resistance, aerodynamics, basic concepts of rocketry and flight/parachutes/gliders
Evaporative cooling? I could describe the concepts of modern air conditioning, but that doesn't seem useful yet.
I could probably work out how a windmill works, how to make a wagon, how to purify water, how to make water-tight storage.
Germ Theory
The Paradox of Tolerance
How pasteurization works
Fermentation, concepts of distillation
Basic oral hygiene? Habits of at least rinsing sugar out of your mouth afterwards, if brushes aren't available.
Use of alcohol and heat as antiseptics. Suggestion to use honey in a pinch
Basic concepts of how magnifying lenses work and why they're important

[–] lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dont forget the basics of antibiotics.

[–] trafguy@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, that would be crucial too. Antibioitics and the risks of antibiotic resistance need to be included. But to create and purify effective antibiotics, you also need to start with the scientific method, then branch into chemistry, biology, etc. Glassware and procedures to minimize contamination would be important to effectively extract helpful ingredients from potentially harmful molds/other sources.

Depending on the starting scenario, it might be possible to skip much of that at first if we had leftover supplies from a prior civilization. If this site is to be believed, it sounds like making penicillin at home is quite a process, but doable if you're able to get the right supplies. I don't see any efficient pathway from here to there if we had to start from zero though.