Would you have any idea on how to preserve food if you didn’t have a fridge?
I could use a freezer:) Jk, not entirely no, but I’m aware of other methods, given a bit of time I could probably learn how to pickle or salt and jar food properly provided I could visit the library. I understand the key problem is harmful bacteria so refrigeration extends the lifespan of food by slowing down bacterial reproduction and airtight containers prevent new bacteria coming in.
Then depending on specifics there’s always vacuum-sealing and shrink-wrapping machines. If in this hypothetical collapse we still have knowledge and some way to generate electricity, and I wasn’t in a crazy rush, I’d probably build a fridge. I understand the basic principle behind refrigeration.
Would you have any idea on even how to get food if you didn’t have a grocery store nearby?
Yeah? If there’s like societal collapse or something and there’s not just food banks set up by the military or some such I’d go look for warehouses, I know I have the nation’s biggest Amazon warehouse just a few blocks down from me. If not an option, generally I’d hunt animals because on my own I don’t really stand a chance at agriculture, the large lead time won’t help, I don’t know how to hunt, but I’m sure by visiting the library I could learn how to craft a primitive spear with a knife and a sharp stick. Then long-term I’d move towards a saltwater body of water and fish.
How would you organize a party with your friends without a phone?
I’d use a computer ))))
Jk, I could write them a letter, or visit them in person. I don’t know all their addresses by heart, but I could ask others who do, or simply wander about the general area and knock on doors until I find them.
If a computer wasn’t tracking your bank balance, how would you keep track of your money?
I would write down my income and outgoings on a piece of paper and just do the math.
Can you multiply 423 by 365 without using a calculator?
Of course. I’m awful at math so I’ll probably mess it up, but you write down the nominator over the denominator and you multiply each of the top digits by each of the bottom digits, carry any extra to the next more significant digit and sum the results.
If I did it a few times, I could probably nail the correct result.
If all else fails and this is absolutely needed I could go get spare parts and build a full-adder circuit. Heck tbqh in the long term if all my basic needs were met, I could probably deep dive into a book and build a computer, especially if we’re basically talking only programmatic calculation, given 7-8 months it’s not hard, maybe much less if I can use logic gates instead of ICs. If I can use OCs and have plastic and some metal bits lying around making a breadboard shouldn’t be too hard. It won’t host the cloud or do your laundry, but it’ll do your math pretty accurately.
My point isn’t to show off, my point is that we (humanity) hedge our bets. There’s one thing we haven’t outsourced and it’s our thinking. I used to be vehemently pro-AI, but it worries me that people are outsourcing their very thought to AI.
The brain is very expensive evolutionary, and I for one, love having one, you use it or you lose it is the motto for the body, brain included, and I take great care to force myself to think on my own and understand things in as much depth as is reasonable.
Once you forget how to think and solve problems because another faux-brain does it for you, it’s all over, and there’s no going back. Don’t do that y’all.
Krudler@lemmy.world 2 days ago
You’re actually making a good point that I don’t wholesale disagree with.
But the last paragraph really set me off I guess.
Personally I believe it’s important to have a somewhat granular understanding of the things we use every day, otherwise we risk becoming a slave to them.
None of us can go through life believing that it’s okay to have no skills and no ability to do anything because there’s an easier solution there for us
Because something is going to happen at some point that will take that easy solution away and then you’re fucked. What happens when all you have is a paper map, but all you’ve done is rely on these cool glowing boxes to tell you which direction to walk? You’re out in the bush with a wet phone and you sit down to cry… Because you’ve made yourself a slave and you have no idea what to do now.
I’m 50 now, and I don’t want to talk like an old man, but I can see that young people have no ability to manage their lives or do anything. There’s always a free ad supported app to do it, and then when the internet goes down they are doomed.
If you drive a car, you need to know how to change a tire and put gas in it. If you have a fridge to preserve food, yeah, you probably should understand how and why it preserves food and what to do if power goes down for a day. You should probably further understand how to preserve and ferment things because at many points in your life you’re going to get a lot of ingredients that are going to go to waste and you can eat them if you know what you’re doing.
Overall I cannot go for your advocacy of self-imposed helplessness. Every time you take an easy answer, you actually screw yourself. Most of the time it’s better to take the long road and do the hard work and figure out how to be a capable human being.
capuccino@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Great answer, sir. Thank you
BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
You’re not wrong, but also you aren’t right. The basics that you need should be taught to you by your parents and at school before you move out. AI isn’t interfering with either of those at this point.
You couldn’t manage your life in the event of every possible problem either, the question then becomes which things should you know how to do yourself, and which things can be delegated.
I don’t know how to repair a car beyond changing a tire or the oil, but even that isn’t really necessary anymore since many cars don’t even come with a spare at this point and knowing how to change the oil is now irrelevant to me, since I’m using an EV.
Knowing how to ferment for preservation may come in handy for saving a couple of dollars, but it’s hardly a life saving skill anymore. Even in the event of a massive catastrophe, it’s unlikely that fermentation would come in handy before aid arrived or you were able to leave the area.
Krudler@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Your response is actually baffling to me.
I’m not sure why you think parents are there to serve you every piece of knowledge.
You’re an autonomous human being and you’d better learn how to learn on your own if you want to have a happy life.
As you get older you’re going to realize that nobody is going to spoon to serve you free knowledge … That’s something that is hard fought, absolutely not a gift from parents or anything else. You have to do the work.
BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
You think it’s a kids job to learn how to become an adult themselves? What the fuck
I’m 40, with my own kids. I’ve been teaching them everything I think they should know how to do to be an adult when they move out. How to cook and clean, make a budget, fill out forms, how to show up on time, be part of a team, etc. The school is taking care of most of the academics, but I add some extra things that the school fails to cover as extensively as I’d like such as how to properly use Microsoft Excel.
What they do to grow once they’re out of the house isn’t my problem, I’m just setting the foundation and that absolutely is the job of parents and teachers.