
'Staying longer at home' was key to stone age technology change 60k years ago - dnetesn
https://phys.org/news/2017-10-longer-home-key-stone-age.html
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adrianratnapala
Wait, so the articles says that that around 60k years ago, at this particular
site, people started staying put longer and the artifacts became _less_
sophisticated.

From the headline I thought this was going to shed light on the so-called
"great-leap forward" which is supposed to be about artifacts becoming more
sophisticated (or perhaps just more artistic) at very roughly the same time
period in different parts of the world.

~~~
icc97
Less sophisticated but faster production was what I read:

> The beautiful Howiesons Poort industry with its long, thin blades is
> replaced at 58,000 years ago by a simple technology that could be rapidly
> produced.

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Mikeb85
And there was a technology boom during the agricultural revolution, when
people where able to become completely sedentary. And art/craft booms occurred
when kingdoms were formed and could produce excess food, allowing excess
labour to focus on things other than agricultural production.

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icc97
Makes me wonder what research they'll be doing about us in 58,000 years.

~~~
craftyguy
I suspect something like:

> It is unknown what the vast majority of humans did during this period.

(because all of our facebooks, twitters, hn comments, softwares, etc are not
physically tangible artifacts and will [hopefully] be lost in time)

~~~
gozur88
Every time I buy a new computer I find the old hard disk fits in its entirety
on the new one, leaving me with plenty of space to spare. I think I have four
or five generations nested into the current one.

I suspect storage will remain cheap enough most of these artifacts will
survive, but it's going to be very difficult for future researchers to get a
good idea of what 21st century life was like because the crap to content ratio
is so high. Sorting through all those kitten videos and posts hardly anyone
reads _today_ will probably be more expensive and time consuming than it's
worth.

~~~
mod
Eventually you'll lose your drive, and therefore data if you don't backup.

In 58,000 years none of the data would be intact if not through pretty extreme
efforts to preserve it.

I guess maybe we'll find ways to encode data onto physical media, but I don't
think my facebook (or HN) posts are going to make the cut.

~~~
tryingagainbro
>> _" Eventually you'll lose your drive, and therefore data if you don't
backup."_

True, but someone will come up with a "databank" of sorts. Who knows, we might
backup on DNA or space, as in cosmos.

Is what we type right now escaping in space like TV transmissions? Any physics
major here?

~~~
Retra
Some of it goes into space (if it's transmitted the right way), but most will
be drowned in noise. None of that matters though, since you can't get in front
of the outgoing signal to receive it at a future date. It would have to be
reflected, which would also introduce a large amount of noise.

~~~
tryingagainbro
Thanks makes sense. We see what is coming to us, and maybe nothing will be
reflected considering expansion and all.

BUT it is out there and an advanced civilization might figure it out (not that
they might need it but curiosity)

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failrate
Since I'm working from home this week, perhaps I, too, will make some
significant technological advances!

~~~
surrey-fringe
Please don't post joke comments on HN.

~~~
mikestew
Given that your comment history is primarily an anthology of throwaway one-
liners, I'd go easy on casting those stones.

~~~
surrey-fringe
Did you spend time thinking about me? I like that.

~~~
Shikadi
>Please don't post joke comments on HN.

\- surrey-fringe, 2017

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ghostbrainalpha
This is why I'm always telling my boss I should be allowed to work from home
more.

~~~
QAPereo
It’s probably your tendency to produce flint knapped tools rather than code
though, or your constant fire starting. “Damn it Thag! HR on back! You code,
computer, no flint! No fire!”

~~~
snerbles
Just watch, Thag creates an obsidian package manager that anyone can upload
their arrowheads to - this will truly disrupt the neolithic hunter ecosystem
and break the walled gardens of the gatherers.

~~~
TomK32
Dear Sir/Madam, we at Onk NeoL Patent Tech take much pride in our inventions
and patents. We recently came across one of your products, BLUNT ARROWHEAD,
which we think violates our patent #5, registered with Neolithic Patent
Office. Please send one goat to license our patent, else we will send our
grizzly bear. Best Regards, Onk - CEO Onk NeoL Patent Tech.

