I suppose this is the first real post of Hacker News?
Whenever I study the history of science, I'm always left with a longing for a time machine. Alt-history is fascinating: what level of technology could humanity have achieved today if certain intellectual disasters could be avoided?
A humble request of a time traveler would be to ensure a continuous line of knowledge. Forgotten and rediscovered knowledge are such forces of friction and backsliding. Better communication over larger geographical areas would certainly have helped. It would be like a distributed backup system.
Whenever I study the history of science, I'm always left with a longing for a time machine. Alt-history is fascinating: what level of technology could humanity have achieved today if certain intellectual disasters could be avoided?
A humble request of a time traveler would be to ensure a continuous line of knowledge. Forgotten and rediscovered knowledge are such forces of friction and backsliding. Better communication over larger geographical areas would certainly have helped. It would be like a distributed backup system.