Kharzette
Watcher of Overs
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We will eventually be forced to expand into space or find some way to mine the mantle. I've been designing a survival style game with more realistic details on crafting and as said above there's a huge chain of dependencies.
Alot of processing uses big electrically charged tanks to separate compounds for purification. The anodes on those are always some crazy rare metal. Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Osmium, Iridium etc. Eventually we will run out of that stuff, and then no more making Sodium Hydroxide, which means you can't make Sulfuric Acid, which means you can't make Cyrolite which means you can't make Aluminum.
The byproducts of the above stuff has a whole other chain of dependencies. Detergents, drugs, explosives. Making stuff is complicated.
Would we ever lose the knowledge to make things? I guess it depends on if the internet is lost. You can go on wiki right now and see diagrams and the basics of how to set up a steel mill. The little details that make it all work are probably in old men's heads though.
Youtube videos as well. You can find videos on the Czochralski method for making silicon wafers, and even find people giving lectures on it. Actually doing it though? I think it would take many years of trial and error.
It really is all moot if humankind as a whole is getting more degraded and stupid over time. All the stored knowledge is wasted if you don't have the brain power to make use of it. As earth's population rises you get an occasional genetic glimpse at past glory, but we need engineering to raise the average.
Alot of processing uses big electrically charged tanks to separate compounds for purification. The anodes on those are always some crazy rare metal. Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Osmium, Iridium etc. Eventually we will run out of that stuff, and then no more making Sodium Hydroxide, which means you can't make Sulfuric Acid, which means you can't make Cyrolite which means you can't make Aluminum.
The byproducts of the above stuff has a whole other chain of dependencies. Detergents, drugs, explosives. Making stuff is complicated.
Would we ever lose the knowledge to make things? I guess it depends on if the internet is lost. You can go on wiki right now and see diagrams and the basics of how to set up a steel mill. The little details that make it all work are probably in old men's heads though.
Youtube videos as well. You can find videos on the Czochralski method for making silicon wafers, and even find people giving lectures on it. Actually doing it though? I think it would take many years of trial and error.
It really is all moot if humankind as a whole is getting more degraded and stupid over time. All the stored knowledge is wasted if you don't have the brain power to make use of it. As earth's population rises you get an occasional genetic glimpse at past glory, but we need engineering to raise the average.
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