Ancient lost technologies

>>403252
They built all this shit, then realised that slavery and a need for employment for the poor who made up 99% of society made them all utterly useless. They never got out of prototype stages in most cases.

> I mean what do people in the 350 BC need a battery for
gilding and galvanizing. they propably didn't have any idea that same process produced electricity too.

>>403252

>implying it's actually a battery and not a storage jar for scrolls

This is what historians mean when they say archaeologists find something wierd and declare it to the world without further analysis.

greek fire. i know we now have shit that's pretty similar or in some cases even better but no one knows exactly how greek fire was made

>>403345
It was probably some petroleum derivative.

>>403252
The technological level of the past is often understimated (just as scientific progress is understimated by most economists).
Tbf I think it's better off this way, overstimating is not really scientific

>>403252
>Baghdad Battery
>Believing in this bullshit

Retard

>>403284

they didnt realize tho, the general spirit and logic of the age realized it for them, as these things generaly go

most likely they lacked even the conceptual tools to adequately understand what the thing is and so what it could do, at best they would have attached some set of metaphysical and occult meanings to it and keep it is some temple as a material demonstration of some great mystery

>>403252

the antikythera was used to calculate horoscopes tho

so... i mean, obviously there was something radicaly different in how those people thought and so also in why and how they developed and used technology

for example the first uses of steam powered technology were accoplished with technology and sophistication that is as crude as a midieval plough compared to antikythera machine, but, it effectively helped mine coal faster while reducing cost

so... you get the gist

I find it funny how they invented the steam engine and used it only for magic tricks.

>>403549

they would have weaponised the things eventualy, if the situation got so desperate, human brains are always good at figuring out something can hurt and kill and is therefore very very usefull, but during that period it never came to that, greek fire and basic mechanics was the top of what was needed

>>403326
Underrated reply.