Err... you mean on the five year old computer I'm using right now, running with free software, and which I have the skills to strip-down and rebuild with the a box of spare parts I keep to cover any eventuality?vtsnowedin wrote:You do realise that arguing against modern complexity on the Internet with someone on another continent is a bit silly!
Read what I said to begin with about what the real debate should be -- "how to cross-wire the basic biological adaptability of bushcraft with the technological society".
Complexity isn't simply a technological issue, it's also reflected in the human interaction between the physical application and the tool; what's complex within one conception of use isn't necessarily so within another. E.g. a screwdriver is a screwdriver, but if I use it as a chisel it's not necessarily a screwdriver any more (sorry if that's a bit deep). Likewise what is "complex" is only "complex" whilst we don't have control over it's relationship between the tool and wider society -- changing that relationship will also change the dynamic complexity of that relationship.
Whilst we can master that relationship and perpetuate it irrespective of external factors, for as long as practicable, that's sustainability. E.g., if the parts for my old computers become inaccessible because they no longer exist, then in all likelihood that same pattern will be replicated across society (just think of the implication of that scenario... no computer junk left in the world??) -- meaning that the present conception of the Internet/electronic networks won't exist either; it will have changed to reflect a new dynamic equilibrium.
However, that situation is wholly different to the present consumer model of computing where a whole generation of equipment is rendered obsolete each time Micro$oft upgrades its OS (in fact I love it when M$ do that because it means lots more junk for me!), or you don't/can't pay your on-line subscription for your software (which is irrelevant because I use free software).
In the same way, considering the difference between eating a dinner from Sainsbury's and eating a dinner from a hedgerow, what defines the difference between those two states isn't simply the content of the meal, it's the knowledge/skill in the human relationship to the resources involved.
I'm entirely with you on that one!vtsnowedin wrote:If the Internet or the grid goes down I will have more time to weed the carrots in the garden, cut wood by hand if necessary and guard the garden with rifle in hand to intercept the wood chucks and deer that occasionally help them selves to my veggies. That's about a simple as it gets.
