Losing Knowledge, Then Trying To Regain It When Surrounded By Motorboats And iPhones

So... This is partly based on an idea of a species reversing through stages I think someone had ages ago... I think it was agreed on. Whoever had that idea, I'm glad you had it, because it made me think ages later, which I find is when I think of a surprising number of things. Basically, when you reach sentience (all stages civilisation onwards), you are capable of reversing through stages, right back to tribal, if your civilisation has a great disaster, which results in the collapse of civilisation. I think you've guessed where I'm going with this (if not, read the title again). I go there anyway. If your civilisation collapses, and all thats left is a few survivors, what happens to the research web?

Now, your first though is probably 'it resets', but actually certain branches would be forgotten faster than others. The calendar would go fairly quickly - the survivors wouldn't be bothered about whether it's bin collection day or not. Maths and writing could go - these need to be taught for a long time before they are fully understood and used, and the survivors wouldn't necessarily want to go into teaching. Sports would stay for a long time, though, because sport is simple and fun... For some. So, that's one problem that arises - Broken research webs.

But they are survivors from a great civilisation, solar panels, wind turbines, etc. would continue to supply energy, enough to provide for a small population, anyway, and so old electronic equipment could continue to be used, allowing computing, electronic cookering, refrigerating, photography, recording, and gaming, which wouldn't be possible originally at that sort of stage.

So, if the last remnants of civilisation, little remaining understanding of maths, writing, or politics can still play angry birds while eating mcdonalds, where does that leave the research web? That's the other reason I made this thread: what happens to the research web when you're living in a world of advanced electronics and a few cars with a bit of petrol still in them with very little understanding of... Well, anything. You don't understand any of it, but if any advancement was made then the guide is all laid out for you.

I say weapons and their researches stay because as civilization regresses, people become more tribal and hostile between each other. This could take place with TOs tagged as weapons and researches that are discovered early on.

Actually, it isn't that hard. The more advanced the branch is, the faster it is forgotten. The bottom few researches would be very hard to lose (I can't just imagine people forgetting how to build walls).
You may still use cars and guns, but you don't know how they work, thus you can't replicate them. On the other hand, simple maths and writing isn't that hard to learn, but is always useful.

Excellent thread. I'm with Keen here- the more advanced something is, the easier it is to forget.

~sciocont wrote:

Excellent thread. I'm with Keen here- the more advanced something is, the easier it is to forget.

QFT
In times of crisis, people have been known to write to keep their sanity. Usually what they recall of the Bible. If most are literate, it'd be very hard to lose that.

Maybe as time goes on, tech objects become a non-renewable resource if that tech is lost. People can still use them, but once they run out of fuel, ammo, power, etc., they are no longer useable unless the technology is rediscovered. This way you don't suddenly forget how to use a gun, but the methods used to make the ammo are forgotten.

Thanks for the feedback, and I agree, but there is one thing I'm not so sure on...

Writing wouldn't be forgotten by the people who know how, but what about the descendants? Teaching writing is actually quite complicated: You'd have to teach them the spelling of every word in the language, or at least most, but there are a lot of words to learn. How many words do you think this forum contains? Probably thousands. Also, there's grammar, and most people are not very good at grammar, so chances are the survivors wouldn't be able to teach grammar very well anyway. Chances are, the semicolon would disappear from grammar, along with square brackets, maybe #, and I wouldn't know where to start with § and ª... What are they, anyway? ...§porebucks?

And I agree with techs becoming non-renewable resources, but what about when the civilisation begins to 'regain knowledge when surrounded by motorboats and iPhones'? They are going to have to research some things again, but when they begin to get to the point where they can make things fairly close to the advanced technology, they'll suddenly get a boost as they crack the mystery of the technology and begin to use it in their own designs, so how would that be in-game? Do they get a decrease in needed time? Do they get researched without the player selecting them? What would happen?

And one final note - vehicles use petrol (most, now, anyway), and when that runs out there is no way to get any more, weapons would run out of ammo, but other things, like computers and phones, just use energy, which can be provided by solar panels and wind turbines. (As long as the disaster didn't destroy them)
So computers could be used, but no luck with candles. Some very basic things would go while very complicated things stay in the races lifestyle. The result - a completely different, and strange, sort of civilisation. And quite alien, which is a good thing for Thrive.
That was a long final note, but at least it'll stay that way. Uteen, under and in.

Writing: Not all languages are as stupid as English, where you need to learn the spelling of every word. Anyways, survivors would probably only learn a very simple version of their language, only to the point where it's understandable. Grammar is an obvious sacrifice.

Regaining knowledge from motorboats and iPhones: Of course, people would attempt to learn how things work by dismantiling them, but until they are advanced enough to understand the basics, it will not bring them any results. I say we allow players to "analyse" higher tech TOs to get a jump in research, but only when all branches used by the TO are discovered.

Computers: Nothing can work infinitely long. Vehicles will run out of fuel, powerplants will fall into disrepair and stop working. A single fault, easy to repair normally, may disable the whole system. It may take years, depending on the structures, but it will happen.

Oh, no! Not the grammar! Anything but that!! D:

That sounds good. I agree with it.
-Waap.