When it works, it works, or where's my stuff?

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I've just received orders from the US sent to the UK. Both arrived in slightly under a week. Honestly, I couldn't believe it, and it got me thinking about all the moving parts that had to be in place for that to happen...

It's a thing that's always had something of a fascination for me ever since James Burkes series Connections. Saw it when I was (a lot) younger and it made me appreciate both the history of science and technology and the complexity of the webs of knowledge and experience that have to be in place for a thing to become an equivalent of an 'overnight' star.

The people, the computer systems, robots, trains, planes, automobiles and more than a couple of thousand years of blood sweat toil and tears combined to get me my stuff.

I really do feel genuinely honoured, lucky, privileged to be around now, to live in a world where such things are possible...
 
A very different scenario when after 6 weeks or more you still haven't received the parcel and you have to spend hours on the phone wading through a maze of automated choices only to end up with someone in a call centre in Asia that reads you a script intended to placate your rage. I would be happier "to live in a world where such things" are not necessary to live a happy and fulfilled life.
 
Yes wonderfull and an old story that begunn in Europe with men ridding horses and changing them all circa every 30 km at each post horses trelay from the 1800s. Butt was ruled much before. Rome. South America with their runnners able to run a lot of distance (thanks to some adaptation about altitude, blood and oxygen), Greece (remember Marathon and how cities were exchanging important "royal" letters.

What is amazing is we exchanged protocols and robotisation to go fast and follow it abroad ! Wonderfull 🙂 ! The western silk roads (which profit also to Asia if they have a doubt about western progress that profit to everyone).

When I was a teen I couldn't dream yerr about that, today, wahatever China, japan, Australia, South America, North America... packets are arriving but locaal hassle post thieves !
 
The payment is coming due, and global warming is here, now.
Probably not the place to start a debate on GHGs, but it raises an interesting point. Had it not been for the industrial revolution we'd probably not have a problem with GHGs, but would our lives be better or more secure? IMO emphatically not. So the problem with GHGs could be seen as an inevitable part of the cost of developing those things that we consider to be essential. Like medicines, medical techniques and tools (scanners). Transportation of any kind that's not dependent on animals. Sewer systems that work, proper flush toilets.
 
In extraterestrian books you will read Humanbeings flushed themselves by the rise of water because of flush toiletts. And as they, alliens, are wokised by Foxnews as main terestrian informatioon source, you will also read they succeeded just before extinction to go to Mars cause the toiletts were off and that urged...

But any true serious historian would say you than global warming is coming indeed because toiletts but mainly due to the water cooling back drying system of japaneese toiletts.
 
Could makes me feel more confortable looking at my kids for sure
It's a difficult thing. There's a cemetery I know that has the graves dating back to the 18th & 19th centuries. There are graves where the parents lived into their 60s to 80s and are buried alongside their children who'd died aged less than 10 years old. There's one in particular I remember where all 5 children had died before they reached 15.

This was common across Europe. We have put all that behind us, due almost entirely due to the industrial revolution. It's a two edged sword.

To be clear, I'm not relaxed about climate change any more than I am with industrial pollution.
 
I'm in agreement. Neither do i pretend my pov about it is some kind of truth.
It's just the way the economics/industrial evolved led to some absurdity: eg before Covid no one wanted to have stock of goods.

My bank once told me it wasn't good for my business to stock the ingredients needed for 6 month or so...

As consummer it lead to absurdity with trucks rolling 80% empty because 'they need to keep rolling' for the goods to be availlable next day to end users. Iow the stocks are 'on wheels' to satisfy 'i want it now' childish behavior ( imho).

If we were to accept to 'limit' our waste because of our ( often induced) behaviour it won't be a bad thing in my view.

I'm pretty serious about using wind propelled boats rather than fuel powered one. Some country are in advance (!) about bringing back those old idea ( Netherland first in EU).
 
Well, medecine makes more for the heating than any else industries.

If we are in danger and it costs too much in term of lives and refugies or futur health ...then everyone should stock less children. Max 2 kids. Worldwide rule. If not a massive taxe at the level of what you polute just because your own pleasure to have a big family...or jail directly in relation to the emergency of the crisis.
What you now take is took tovothers and we contracted debts towards futur generations.

All the others solutions but covid are unusefull to solve that.
 
Well idk, it already been tried and applyed with side effects ( population management).

To go back to initial subject, yes logistic takes a huge amount of work and effort to be able to deliver worldwide. Can give vertigo thinkin about it.
I wonder if it is a privilege of our time?
Iirc there was some discovery that exchange between Africa and South America happened with Antic Egyptian. Probably not as easy and fast as ordering online though...
 
Weird i know but afaik tobacco and coca were endemic of south america at that time:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280244757_COCAINE_TABAC_LAMA_L'ENIGME_AMERICAINE_DES_MOMIES_EGYPTIENNES

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Découverte_de_psychotropes_dans_des_momies_égyptiennes

I would not dismiss possibility, after all when i was a kid we thought no one ever crossed Atlantic before Christophe Colomb... beside Groenland takes his name from Vikings and it is now accepted they used to go there.
 
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Certainly external contamination due to manipulators during the exams, imho. Not by chance when they found it : tobaco, cocain and haschich, the drugs were the current ones in the universities and labs aeras... well almost everywhere in the intelectual crowd and white colars !

.... or indeed that is the reason why egyptians saw the human bodies with animal faces : they were stoned; and this could explain very well the pyramids too ! Maybe it is the origins of the word : "stone to death" ?!
 
If we are in danger and it costs too much in term of lives and refugies or futur health ...then everyone should stock less children. Max 2 kids. Worldwide rule.
Doesn't need to be a rule. Just develop economies. stop children dying of curable diseases (like Malaria) and educate women. Job done, birthrate falls because women generally start having children much later and have fewer of them.

Exchange of goods worldwide has been going on for as long as there were nomadic people. When settlements began forming some nomads became traders moving between them. We are constantly amazed at the distances some people and goods have travelled by incredibly primitive means. But we judge them by our standards and never think people would attempt such journeys that were so risky. But they did, by their thousands. Life was cheap and the rewards were great.

For instance, Jade axe heads found in Scotland, made from Jade mined in northern France 6000 years ago. Other minerals have also been found that were mined over 2000 years ago in the Italian alps.

We shouldn't forget that the Romans (what did they ever do for us) transported olive oil in bulk from southern Spain. Transported the people (willingly or not) too.
 
Yes, human being always has exchanged with neighboors. I have a faster illustration for you : we found traces of jewels exchange as old as homo sapiens in Africa in several places comming from a standalone area... The others human species we know as Denisovians or neanderthals also did it. But now all the continents makes virtually only one... so no rat cave anymore is possible for survival niches.

could be too late to wait about the women you are talking about. Can also not see the ligth because of local culture, etcs, tradition, religion, personal taste, retirement systems, life insurances. Also if you develop an economy it is saying than you produce more on a limited ressource world. Looks like a ponzi pyramid as it is happening also in some countries like China where they needs more birth to take care of holds.

See in the worldwide perspective if one is equal to anybody else, some should not make more children than two in a couple. And this is at iso economy development. Unfornatully in a modern country, a "one" is polluting many much more than a "one" in a development country.

The need of customers should not be the paradigm anymore... but noone want to give up selfinesh. Wars and epizootic diseases. CV19 has already changed the life of all the old people that risk life at each street shop corners or family that can plague them when visiting them without maks as is making most of people.

Show must go on, and they prefered to continue than freezing all the world activities during 15 days. It costed much after plus the dead.

the postal confort and the travels than only the richest can affoard is making the "one" unit not equal... then warming is going on until there will no direction to run towards !

Not funny, but does one can hide himself behind one finger yet for his own pleasure and needs... or we can play trump-et still, waiting the end ! It of course increased with the entertainment economy and we know how human bing is liking to pursue his palatability !
 
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