Stone Age

[The Hammer]

(hypothetically) Tomorrow morning the entire planet will be hit by a solar flare from the Sun.

Frying every bit of electronics around the world, and plunging us back into the relative stone age.

Could humanity recover back to the point we are at now, technologically, in this scenario, why or why not?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Could humanity recover back to the point we are at now, technologically, in this scenario, why or why not?

Yes. Eradicating electronics is not the same as eradicating knowledge.

 

[The Hammer]

Yes. Eradicating electronics is not the same as eradicating knowledge.

But we also don't have ready resources available that we can tap into without said resources being abundant.

Mining is all deep and chemical now, nothing on the surface. Same goes for oil and gas.

We've stripped the easy to reach resources, the low hanging fruit that doesn't require advanced scientific methods to extract and process.

Knowledge does nothing without resources.

 

[Tamino]

I'd say... if it would only be a one-time event frying all electronics, recovery would be comparatively easy.
Sure, there would be loss of life, turmoil, crash of economy... but it would not push us all the way into the stone age. There are plenty of people alive right now who have the expertise to craft tools and components from scratch. And a one-time "fry" event would leave enough material and scraps as a base for repairs.

 

[McBell]

(hypothetically) Tomorrow morning the entire planet will be hit by a solar flare from the Sun.

Frying every bit of electronics around the world, and plunging us back into the relative stone age.

Could humanity recover back to the point we are at now, technologically, in this scenario, why or why not?

Are you proposing in your scenario that all electric has been rendered useless permanently?

 

[The Hammer]

Are you proposing in your scenario that all electric has been rendered useless permanently?

That was the assumption. But how am EMP would actually affect things, I do not know. It was merely a thought exercise.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

But we also don't have ready resources available that we can tap into without said resources being abundant.

No timeframe was given.

Rather than focussing on how one might conjure up abundant resources, think in terms of tiny steps focussing on sustaining life and preserving knowledge. Rather than naysaying, tend the vineyard and train the next generation of scribes.

 

[Tamino]

Mining is all deep and chemical now, nothing on the surface. Same goes for oil and gas.

Actually, I know how to find raw iron ore on the surface, (It's still around, it just isn't enoug to warrant industrial-style mining) .
I know how to make charcoal, and how to craft an oven from twigs and clay that is capable of melting the ore into iron.
Yay experimental archaelology and weird hobbies!
My brother trained as a smith. Just the two of us, we could get a smithy going and provide knives and tools.

 

[The Hammer]

Actually, I know how to find raw iron ore on the surface, (It's still around, it just isn't enoug to warrant industrial-style mining) .
I know how to make charcoal, and how to craft an oven from twigs and clay that is capable of melting the ore into iron.
Yay experimental archaelology and weird hobbies!
My brother trained as a smith. Just the two of us, we could get a smithy going and provide knives and tools.

Absolutely, possible. But this seems to agree with the point I stated is there isn't enough to bring society back to the same point. Even if a few individuals have the knowledge how to do so.

Edit: yay not being the only experimental Archaeology fan!! (1 class short of my archaeo degree actually)..

 

[McBell]

That was the assumption.

I fail to see why merely starting over would not work.
Of course, it would not take nearly as long since the knowledge has already been ascertained.

 

[exchemist]

Are you proposing in your scenario that all electric has been rendered useless permanently?

Electronics is very different from everything electrical. A solar flare would not knock out all the electric wiring, lights, motors etc. Presuming it is just the electronics that get knocked out, plus some easily repaired damage to power grids, we just go back to the world in which I grew up. Hardly the Stone Age.

 

[The Hammer]

I fail to see why merely starting over would not work.
Of course, it would not take nearly as long since the knowledge has already been ascertained.

Weve already wasted a **** ton of resources that are easily reachable without said advanced technology. We need chemical strip mining to get even the barest of resources now.

Deep water drilling is required to get enough oil and gas.

 

[Soandso]

Yes. Eradicating electronics is not the same as eradicating knowledge.

Pretty much this ^^^

Mankind's worst technological collapse was the bronze age collapse and bronze age technology didn't stop. I suspect that the worst thing that would happen would be that we may need to rewire or rebuild our electronics to get to the point we are at now, so that might take a few years. People are resourceful, though, so in time we would get to the point we are at now - most likely within our own lifetimes I suspect

Not once in history has technological retrograde happened on a global level that I can think of. Once we enter an age, there's no going back. The worst that can happen is temporary stagnation or a minor technological setback, imo

 

[The Hammer]

Not once in history has technological retrograde happened on a global level that I can think of. Once we enter an age, there's no going back. The worst that can happen is temporary stagnation or a minor technological setback, imo

I disagree with this but get what you are saying.

Nuclear bombs didn't exist until they did either.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Once we enter an age, there's no going back. The worst that can happen is temporary stagnation or a minor technological setback, imo

I think that may be grossly over-optimistic.

 

[Tamino]

Absolutely, possible. But this seems to agree with the point I stated is there isn't enough to bring society back to the same point. Even if a few individuals have the knowledge how to do so.

We would never come to the exact same point - such an event would irrevocably change the course of history. But I am pretty confident that humanity would recover in a relatively short time. As I said: the knowledge is out there, we still have plenty of paper books around, the people who know stuff are still alive even if electronics get fried.
I suspect that we would reach a similar level of technological advance after a while. Don't know... 50, 100 years? And who knows, such an event might even teach us to use more decentralized and sustainable resources.

Edit: yay not being the only experimental Archaeology fan!! (1 class short of my archaeo degree actually)..

Very cool! I don't have a degree, I'm just an amateur. What's your area of expertise?

 

[Soandso]

I disagree with this but get what you are saying.

Nuclear bombs didn't exist until they did either.

Nukes are a bit different than electronics frying solar flares. Nukes cause death, destruction, and disease en masse and in the blink of an eye. When it comes to electronics, we already have materials we can recycle now to make it work

 

[McBell]

Electronics is very different from everything electrical. A solar flare would not knock out all the electric wiring, lights, motors etc. Presuming it is just the electronics that get knocked out, plus some easily repaired damage to power grids, we just go back to the world in which I grew up. Hardly the Stone Age.

it is my understanding that a solar flare from the sun would be basically an EMP pulse.
Like from a nuclear explosion.

Is this correct?
I am asking because I honestly do not know for sure.

 

[The Hammer]

it is my understanding that a solar flare from the sun would be basically an EMP pulse.
Like from a nuclear explosion.

Is this correct?
I am asking because I honestly do not know for sure.

This was my understanding in posing the question as I did.

But my point was more, what happens if tech disappears. The method of how doesn't matter nearly as much to me.

 

[ChristineM]

(hypothetically) Tomorrow morning the entire planet will be hit by a solar flare from the Sun.

Frying every bit of electronics around the world, and plunging us back into the relative stone age.

Could humanity recover back to the point we are at now, technologically, in this scenario, why or why not?

We'd still have the knowledge it would take time but there is no reason we wouldn't recover.