Something that I was talking about with nostr:npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s last night stuck in my head. Most people think that technological progress is a one directional path. We learn new things and move forward, never sliding backwards, never losing knowledge along the way.

But this isn’t true. Just look at the dark ages. Just look at the civilizations of the Maya, or ancient Egyptians. They had advanced mathematics, a deep understanding of the movements of the solar system; and yet, their knowledge was largely forgotten for centuries (and in some cases millennia) after they collapsed.

Just because we have books, and libraries, and the internet doesn’t mean we’re immune either.

The ability to build upon our collective knowledge and apply that knowledge to create a better world around us is a fragile thing.

It requires the ability to freely question, freely discuss, and free transact. It requires openness, humility, and curiosity. All things that are seriously lacking in our world today.

Nostr needs builders to grow. But I believe that Nostr also needs to grow the world’s supply of builders if we want to continue to progress forward, and not tumble backwards into the dark.

#build

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We’re definitely not immune

nostr:note1cduawmug0elqqgxyanwrgggr25h7swrf4wkurg277w4c4ec42r5qcssjdl

Spot on, I agree. It’s always multiway directional and I would like to add friction to the ingredients to be more resilient against the fragile thing you mention.

Totally agree.

Brexit being a very modern example.

This you must explain.

I guess it is a slight odd example but one where healthy progress is being reversed to appease populism.

Can you list the pros and cons of brexit?

No pros, all cons. In fact I believe it was a con.

Thanks. Tells me everything I need to know.

How do we do that?

By continuing to build for and cherish free speech and open, respectful dialog on Nostr.

Just like a well run company or community, Nostr needs to have a culture that reinforces these values. We won't all see eye to eye on things (this is good and healthy) but we can all avoid the attention-addiction trap that centralized social media thrives on.

I think we also need to continue to encourage everyone to contribute and build in their own ways on Nostr.

Being a builder isn't just about writing code, or designing, or being a content creator.

Today, most mainstream historians (even secular ones) eschew the phrase “Dark Ages” as biased and inaccurate. It lives on among the ignorant or those who have a polemical axe to grind against the period. Usually, this axe is ground against the Catholic religion, which is taken to be the cause of all humanity’s woes during the medieval period. But as Catholics, these centuries offer us much to be proud of. The founding of the Order of St. Benedict, which was instrumental in forming the spirituality of the Latin west; inventions such as the mould-board plow, padded chest harness, and water-wheel, which improved the standard of living for millions of Europeans; the stately Romanesque architecture which blossomed into the Gothic cathedrals of the high Middle Ages; the gradual abolition of slavery; the patient translation of texts in monastic libraries all over Europe, ensuring the continued diffusion of knowledge across the continent.

https://catholicexchange.com/the-truth-about-the-dark-ages/

#God

#Deua

#Catholic

#Católicos

#Medieval

#Biblestr

#日本

#カトリック

#Nostr

#Grownostr

are you saying it was just the Renaissance throwing shade?

As if.

It was everything renascence wanted to be but has never achieved.

Johan Norberg captures this fantastically in his book Open: the story of human progress.

The future is not necessarily better than the past. It has been very close that we would have failed. And it was not for lack of trying.

Some formats I have covered his book:

https://getairchat.com/s/NGi1g90X

https://www.petrikajander.com/open-the-story-of-human-progress/

https://www.petrikajander.com/success-through-failure-innovation-and-imitation/

nostr:note1x9rn3zuvxdp35us9m7hk4u9n4tasfdyfe9stwjh7dvjht605yhns4tjp5y

Nice. Thanks for the recommendation

I never really had a strong urge to build before bitcoin. Sure I knew enough about software to get around but I didn’t have the desire to add to the body of knowledge like I do now.

Perhaps as more people are exposed to the community that is Bitcoin and nostr, this will kindle the desire to keep it going at whatever cost, and will motivate people to learn the skills to carry it forward?

Very true. There have been incidences of advanced societies who due to reasons i wont dive into were cut off from the rest of the world, within a few decades their technological progress, knowledge had significantly regressed.

Sometimes I think technological progress is an oxymoron and that new technologies are constantly being created to cover up the problems created by layers of past technologies that were created for the same reason, and yet each new iteration has yet to correct the problem of not being able to accept a reality we cannot actually control in spite of all of our efforts.