[Serious] The Post-Technological World.

[Anomalocaris]

Really? Where do lithium batteries come from?

Long before the last lithium battery is made, failing technological civilization would probably have killed or enslaved the technologically less well endowed to get the late remaining supply of lithium.

Before technological civilization collapse, it will first take out the least technologically dependent.

I suspect we are entering the first stages of that now.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Why not just ignore them?

[Anomalocaris]

Ignore who?

---

Societies collapse most likely because it encounters critical problems it lacks either the organization, or the social cohesion and flexibility to implement dynamic solutions.   When critical problem prove intractable, the society tends to externalize the problem.

People who are least dependent on technology are also those who are least able to resist the predations of the technological societies seeking to externalize the problem.  So they become the victims of choice when a frustrated technological civilization unable to solve its own problem cast about formexternal victim to blame.

So I think far from being the most able to weather collapse of technological civilization, those who are least dependent on technology would also be the earliest victims of the collapse of technological civilization.

Technological civilization will not collapse until it has killed most of those who can survive its own collapse.

[The Grand Nudger]

I'd contend that even the dystopian technocrats of the future would have a very good reason to shift exactly which tech and resources their proles depend on..if, for no other reason, than to be able to use more of that supply in shitting on other societies in search of more/what's left.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ignore who?

I was referring to your post above mine.

[Rahn127]

A post tech world will happen when the population drops rapidly due to food & water shortages.

People will be more concerned with surviving and finding their next meal than buying any kind of tech. They will simply steal any existing tech and manufacturers will have no reason to produce tech because no one is buying it.

This will be economic collapse and people returning to farming to provide for their future food needs.

Hunting will become a way of life.

Tech will be something from our distant past told in stories around the campfire.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't think hunting will be as important as farming, simply because we're better at farming. The "all natural" farmers will be at a premium. This will be in countries where lo-techs already do that.

[Yonadav]

I don't think hunting will be as important as farming, simply because we're better at farming. The "all natural" farmers will be at a premium. This will be in countries where lo-techs already do that.

Yeah, hunting can't support that many people. When I lived on the Big Island of Hawaii there were a lot of pot smoking preppers who believed that there was going to be a massive economic collapse that was going to destroy civilization as we know it. Because they smoked so much pot, they were fairly unrealistic about how they were going to survive that event, so they were really lousy preppers. They believed that hunting would supply them with an abundance of meat. The island has an enormous population of feral pigs, which they believed would supply them with endless food. They were not interested in domesticating them, and really seemed to believe that they would just be able to go out and hunt a pig whenever they were hungry. The island is pretty big, but there are a 100,000 people living there. Once a hundred thousand hungry pig hunters hit the bush, the pig population would be reduced really fast.

[Anomalocaris]

I don't think hunting will be as important as farming, simply because we're better at farming. The "all natural" farmers will be at a premium. This will be in countries where lo-techs already do that.

Whether hunting or farming dominates depends on the extent to which population collapses.  

Post technological farming society requires a global population collapse of maybe 90% from its current technological level. Post technological hunting society requires a global population collapse of maybe 99%.

Without widespread post 1900 transportation and irrigation infrastructure, or pesticide and synthetic fertilizer technology, but with still reasonable stable and peaceful social order, farming might support 1 billion people world wide, tops.  Towns can still be numerous, and Cities of up to ~1 million would still be possible, long distance trade can still be voluminous, and reemergence of technological society within a couple of centuries still has a shot.

But hunt might only support a few tens of millions world wide tops.  Periodic gatherings of at most a few thousand people would be the apex of social and economic exchange.  Long distance trade will be for token goods only.  We will be tens of centuries of reemergence of technology as we know it, if at all.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ah, but will technology (as we know it) re-emerge?