The title is a bit over dramatic but, per the title, if you could contribute with one piece of knowledge to a book that every single individual should learn from in order to kickstart a civilization, what would be yours?

My personal choice would be the process of soap making, from scratch.

  • trafguy@midwest.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago
    • Crafting bows to hunt. Wood selection, shaping, tillering, natural bowstring materials.
    • Some edible wild plants
    • Some basic farming knowledge
    • Some construction/shelter repair techniques
    • Algebra and concepts of calculus, and why they’re useful
    • How to preserve foods
    • Basic concepts of electricity’s importance and how to make it, but someone would need to explain how to go from raw material to a functional wire, find some rare earth magnets, and figure out how to make LEDs or something else worth using the electricity for.
    • The scientific method
    • Concepts of how to engineer/design a solution to a problem
    • Troubleshooting techniques
    • Some basic concepts of boat stability and construction
    • Some concepts of modern psychology
    • Concepts of critical thinking and rejection of groupthink
    • Basic physics. Loose explanations of kinematic equations, gravity, friction, pendulums, air resistance, aerodynamics, basic concepts of rocketry and flight/parachutes/gliders
    • Evaporative cooling? I could describe the concepts of modern air conditioning, but that doesn’t seem useful yet.
    • I could probably work out how a windmill works, how to make a wagon, how to purify water, how to make water-tight storage.
    • Germ Theory
    • The Paradox of Tolerance
    • How pasteurization works
    • Fermentation, concepts of distillation
    • Basic oral hygiene? Habits of at least rinsing sugar out of your mouth afterwards, if brushes aren’t available.
    • Use of alcohol and heat as antiseptics. Suggestion to use honey in a pinch
    • Basic concepts of how magnifying lenses work and why they’re important