Doesn’t look like anyone has mentioned Ryan North’s time travel guide yet. Key points include pasteurization, pendulum clocks, and cowpox.
If I travelled back to 1200, I wonder if I would rather be in the merchant class than the scientific class. Merchants have tighter feedback loops (and I wouldn’t have to sit through as much astrology). How fast did financial innovations spread? Looks like both insurance anddouble-entry bookkeeping took a few centuries. And now that I think of it, haven’t valuable but illegible financial services been a major factor leading to persecution of lots of groups, most notably Jews? Damn, so much for feedback loops. I guess Crab Mentality and unfree markets probably put a limit on how hard you can exploit your advanced financial skills.
Clock were on my short list too, as they are necessary for long distance navigation. Pasteurization is probably by itself good enough to take over the word.
Doesn’t look like anyone has mentioned Ryan North’s time travel guide yet. Key points include pasteurization, pendulum clocks, and cowpox.
If I travelled back to 1200, I wonder if I would rather be in the merchant class than the scientific class. Merchants have tighter feedback loops (and I wouldn’t have to sit through as much astrology). How fast did financial innovations spread? Looks like both insurance and double-entry bookkeeping took a few centuries. And now that I think of it, haven’t valuable but illegible financial services been a major factor leading to persecution of lots of groups, most notably Jews? Damn, so much for feedback loops. I guess Crab Mentality and unfree markets probably put a limit on how hard you can exploit your advanced financial skills.
Clock were on my short list too, as they are necessary for long distance navigation. Pasteurization is probably by itself good enough to take over the word.