Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic
The internet's a huge advancement for the human race, a paradigm shift in terms of how we accomplish things. But it's a double-edged sword. Lots of people I know rely so heavily on the internet that they have no earthly idea how to do old-fashioned library research...
Ask a college freshman in 2013 if they know how to use the card catalog and Dewey Decimal systems, and watch them give you a blank stare.
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Older scientific methods just simply fade out of the collective consciousness over time. That's a recurring process. For example before the internet, calculators had made certain basic math operations obsolete. I wouldn't know how to do calculate roots by hand or how to use a slide ruler.
Or on a larger scale: Lockheed had problems with Orion to duplicate metallurgic processes from the 60s and had visit plants in Eastern Europe to rediscover long obsolete manufacturing techniques.