Technology Resource Packs

Earlier I posted about targeting different technology levels. The two priorities for this project I called “Consumer” and “Minecraft” – this is quite the simplification, of course. Here are some more levels to consider:

• Future: semi-automated production of almost anything you need, locally sourced
• Consumer: ready access to a hardware store, some access to specialty parts
• Does not Compute: large metal parts can be fabricated, complicated machinery, but not computing devices
• Metal age: some metal parts can be fabricated, metal tools are available to some
• Minecraft: basic hand tools and access to organic raw materials (wood, vines)

This is just one way to divide up technology levels – a more precise delineation will emerge once we have enough recipes.

Suppose the supply chains collapse, or war strips of us resources, and we are driven back to one of these lower levels of technology. Hopefully there would be some more advanced tools lying around that we can keep using, but we can’t presume know which ahead of time. How would we work our way back up to something approaching a current “consumer” level, much less the bright future we hope for?

That’s where a technology resource pack comes into play. Imagine a book – or other accessible storage medium – that you crack open when you find yourself in such an emergency, and it contains the following recipes:

• Things you’ll need to build, to increase your chances of survival for the time you are at this technology level
• Things you can build at your current level that will increase your technology level towards the next level – build them all to fully level up; build what you need otherwise
• Generic recipes for all of the above
• Region-specific adaptations of those recipes, so you can source materials locally even if you move around
• Location-specific adaptations of those recipes, to maximize your use of local resources if you don’t move around
• User guides and training materials for any tools/machines you have recipes for

A roadmap and instruction manual for uplifting society – from wherever we end up – to where we need to get to. And as a byproduct of that larger goal, we get a roadmap from where we currently are, to that same goal.