It’s not because of efficiency that things last less time now.
well, yeah, a lot of over-engineering makes things fickle and it increases the number of potential failure points. simpler technology is simply more durable. My grandma has equipment they used for farming when she was a kid (that was 70 years ago). Stuff like buckets, pushcarts, manual hoes (those you use for farming, think minecraft hoes). They still work flawlessly.
Also there’s literally a proverb that says: “You don’t need an engineer to build a bridge that stands. You need an engineer to build a bridge that just barely stands.”
In other words, modern mathematics has taught people how to build houses that are just stable enough that they will last for a lifetime, then they collapse. Meanwhile the house that my uncle lives in was built around 500 years ago and still stands. It’s one of these old houses with extra thick walls (think 1m thick cutstone walls), it has a cellar and multiple stories. People back then did not cheap out on construction materials. Also the egyptian pyramids still stand because they are in no sense of the word “efficient”.
well, yeah, a lot of over-engineering makes things fickle and it increases the number of potential failure points. simpler technology is simply more durable. My grandma has equipment they used for farming when she was a kid (that was 70 years ago). Stuff like buckets, pushcarts, manual hoes (those you use for farming, think minecraft hoes). They still work flawlessly.
Also there’s literally a proverb that says: “You don’t need an engineer to build a bridge that stands. You need an engineer to build a bridge that just barely stands.”
In other words, modern mathematics has taught people how to build houses that are just stable enough that they will last for a lifetime, then they collapse. Meanwhile the house that my uncle lives in was built around 500 years ago and still stands. It’s one of these old houses with extra thick walls (think 1m thick cutstone walls), it has a cellar and multiple stories. People back then did not cheap out on construction materials. Also the egyptian pyramids still stand because they are in no sense of the word “efficient”.