There's a lamentable tendency today among many people to think we are smarter than our forebears.
We may well have access to more advanced technology than our predecessors, but arguably, we're quite a bit dumber than our forefathers. I can operate a computer, but other than clicking on a mouse and keyboard, I can't really explain what is going on inside. Back up 150 years ago, and guys with no access to computation beyond a blackboard were designing steam propulsion for ships and trains that is still remarkably sophisticated.
I came upon an instance today that got me thinking. One of my Facebook groups posted a video of a Russian reproduction of a 18th century wooden ship of the line. And of course, someone lamented the fact that it was made of white oak, saying that such old growth timber could never be replaced.
This is, of course, ahistorical bullshit.
White oak has been the preferred wood for planking on wooden ships for about 500 years. And because shipping and navies were strategic assets, it follows that white oak was a strategic asset. As such, growths of white oak were carefully tended, replanted, expanded, surveyed, and managed. Quite a few countries made major efforts to expand the tracts of white oak. Some with limited ability to grow white oak made strategic alliances with countries that had large reserves. White oak takes a long time to grow to maturity. Long term planning was a thing.
With the introduction of ironclad and steel shipbuilding about 150 years ago, demand for white oak collapsed. But while harvesting of white oak plummeted, the acreage of white oak did not decline at nearly the same rate. And today, those old stocks of white oak are now mature.
Today there is more old growth live oak than at any time in modern history.
I'm so very tired of people that are convinced history began last year, that they're the first person to give thought to a particular subject.
Here is my response to them: Look, I'm smarter than you, and let me tell you, people a lot smarter than me thought about this stuff a long time before I was born. Maybe skip the lecture?
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