How would someone fare if they were dropped into a randomly chosen period in history? Would they have any relevant knowledge to share, or ability to invent crucial technologies given the period's constraints? Ryan North uses these hypothetical questions to explore the technological and implicit knowledge underpinning modern civilization, offering a practical guide of how one could rebuild civilization from the ground up.
Ryan North is an author, comic creator and humorist whose recent work includes the non-fiction books How To Take Over The World and How To Invent Everything. He's creator of Dinosaur Comics and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series for Marvel, along with many other books, comics and writing and his work has been translated into 16 different languages so far. North has a degree in Computational Linguistics and is known for his witty and useful explanations of technology, tools and problem solving.
“How to Invent Everything” was given on January 31, 02022 as part of The Long Now Foundation's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
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