Comment Re:Blueprints for Civilization: worth watching (Score 1) 214
I RTFA and agree that the TED talk is a far better representation of their goal then this article. The goal isn't to restart civiliation if an apocalypse comes.
Marcin tried to run his own farm. The equipment he bought was expensive and complex but not robust and not user servicable. As a phd in nuclear physics he figured he could puzzle out how to fix his equipment and make improvements but he couldn't. He also realized that "1st world" mechanized farming and by extension basic industry was totally inaccessible to developing economies or even bright individuals with 1st world access. This struck him as odd because farming and basic industry seems like the next step up from subsistance. But the gap between developing country resources and needs and what was available is simply too great. So he went about making robust, user servicable, modular equipment for farming, building houses, generating power and processing food.