bluefoxlucid writes "I've been wrestling with questions of sustainability of our society for quite some time now. I'm not talking about global warming, or peak oil (or wood), or the imminent outgassing of the gulf when the sea floor cracks and spills doomsday quantities of methane into the atmosphere. I'm talking about actually being able to survive our own technology. In this vein, I've come to consider the merits of pursuing a more low-tech social structure, mainly starting from the education level. This includes everything from teaching students slide-rules, Suhnpan math, and a selection of generalized mental arithmetic strategies to encouraging the adoption of such simple things as home-baking bread and grooming with old-style razors (straight, double-edge, with brush and soap) and toothbrushes (boar bristle). My major worry is that the acceleration of a high-tech society will deteriorate when we completely distance ourselves from a low-tech world that requires--or allows--us to use things we understand, as simple as a toothbrush made of materials not produced in a lab or as complex as the baking of bread and how an egg affects the texture. After that, innovation becomes difficult and the general population atrophies due to inability to deal with the world with more than a caveman's level of understanding of anything we touch--who here knows how electric toothbrushes magically charge? Are there any philosophers or social scientists out there already considering the question of Peak Technology?"