True Left

This is something I think about a lot. Instead of necessity driving invention, Western Civilization discovers unnecessary knowledge first, and then makes up unnecessary inventions to use these technological advancements.

There was no practical value in science back then - you have to remember that all the way until the 19th century, technology and science were separate fields, because it wasn't until then that science caught up with technological progress.

The example I remember my professor giving was that by the time a scientific explanation for he optimal firing arc of a cannon had been made, cannoneers had already known of it for hundreds of years.

Simple observation, rule of thumb and trial and error was (with a few exceptions) the foundation for all technology and architecture for the vast majority of history. Architects and engineers couldn't explain WHY things worked like they did, just that they did.

Science was, in practical terms, basically a bunch of rich nerds trying to explain stuff that didn't really need explaining.

https://old.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/tw1xlu/til_that_while_impressed_by_his_book_philosophiae/i3dzhkx/