I need some help from smart people

[makenzie71]

Not a very descriptive subject, I know, but my needs exceed the character limits of subject line anyway...so (raspberry noise).

I'm an aspiring author. Over the last fifteen years I have written a collection of short stories and segments I'm hoping to tie into one solid story. They're only loosely connected, though, and the benefit of a short story over a full novel is that there isn't much world/setting/character development...I need to get me some of that to tie them all together into one coherent "thing". That's where I need your help.

In my stories mankind has lost the ability to create and store electricity. What I'm wanting to know is what the world might look like in 1000 years? What technologies will still exist, and what technologies might have been improved upon?

My primary focus will be how industrial, military, and medical fields are affected.

Of course, it's science fiction, so nothing really has to have any substance behind it...but little tidbits of realistic information always help a story. Ideas supported by reality are just as good as those supported by theory...or even by imagination.

Someone from another forum I'm on suggested I ask here...I really appreciate any help.

Thanks!

 

[lisab]

Imagine the year 1010. Could anyone living then have imagined how we'd be living today? No, it would be beyond the capability of even the most brilliant, insightful people living then.

I'm afraid no one today can know how the world will be in 3010. But that's a good thing, it frees you to make it up yourself, create a world that looks any way you like. Make it cool .

Oh and welcome to PF!

 

[CRGreathouse]

I think we need more information on "lost the ability to create and store electricity". If humanity was simply reverted to a much earlier point in our technology, then we would advance again in fairly similar fashion (one would imagine) as was done historically. If the reversion was uneven, leaving us with some 1000s-era technology but some 500 BC-era technology, then the progress would depend on the how it was distributed.

If, instead, some magic or McGuffin prevents the use of electricity, then I'd want to know if anything else was affected. (Could we move positrons instead of electrons? Could we use steam? Could we use light?) Also, is the loss sudden or gradual? If humanity can prepare (using electricity) for the electric-less future that might be different than if they could not.

If there is both reversion and electricity-blocking magic, we'd need information on both.

 

[DaveC426913]

In my stories mankind has lost the ability to create and store electricity.

Some details about this may be salient before we can figure the implications.

First question: Is this simply a plot-device? i.e. you want a world without electricity - how it happened is not important and not known to anyone in the story. (A giant metoerite composed of handwavium makes landfall).

If you want some plausibility to how it happened, you may have to set some conditions on it. Lightning is electrical; so is the human nervous system. If electricity failed unilaterally, it would be ... more than a little inconvenient.

Have humans given up on electricity? Or are there costly efforts to store it? (In the film Quest For Fire, ancient man could not make fire at will, but they did haul around a glowing ember from some lightning strike. It formed the focus of much of their survival efforts and rivalries.)

[EDIT DOh. And here I thought I was first responder...]

 

[rootX]

See news articles when we had a big outage on the USA/Canada east coast.

 

[makenzie71]

A magic, of sorts. The basis of my "world" is that a big rock hit Earth in the near (to us) future...not a life-ending chunk of stone, but big enough to cause global notice. My original idea was that a compound in the meteorite created an electromagnetic field that had worldwide reach. I've given up on that idea, though, because I have no idea really how electromagnetic fields effect electrical devices. If I could pinpoint a feasible cause, then I'd love to have it, but, for the most part...

First question: Is this simply a plot-device? i.e. you want a world without electricity - how it happened is not important and not known to anyone in the story. (A giant metoerite composed of handwavium makes landfall).

If you want some plausibility to how it happened, you may have to set some conditions on it. Lightning is electrical; so is the human nervous system. If electricity failed unilaterally, it would be ... more than a little inconvenient.

Have humans given up on electricity? Or are there costly efforts to store it? (In the film Quest For Fire, ancient man could not make fire at will, but they did haul around a glowing ember from some lightning strike. It formed the focus of much of their survival efforts and a rivalries.)[/QUOTE]

...it's mostly plot-device. The people know of electricity, but cannot produce it. In the stories' settings, it's an unimportant background fact. At some point, though, I want to finish a work about how the world got to that point. It'll be important then...but that's a long time from now.

Those conditions are what stump me...mostly the human nervous system. I've been trying to think of something that would affect the everything from computers to cordless screwdrivers...without pretty much ending all life. I want to find a way to eliminate them from any practical use but doesn't eliminate things like lightning and stuff like a static spark from rubbing your socks on the carpet and things like that. Likely going to just be all the "handwavium" in the atmosphere.

Steam power is still around...and I portray a lot of ground transport being done by steam locomotives and ships. Firearms are around, but they're much simpler. I've even used rockets (solid fuel and fuses).

 

[DaveC426913]

My original idea was that a compound in the meteorite created an electromagnetic field that had worldwide reach.

A giant metoerite composed of handwavium makes landfall.

omg, I totally just made that up. I swear.

 

[Evo]

If you want some plausibility to how it happened, you may have to set some conditions on it. Lightning is electrical; so is the human nervous system. If electricity failed unilaterally, it would be ... more than a little inconvenient.

It is believed that fire caused by lightning is the first time humans experienced fire. Nothing to do with electricity. So throw that out.

 

[DaveC426913]

It is believed that fire caused by lightning is the first time humans experienced fire. Nothing to do with electricity. So throw that out.

I think you misread that. (It is further confused by the fact that mackenzie misplaced the quotes. I was actually me that said that.)
The "fire" thing was simply an analogy I made for the quest for a "technology", i.e.: ancient man: fire::future man: electricity

The point I was trying to make was that, if his deux ex machina eliminated all electricty, it woiuld also eliminate lightning (inconvenient) and the human nervous system (very inconvenient). So, whatever thing killed electricity would have to be selective.

 

[Evo]

I think you misread that. (It is further confused by the fact that mackenzie misplaced the quotes. I was actually me that said that.)
The "fire" thing was simply an analogy I made for the quest for a "technology", i.e.: ancient man: fire::future man: electricity

The point I was trying to make was that, if his deux ex machina elimianted all electricty, it woiuld also eliminate lightning (inconvenient) and the human nervous system (very inconvenient). So, whatever thing killed electricity would have to be selective.

*Nevermind*

 

[makenzie71]

omg, I totally just made that up. I swear.

haha The only real way such a drastic change in technology could happen would be almost utterly dependent on extraterrestrial interference...or the will of God...but whose to say that God wouldn't do it by hitting the Earth with a big rock?

My writing began with a work of fiction I was suppose to conjure up in High School. It was supposed to be a story about how all of mankind achieved peace. It is my belief that the only way the all of Earthly humanity could ever be peaceful "with one another" is if we were forced to unify against a common enemy. To me, the only way that would happen is in an "Independence Day" scenario...aliens come to kill us. The aliens, however, were unfamiliar with nuclear fission and were unprepared to deal with missiles from all over striking their capitol ships. It would be like a three minute long version of every evil alien movie..."oh em gee...there's aliens coming at us with guns! Fire missiles! Roll credits!" 5000 word story.

Everything since has been written off of that...though much further down the line. The aliens' ships were organic and alive...like the shadows/volrons ships in Babylon 5 or the Leviathan in Farscape. Many struck Earth's surface and somehow between the radiation from their engines and the materials they were created from and their effect on the Earth's environment we could no longer produce electricity...

Apparently there's holes in that though...with lightning and nervous systems and all...

 

[makenzie71]

What common building materials would we no longer have access to without the use of electricity?

These big 1~2mw wind turbines...how long could one of those things stand and still be spinning if it was in a free-wheeling non-production state?

I'll probably post seemingly random questions like these often...:)

 

[jobyts]

Like in the waterworld movie where cigarette and paper are considered precious and use for bribery, you can have some underworld mafia making generator or electric battery as bribe.

 

[DaveC426913]

Like in the waterworld movie where cigarette and paper are considered precious and use for bribery, you can have some underworld mafia making generator or electric battery as bribe.

That's what I was getting at. Either electricity is dead, a non-issue - or it is merely extremely precious; two very different scenarios ensue.

 

[Newai]

Maybe a range of very advanced nanobots that selected machinery and electrical targets? Conceivable as a kind of military or terrorist-modified weapon gone awry.

I suppose there would be minor creative attempts to sheath some devices in skin. Think cyborg specialists for intervention and attempt to fix the global fallout.

Add a sense of urgency when it's discovered a virus may change their target from mechanical to organic, i.e. humans and animals.

 

[_Tully]

So, is the general idea that this is going to be Steampunk, but starting with our current technology/knowledge, instead of Victorian?

 

[BobG]

In my stories mankind has lost the ability to create and store electricity. What I'm wanting to know is what the world might look like in 1000 years? What technologies will still exist, and what technologies might have been improved upon?

That wouldn't be very good for electrical engineers. They would probably have to invent a new religion that would provide them jobs as televangelists...

... only to realize they had to invent a new type of device to replace television and radio, as both rely on converting elecromagnetic waves into electrical signals (not to mention most televisions and radios rely on electricity for power).

Communications in general would suffer a huge setback.

Maybe they could find jobs as postmen, doing the pony express thing, and doing local religious services just as a side job.

 

[makenzie71]

So, is the general idea that this is going to be Steampunk, but starting with our current technology/knowledge, instead of Victorian?

I didn't think of that but yeah...Steampunk fits nicely. Starting with our current technology and understanding of things.

What kinds of technologies would be lost all together? What could survive?

 

[DaveC426913]

I didn't think of that but yeah...Steampunk fits nicely. Starting with our current technology and understanding of things.

Yes, that is something to consider: if we had high-tech and then lost it, it is likely we would try to recreate simalcra of what was lost, rather than start off in new directions.

Haha. You should watch Gilligan's Island for inspiration. Coconut radios and pedal-powered bamboo taxis.

 

[_Tully]

I'm picturing a 'computer' that is steam powered connected to a steam powered network, as that is something we would definately recreate. The technology for monitors would be vastly under-developed and mechanical though. Think an old type-writer style cash register, connected to the internet. Could be cool!


This is assuming that we have slowly re-harnessed electricity a tiny bit, when using primitive (ie: steam) generators.

EDIT: Yeesh, I fail at writing in the morning, on my phone. You get the idea though, haha.

 

[_Tully]

Also, I imagine in this situation/world, batteries would be worth more than standard money or any precious mineral.

 

[DaveC426913]

Also, I imagine in this situation/world, batteries would be worth more than standard money or any precious mineral.

The OP did say we'd lost the ability to store electricity.

 

[_Tully]

The OP did say we'd lost the ability to store electricity.

I thought perhaps the current stores of batteries would still be around, but since we've lost the ability to create new batteries they have become extremely rare and coveted, even mystical this far into the future.

 

[FlexGunship]

I'm going to take some creative liberties here, so hold on! <cracks knuckles>

The Loss of Electricity
In the early 2400s the human race had essentially digitized it's entire knowledge base. Libraries were no longer houses of books, but rather banks of terminals all interfacing to large databases of information. The search algorithms were sophisticated and usually involved verbal and holographic interfaces.

The custodians of these store-houses of information were largely reclusive, but were known to live opulent and comfortable life-styles. Their training couldn't be accomplished in a matter of a few years, but instead would grow over their lifetimes. Their prowess with computers was regarded in an almost religious manner. They were nick-named "monks" and their training facilities were called "abbeys." Training of monks was continuous (unlike a 4 year degree at college) because of the incredibly complex systems that were growing every day.

Thus the human race was cleanly divided in two: first the common workers who were comfortable with technology and could repair a terminal, but who couldn't comprehend the underlying information technology; and the monks.

In the 2400s, the monks suffered a global "nervous breakdown" (a la Snow Crash), which rendered the information gathered by humans for millennia inaccessible. Where humans were once able to look up the information needed to perform any engineering task, it was now lost. The monks were widely believed dead, and there was no one to carry on the training. Technology began to degrade rapidly as the knowledge of their maintenance was lost as generations began to die off with no way to easily pass on the information. This decay of technology coincided with a global nuclear war which wiped out significant portions of the population.

In the 2500s as the society began to rebuild itself, a "fear of electricity" was buried deep within the populous. A lack of understanding initiated the fear, and overprotective world governments in their infancy banned it's use entirely.

By the 2900s, the knowledge of electricity had been entirely lost. Phenomena such as static electricity and lightning were feared and venerated (a behavior encouraged by dynastic world government leaders). Eventually, as the 3000s rolled around, the human race has become comfortable without electricity, often relying on steam power and steam batteries (small tanks capable of storing immense pressures). Most other technologies grew again: chemistry and metallurgy. And primitive computers were built using steam relays.

However, any process requiring the using of electricity was implicitly (and explicitly) banned from the human thought process. Few people ever grow to understand what electricity could even be, and the few scientists that do uncover a few secrets either disappear mysteriously, or are killed "by their experiments."

PLOT TWIST: Perhaps, high ranking government officials actually keep a few monks alive and hidden to give them access to electricity and other technology that isn't available to the populous.

PLOT POINT: Perhaps there are underground monks that are working to build their own civilization with the knowledge that they have hidden in their underground databases that only they know how to access.

PLOT POINT: Maybe books that predate the "Fall of Electricity" are very valuable and are collected by certain smarty-pants rich people. Ownership of them could be considered a crime. Furthermore, the language has long since evolved, and little of the original text is understood but points to a tantalizing glimpse of an "Atlantean-style" utopia with electric lights and computers!

IMPORTANT: The governments aren't actually evil or anything, just protective of their populous. This could be a cautionary allegory for how our world is trending today where people willingly give up their own cognitive liberties for the sake of safety.

 

[BobG]

And primitive computers were built using steam relays.

Steam relays? Why not simple mechanical relays that may use steam as the power source for initiating the action in the first place. (I remember a model computer I had as a kid that operated by moving a crank - obviously it had no storage and very little logic capability, but the idea was to illustrate how a binary adder could be used to contsruct computer logic.)

Actually, simple mechanical, analog computers would come back into style (I'd be a new age monk!):

This particular style of computer was popular with Albert Einstein and Werner VonBraun (both being raised German). It's one shortcoming was a tendency for moths to crawl between the slide and body, inhibiting smooth operation of the slide.

 

[makenzie71]

I'm going to take some creative liberties here, so hold on! <cracks knuckles>

The Loss of Electricity
In the early 2400s the human race had essentially digitized it's entire knowledge base. Libraries were no longer houses of books, but rather banks of terminals all interfacing to large databases of information. The search algorithms were sophisticated and usually involved verbal and holographic interfaces.

The custodians of these store-houses of information were largely reclusive, but were known to live opulent and comfortable life-styles. Their training couldn't be accomplished in a matter of a few years, but instead would grow over their lifetimes. Their prowess with computers was regarded in an almost religious manner. They were nick-named "monks" and their training facilities were called "abbeys." Training of monks was continuous (unlike a 4 year degree at college) because of the incredibly complex systems that were growing every day.

Thus the human race was cleanly divided in two: first the common workers who were comfortable with technology and could repair a terminal, but who couldn't comprehend the underlying information technology; and the monks.

In the 2400s, the monks suffered a global "nervous breakdown" (a la Snow Crash), which rendered the information gathered by humans for millennia inaccessible. Where humans were once able to look up the information needed to perform any engineering task, it was now lost. The monks were widely believed dead, and there was no one to carry on the training. Technology began to degrade rapidly as the knowledge of their maintenance was lost as generations began to die off with no way to easily pass on the information. This decay of technology coincided with a global nuclear war which wiped out significant portions of the population.

In the 2500s as the society began to rebuild itself, a "fear of electricity" was buried deep within the populous. A lack of understanding initiated the fear, and overprotective world governments in their infancy banned it's use entirely.

By the 2900s, the knowledge of electricity had been entirely lost. Phenomena such as static electricity and lightning were feared and venerated (a behavior encouraged by dynastic world government leaders). Eventually, as the 3000s rolled around, the human race has become comfortable without electricity, often relying on steam power and steam batteries (small tanks capable of storing immense pressures). Most other technologies grew again: chemistry and metallurgy. And primitive computers were built using steam relays.

However, any process requiring the using of electricity was implicitly (and explicitly) banned from the human thought process. Few people ever grow to understand what electricity could even be, and the few scientists that do uncover a few secrets either disappear mysteriously, or are killed "by their experiments."

PLOT TWIST: Perhaps, high ranking government officials actually keep a few monks alive and hidden to give them access to electricity and other technology that isn't available to the populous.

PLOT POINT: Perhaps there are underground monks that are working to build their own civilization with the knowledge that they have hidden in their underground databases that only they know how to access.

PLOT POINT: Maybe books that predate the "Fall of Electricity" are very valuable and are collected by certain smarty-pants rich people. Ownership of them could be considered a crime. Furthermore, the language has long since evolved, and little of the original text is understood but points to a tantalizing glimpse of an "Atlantean-style" utopia with electric lights and computers!

IMPORTANT: The governments aren't actually evil or anything, just protective of their populous. This could be a cautionary allegory for how our world is trending today where people willingly give up their own cognitive liberties for the sake of safety.

While not exactly what I'm looking for, I hope you don't sue me when I turn this into a different story...it sounds quite fun to write. Especially considering the political implications I could weave in.

 

[FlexGunship]

While not exactly what I'm looking for, I hope you don't sue me when I turn this into a different story...it sounds quite fun to write. Especially considering the political implications I could weave in.

Just send me a check.

 

[makenzie71]

Just send me a check.

You got it haha

 

[BobG]

While not exactly what I'm looking for, I hope you don't sue me when I turn this into a different story...it sounds quite fun to write. Especially considering the political implications I could weave in.

A world where computer software geeks are considered the equivalent of monks?! That sounds like drug induced hallucinations to me. And notice the total disdain for the hardware guys - they're relegated to mere computer repairmen.

There is absolutely no scenario that would admire computer software geeks. They smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, smell bad, and go bowling, for crying out loud!

 

[BobG]

Just as a suggestion, do some research on the cargo cults that were created during World War II. Several islands inhabited by isolated, native cultures suddenly were introduced to modern technology when their islands became important supply depots, refueling rest stops, etc. during the war. This brought a brief period of prosperity and a new short-lived lifestyle. Unfortunately, the war ended and the civilized world left them isolated once again.

You had a few islands (or at least only a few received any contact with the outside world at all) where the natives would reconstruct the radio that brought the planes out of wood, rocks, and whatever other material was available. They'd talk into the microphone just like the outsiders did, but, unfortunately, the ritual almost always failed to bring the planes and/or ships. There was some missing ingredient that the natives just failed to understand and surely had to be spiritual - but there was just no way to tap into whatever spirit the outsiders were able to talk to.

 

[DaveC426913]

It's one shortcoming was a tendency for moths to crawl between the slide and body, inhibiting smooth operation of the slide.

Even then, computer programs needed to be debugged...

 

[FlexGunship]

Even then, computer programs needed to be debugged...