What would happen if society lost all technology?

[HOW'S ANNIE?]

I've been running this idea through my head of this story about all the world's technology were wiped out by some astronomical event. But the more I develop it, the more I really think how society would change if it was lost.

 

I mean, say a solar flare or government EMP device caused all electronics to go to sh*t. Do you think that society would be able to maintain structure, and for how long? How would today's society who are WAY overdependant on the internet feel comfortable interacting with one another? And where would you go, and what would you do?

[Exxon]

The whole society will probably collapse, the world is almost basically build upon technology.

Seriously.

[RoadRunner71]

The first days/weeks/years (in the case it wasn't solved soon) would be a chaos. Lootings, riots, crimes and panic. For the next years the society would turn into an on-farm consumption one, like the Middle Ages system, a boring sh*t.

[lil weasel]

Look at Africa and the Middle East.

So... stay out of Lifts, be healthy and use the stairs. Just in case...

[ExtremoMania]

We will go back into the time where Thomas Edison and/or Alexander Graham Bell just inventing some of our known technology nowadays.

[Finn 7 five 11]

There would be enough people who know what's up to start again. Business would be booming, so much money to be made as manufacturing starts again and everyone has to rebuy stuff.

 

Then again Manufacturing would be wiped out too. I guess it would be a slow buildup to get everything back.

[rudy]

Well, people would run out of tissue papers and then all the green leaves will turn yellow before turning black. Or people will just dig holes, sh*t inside and bury it, just like dogs/cats. But, it won't be a viable option though. There will be 'No porn for f*ck sake', The only way to see horizontal dance is to peek through your parents' room at night. Dagummin!

 

Eventually people would return back to caves or whatever the f*ck they crawled out from.

Edited May 26, 2013 by rudy.

[Gray Wolf]

You might want to watch Revolution as that's basically what happens in this series

 

Can't really say what it would be like if that was to happen but i would expect everyone to have to live life as they did in the Victorian times (of course the laws are different to them times)

[Whiskey]

 

We will go back into the time where Thomas Edison and/or Alexander Graham Bell just inventing some of our known technology nowadays.

You mean Nikola Tesla.

 

[sivispacem]

Nothing would cause all electronic devices to fail anyway. It's not possible. Anything radiation-hardened would be fine.

[Raavi]

Total anarchy. But seriously this isn't feasible to happen, not in our lifetimes at least.

[Tyler]

Nothing would cause all electronic devices to fail anyway. It's not possible. Anything radiation-hardened would be fine.

Are you insinuating that these hypothetical questions are somehow useless and not worth talking about?

[TECHN9CiAN]

That would actually be a good thing. Sure as mentioned before, there would be rioting and looting, but after some time when people simmer down, we will need to rebuild, which would create more jobs.

 

But then again, there might be armed extremist who may try taking control of the government, so it could all go down hill pretty fast. Who knows.

[lil weasel]

 

Nothing would cause all electronic devices to fail anyway. It's not possible. Anything radiation-hardened would be fine.

Are you insinuating that these hypothetical questions are somehow useless and not worth talking about?

Note the qualifiers used...

 

However without electricity: think of all the new world libraries that are disposing of the hard paper books and replacing them with e-books.

[Kwabs]

The whole society 'll collapse and there 'll be nothing but chaos. And school of course.

[Gray Wolf]

Here's a extra question to go to this one, so if electricity was disabled (of course as sivispacem stated it's not possible) then what about Lightning as that's electricity itself right? it's not like we won't get Lightning/electrical storms anymore

[MrcTOtheJ]

Dunno about you guys but I'd just give up on it then and there. And I'm not even the most reliant on tech. It's just with all of it gone there's little hope to rebuilding into something even remotely similar to what we once had. I mean if we could get it back up and running I may keep going and try to find out how or someone who would, but from the sounds of it, it'd be gone in this what if.

 

Now if it was an Apocalypse scenario similar to Fallout where tech can still be used and accessed here and there I'd keep on trucking there’d be hope, however minute.

 

Alas I don't see anything like this happening, and nothing could happen to all electrical devices on the planet, if something that big were to happen, odds are it'd be something that'd kill us.

[NCONiall]

 

Here's a extra question to go to this one, so if electricity was disabled (of course as sivispacem stated it's not possible) then what about Lightning as that's electricity itself right? it's not like we won't get Lightning/electrical storms anymore

First of all, it's difficult to predict where exactly lightning is going to strike. Secondly there are some problems dealing with the ability of actually harnessing the power.

 

My bad.

Edited May 26, 2013 by NCONiall

[Gray Wolf]

 

First of all, it's difficult to predict where exactly lightning is going to strike. Secondly there are some problems dealing with the ability of actually harnessing the power.

What i meant was not harnessing the power of lightning but if something happened that disabled electric then would it also disable Lightning as that to is electric

 

I should of cleared that up a bit more

[T0X1C]

Look at Africa and the Middle East.

So... stay out of Lifts, be healthy and use the stairs. Just in case...

Err I'm from Africa and I start having... bad thoughts if I don't check the forums for GTA V news every hour.

Very bad thoughts...

I can barely last 2 minutes without using some sort of technology.

 

If you meant rural Africa, they have never really been exposed to technology, therefore they don't rely on it on a day to day basis and that's why their society won't collapse. I'm talking about rural villages that aren't in war torn hell-holes, of course.

 

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

The immediate effects would be almost apocalyptic, hell, the way people reacted when my local internet service provider had an internet outage spanning multiple provinces, the way people would react to a solar flare (natural electromagnetic pulse) or man-made electromagnetic pulse that would likely cause much of the power grid and internet infrastructure to fail could very well make it apocalyptic.

 

Take a look at the popular 1983 made-for-TV movie The Day After. In a scene in the movie, the Soviets decide to detonate a nuclear weapon high up in the Earth's atmosphere to create an electromagnetic pulse which takes out the power grid, critical weapons and defense infrastructure (who's EMP protection is said to be untested) and destroys the ignition system's in automobiles, permanently disabling them at least until the solenoid is replaced. Another example of this is seen in Stephen Spielberg's The War of the Worlds (2005).

 

Keep in mind that most of the North American power grid and internet infrastructure (the latter of which does not predate the 1990s which would be after the Cold War and after fears of nuclear attack settled down) is not EMP hardened and has shown signs of illness during moderate geomagnetic storms.

 

Looting and civil unrest would be seen on a very large scale as desperation and fear for survival worsen. It would be similar to the reactions to the 1977 and 2003 New York City blackouts (although the unrest seen during the 1977 blackout; a very trying time in the city's history was much worse) but on a much larger scale impacting the vast majority if not the full portion of North America.

[bluetops]

If that happens, everyone must help each other. Thus, creating a worldwide fellowship. The UN will be change to NWO - New World Order. Those who will not join will be...

 

considered enemies of the government. They'll not be automatically executed. Plus, a one world government is better than what we have now. We'll share technology, brains, brawns, prawns, lobsters, and squids.

 

 

[LittleBlueTroll]

Well let me put it this way, when my electricity runs out at home it is complete panic mode within them few brief moments. I would hate to consider the possibility of losing all technology.

 

And what would we do without the forum? For the love of god what about the forum?!

[Tchuck]

You talk as if after a solar flare/emp/whatever, mankind would completely forget how to do anything. The devices are lost, but the technology will still be there, the know how. If things don't work the same way as before, we will find another way. Obviously, there will be some panic among the weaker minded, but things will eventually get back to some level of "normal".

[rsgtafan]

At least half of the population on this planet would die from helplessness.

[Narrow]

Let's disregard the fact that there's no single thing that could completely remove all technology from Earth and think of what might happen to a species that's almost solely on dependent on said technology.

 

The answer is simple: The complete and utter downfall of society itself.

[TheIllaDopest]

People would flip cuz we wont be able to play V.

[Big Remi]

Quite a few people would end up committing suicide within the first hour due to not being able to check on their Twitter/Facebook accounts every 30 seconds. Then as the others got bored, mass looting and riots would commence.

[Thamuz]

I'd set myself up as a local warlord in my area, raiding and pillaging.

[The Armageddon(Temp)]

You talk as if after a solar flare/emp/whatever, mankind would completely forget how to do anything. The devices are lost, but the technology will still be there, the know how. If things don't work the same way as before, we will find another way. Obviously, there will be some panic among the weaker minded, but things will eventually get back to some level of "normal".

I completely agree with you.

People would somehow find a way to recreate the technology..Though machinery has gone, but ideas would still be there in their minds..it would take time but not as much time as it took to convert stone age to age of technology..That I am sure !