I don't think you need big cycles of destruction and renewal like those guys claims.
Perfect example was what happened in Europe when the western roman empire disintegrated.
The whole knowledge transfer chain from master to student got disrupted.
So much so that the institutional knowledge base got eroded and people forgot how to do/maintain products.
Maybe because you a cluster of smaller empires no one could finance those prestige projects, without those big projects
the knowledge transfer chain will also be disrupted.
This me just thinking up loud and accepting the shit I learned 10~15 years ago and haven't used in a long time have simple been forgotten.
Human memory is extremely fragile, so the invention of paper must have been super important to keep those knowledge transfer chain going over the millennia.
The whole knowledge transfer chain from master to student got disrupted. So much so that the institutional knowledge base got eroded and people forgot how to do/maintain products. Maybe because you a cluster of smaller empires no one could finance those prestige projects, without those big projects the knowledge transfer chain will also be disrupted.
This me just thinking up loud and accepting the shit I learned 10~15 years ago and haven't used in a long time have simple been forgotten. Human memory is extremely fragile, so the invention of paper must have been super important to keep those knowledge transfer chain going over the millennia.