What would happen if the source of the worlds electrical grid were to

[Trandoshan]

And the army will collapse short therafter due to a common communication breakdown in a scenario of a fading understanding of law and order, beheaded and the torso broken into fragments of manageable company strength and finally of marauding platoons... until they all run out of ammunition...

 

I see you've been watching some movies...

[grannywils]

And the army will collapse short therafter due to a common communication breakdown in a scenario of a fading understanding of law and order, beheaded and the torso broken into fragments of manageable company strength and finally of marauding platoons... until they all run out of ammunition...

 

I see you've been watching some movies...

 

 

or playing some war games maybe... But anyway I can only hope that survival of the fittest includes some of the less militant of us so that we stand a chance against some of those marauding platoons.

[Surenas]

And the army will collapse short therafter due to a common communication breakdown in a scenario of a fading understanding of law and order, beheaded and the torso broken into fragments of manageable company strength and finally of marauding platoons... until they all run out of ammunition...

 

I see you've been watching some movies...

 

 

or playing some war games maybe... But anyway I can only hope that survival of the fittest includes some of the less militant of us so that we stand a chance against some of those marauding platoons.

 

Self-appointed experts in remote diagnosis are widespread on the internet, but their fine words butter no parsnips.

[Vagrant0]

Except, that, you see, most of the post-1900's technology for communication would be fried out by the solar flare, and communication before the telegraph was rather limited to just about how far you could travel in a day on horse... The downside however is that in the modern day, there aren't a whole heck of alot of horses, much less the common know-how to ride one or construct a cart that could be pulled by one. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but there are also currently far more people clustered in major cities, who only remain fed from crops which are harvested en-mass in a process which can only be performed by machines, and which are freighted in daily. Then there is the whole business of clean drinking water and how, given current pollution, can only be obtained in sufficient quantities from pumping and treatment stations which require both complex machines and power to run those machines. Although there will be farming towns which might fare reasonably well, you can rest assured that they won't be doing so well once people start leaving the cities in search of food, by whatever means they can get it.

 

Modern society with its current population cannot be maintained without the aid of machines and the power to keep those machines going. The simple fact of the matter is that in a crisis like this, people WILL begin to starve, and in that state, both society and its laws cease to matter. It's all logistics, and logistics never lie.

[Keanumoreira]

I agree with both Grannywils and Vagrant0.

 

Our civilization as WE KNOW IT will fall apart if this were to happen, and no doubt it would because remember, economy is the heart of it all which is mostly run by electric purposes. However, it doesn't mean civilization will turn to anarchy and be lost forever which some here seem to look to. Grannywils statement is correct, humans are smart enough and determined enough when applied with the right conditions to work hard for a common goal when their lives depend on it. The world, for example, is already undergoing an energy revolution. We are already seeing renewable resource dependentcy rising, and fossil fuel consumption declining, especially in China where it is needed the most because of its overwelming population. The fact of the matter is, that a disaster protrayed such as this, may not be so bad as we are led to believe.

[Chaosblade02]

Most people today wouldn't know what to do or how to survive without the luxuries of modern technologies. Not to mention the entire worlds economy would come crashing down completely, nobody could work, fuel resources would eventually run out so nobody would drive, any perishable foods would be gone in a day, anyone that relies on an electrical device to survive, like breathing equipment would also die. There would be mass looting of shops and stores for any useful supplies and non-perishable foods like canned goods. The best place to be in this situation would be a rural area, away from most of the chaos going on in larger towns and cities. Currency would also break down, and the value of paper money would be useless, as well as any assets you had in banks, so your previous wealth if you had any before wouldn't do you much good. Money would be food, guns, ammo, medicine, fuel, etc. You would also have to be prepared to defend whatever you have, because its not like you can call 911 when someone kicks your door in looking for food.

[grannywils]

Hey Surenas, I certainly respect your opinion and believe strongly in your right to both have it and defend it, and I respect you for sticking to your guns no matter what. I just disagree with you. But you're ok in my book. :thumbsup: Just for the record, I don't much care for parsnips (although I do love almost all other vegetables), and I try to stay away from butter, although I do love that.

 

Back to the original question regarding the grid. As far as I understand it, the grid really only operates fully in the US. The majority of other countries while using electricity generated primarily by fossil fuel do not really do so by use of a grid as such. Many, such as Germany, The Netherlands and others have already begun using solar power and wind farms to a large extent and many others are still working on these technologies. China, for one has done quite a bit of research to get itself independent of fossil fuel as quickly as possible. And, of course, some are still back in the dark ages, and have quite a way to go.

 

There is certainly no question that this disaster would cause catastrophic results. However, as I originally stated, I still believe that we are already trying to wean ourselves from the need for some of the fossil fuel that runs the technology that would come crashing to a halt. I also believe that some of the technology has caused us more harm than good. I also believe that we as a people (that is all people and all nations) are capable of rising above the initial crisis and working together to achieve whatever we need. i.e. many people are already using diesel engines that can run on vegetable oil. Don't need electricity for those combustion-based engines. They create minimal pollution with vegetable oil. Just a start, but we have to start small. Once again, I'll mention the small farms, etc. Let's put away those guns and pick up those hoes. The guns won't build us new nations. They will just deplete whatever is left of the old ones.

 

I could go on and on, but I think I've said enough and I'll let someone else take it from here. Thanks for listening.:wacko:

 

[Keanumoreira]

To bring it down to simple terms I agree that we could certainly survive with out the electrical grid. I'm not 100% sure I understood the original question. How did we come to lose it. Vagrant0 seemed to imply some sort of holistically explosive disaster. Under those circumstances, I reluctantly (again) find myself agreeing with him to a limited extent. However, I'm more inclined to agree with SlyG and TrandoShan. We, as a people, are incredibly strong and versatile when we need to be. We can use our brains and our brawn and in a case such as this one our common sense. There have been many times in the past when I have asked myself whether or not "progress" was in fact really progress or not. Sometimes what seems to be making our lives easier seems to be causing more strife and disruption than we need. There may be something to be said for going back to a simpler time. Albiet, a more difficult one in many physical ways.

 

It doesn't really matter how the grid burns out, i just want to know what people on the forums believe what would happen if it did.

[Surenas]

(snip]

It doesn't really matter how the grid burns out, i just want to know what people on the forums believe what would happen if it did.

 

It's not a matter of semi-religious belief but of consequence in the construction of a possible, rapidly developing scenario with a one-sided open time interval and given start conditions. And next to reasoning, consequence is something one has to learn first, as well as an acceptance for an unexpected and perhaps even feared final result...

[Trandoshan]

I suppose the true moral of this debate is that we should hope that the grid never falls. The pessimism will kill us all. heh...

 

... I guess if the power grid failure doesn't kill us first, the

 

 

 

will.