From Richard Suyeda
In your feature on technological progress, anthropologist Dietrich Stout suggests that the march of innovation may result from copying errors, in a manner analogous to genetic mutations in evolution (29 September, p 30). This reminds me of the programmer’s saying: “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”
From William Hughes-Games
The observation that Tasmanians’ tool technology went backwards when they were cut off from a larger Australian population by sea level rise is scary (29 September, p 30). A similar thing happened in Europe when the Romans withdrew.
For instance, it wasn’t until the Victorian age that London had a water grid or sewage system even half as good as it had under Roman rule. I hope such a thing could never happen again.
Advertisement
San Francisco, California, US
