Survival Computation

Long time since I've used, or even seen, a slide rule!

Makes me think of a very important and related point...

When I was younger, I learned to do a lot of math in my head. Got quite good at mental arithmetic, could work out square and cube roots (approximately) etc. When I got into computers, pre-IBM PC days, I learned to do binary, octal and to a lesser extent hexadecimal arithmetic in my head. I only bought a calculator to do trig functions quicker than using tables.

Then I went to university, and started doing real maths. Pretty quickly a calculator became pretty much essential to keep up with the work load on more complicated calculations.

That would have been fine, but laziness stepped in and I gradually began using the calculator for more trivial stuff, eventually even just for adding up!

I lost most of my mental ability over those years and have never really regained it; it's harder to program your brain as you get older.

The point is, those basic skills are important and might be lifesaving. Alright, I don't really mean doing calculus in your head could be lifesaving, but other basic skills like the ones we discuss here every day.

For instance, learning and practicing firelighting with a bow drill, even when there's a bic in your pocket.

I know that most of us already know this - that's why we're here. Just felt like saying it though.

'If you don't use it, you lose it!'
 
Last edited:
I have several slide rules from my college days in engineering. I also have many HP calculators and batteries that will probably outlast me so I won't have to resort to a slide rule except for nostalgia reasons.

If you have used a slide rule you know that it does not tell you where the decimal point is. You have to keep track of that. That forces you to mentally decide what the order of magnitude of the answer should be. With a calculator one often assumes the answer is right without thinking.
 
We had a giant 6 ft long slide rule at my engineering frat in college.

Sidebar: before you start calling me frat boy, the professional frats were not part of the greek fraternal system. Like we always said, "better geek than greek".

We had to learn to use it, and show the frat brothers how it worked during pledging. I knew at the time, but I can say with confidence I have no idea how to use one today.
 
I had a somewhat eccentric professor in college. He had a slide rule in a large picture frame, behind plate glass and with a red velvet background, which hung on the wall in his office. In small print below the slide rule were the words "In case of emergency, break glass". He was about 80 at the time and I though it was quite hilarious.
 
If the SHTF and all the power in the world were lost and the sun was blacked out and I ABSOLUTELY just had to do some math between fighting off zombies or the russians and there were abacusi and slide rules all over the place....I think I'll just write it out long hand and then use those things for tinder.
 
Why bother with a computer?

The slide rule is so much fun when you discover that you've put the decimal point in the wrong place and you have to redo the whole project.
 
If you really want to be prepared you can buy a watch with slide rule, that way you'd always have one handy. :D

Seikosnj017.jpg
 
wildmike said:
I used to have my dad's sliderule lost it in high school. The abacus is faster in good hands than an electronic calculator.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. If you've ever watched one of the math contests where the kids knew RPN, you'd be surprised. A person with a good calculator and some practice can run matrices without looking at the keypad. And fast!

Very few people have ever gotten their hands on a good calculator, though. For the most part, they aren't being made anymore, though the new model HP35 has the right keyboard feel and operates in RPN, I can do long tallies on that keyboard easily.

Shotgun said:
If the SHTF, why am I doing complex calculatioins? And why wouldn't I have access to a solar powered calculator? Plus, we're dependent on calculators like our dads were dependent on slide rules and our grandfathers were dependent on that abacus. The real question, I think, is does doing these calculations net us anything real? What do we NEED that is a product of these calculations?
Click to expand...

It depends on how far you want to take things. How accurate you want to be with navigation, bridge building, calculating hamsat orbits (I have that programmed into my calculator) or whatnot.


I'm struggling with this a bit with my son right now. He's only six (as of monday) but he's very interested in building things. A lot of his homeschooling thus far is based on this, and he is learning math directly with application. There's a lot of very basic, direct use for maths in the world.

I suppose how far you go with that depends on how far you go above stone age living if there's an EOTWAWKI.





As for slide rules- the log log slide rule is FAR from the only type. It might be interesting to look at certain types that are useful for the outdoors in general. I have a kitchen slide rule that converts F to C, various liquid and dry measures. A candymaker's that does sugar conversions, of all things! I have two brewers' slide rules, and a couple circular navigation slide rules. While the log-log rule is probably the most advanced general purpose one, there are many types of slide rules that do many hings, some of which are very useful in the field.
 
LOL, man, that brings back memories.

We had some geeks in highschool that actually carried slide rules in custom leather holsters.

No, I wasn't one of them, I was the geek that built his own computers and radios, and did the old "blue handset" telephone hacking, etc. Paradoxically, I wasn't the pencil-neck geek type, I also lifted weights, practiced WWII combatives and went shooting every chance I got. Yes, redneck geeks still grown up with guns.

I still have the circular slide rule I used when I was flying.
 
Am I a geek? I am looking at a slide rule in a nice leather holster laying on my desk as I write this. Yeah, an (older) red neck geek also.:D
 
fujita yuji said:
Shotgun, that I must contest.
What we need is not a product.
What we need is minimal component and related wisdom to restore civilisation.
Click to expand...

I'll rephrase the question. Is modern civilization and technology really something we need? Are our lives better with it?
 
Shotgun said:
I'll rephrase the question. Is modern civilization and technology really something we need? Are our lives better with it?
Click to expand...

Modern civilisation has something evil and that's why we go out to the woods or mountains.
So, to be honest, to this question I have no definite answer.
All I can say is less dependent on hi-tech is better.
Moreover, it should be so good If we could live without doing any calculation.

Besides, I think sliderule or abacus is more like a simple knife than CPU or wireless digital communication device and that's why I started this thread.
 
I can do most any calculation I need long hand, but generally use an electronic calculator in the name of speed. My dad left me several slide rules and a Curta calculator (google it). I've never taken the time to learn how to use the Curta, but it sure is a neat gadget. Mathematics is an extremely powerful tool, and basic proficiency is free for the taking.
 
Shotgun said:
I'll rephrase the question. Is modern civilization and technology really something we need? Are our lives better with it?
Click to expand...

Yes!

and No!

I have young children. I am looking at my 6 year old son and thinking that I will kill anyone who wants to force me to raise him without a decent diet, medical technology, and educational opportunities.

"technology is evil" is about as smart as saying "guns kill people" - and I apologize if that sounds harsh. I deal with this constantly here in Davis with the appropriate technology and populatioon control advocates and the earth firsters. You want to not have ACCESS to a steel shovel, go right ahead. Don't drag me down with you.


I have young children. I'm looking at my 2 year old daughter and pondering her life without civilization. Sorry, most of history involves girls being sexual slaves in one flavor or another. Hell, most men are working machine slaves, too. Still- no civilization? Hell NO!


Then again- I get a desire to break the system when I think of the world my son and daughter are growing up to live in. Leif's park play group CANCELS park days if it hits 100 degrees outside. The parents watch the UV index and won't allow playdates when the sun is too bright. kumbaya, have another joint. Makes me twitch. In a bad way.

Leif and Astrid have very few options that are comfotable and secure if they don't want to be cubicle or register slaves all their life. Makes me want to open up some new frontiers in .Inc heads.

So yeah- technology and civilization are worth something. But they could be worth a lot more.
 
Shotgun said:
I'll rephrase the question. Is modern civilization and technology really something we need? Are our lives better with it?
Click to expand...

Yes.

I love spending time in the outdoors (including extended periods, when possible). I like learning and practising bushcraft and primitive living skills, survival skills, etc., and I think that the world would be a better place if more people shared my profound respect and appreciation for the natural world.

But.

I also like being able to communicate with colleagues around the world in the blink of an eye, access amazing amounts of data from my home, drink water that I know to be safe, take my relatives to an advanced modern hospital when they are sick, etc. Also, I'm happy to live at a time and in a place where my life expectancy is quite high. If this were the 1400's, I'd be approaching my expiration date. There are definitely a great many detractors that come with modernity's benefits, and I think that we need to work harder to mitigate these. The 'let's roll back the clock; down with technology' approach strikes me as selectively nostalgic.

Just my $0.02 CDN.

All the best,

- Mike

PS I'm glad that some of you can do complex math using (comparatively) primitive tools! I sure can't ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top