I have a backyard forge, and today I decided to melt down some aluminum cansI did this, throwing in some old ingots into the mix, and got a pancake-shaped ingot about 4 inches in diameterI put the ingot in some old water I had sitting in a barrel next to my forge in order to cool it offI took it into my silent house, wondering what I was going to do with it, when I started to hear a tiny cracklingNo matter where I looked (even outside: I thought something had caught fire) I couldn't find the sourceI shifted my arm, putting the ingot closer to my ear without thinking, and the noise grew louderWhenever I put the ingot straight up to my ear, there is a sound mimicking that of rice crispies in milk, and I have no idea what could be causing itAny guesses? The phenomena doesn't occur with the other ingots I have made, but then again, none of my other ingots are exactly the same.
Yes, technological progress slowed during that timeButNo, I disagree with thatLook at the times before the dark agesNo rapid technological progress was being madeDuring the dark ages, metalworking and other related crafts advancedAlso, the dramatic end of the Dark and Middle ages motivated the Renaissance, which started the trend towards accelerated technological advancement (i.e., today)How do you know that we would have done well with accelerated technology? In a few hundred years, there is no certainty that we will colonize other planetsWithout the dark ages, the supposed accelerated technological progress could merely have sooner left us with a polluted, over-populated planet that had used up all non-renewable energy sourcesFinally, was it really preventable? A major empire was doomed.
Personally, I think most of our tech advancements have changed the way we handle social interaction and have made us more complacentIf the day ever comes when our inventions can do everything we do better what will we occupy our times doing? It's so easy to shoot someone an e-mail or an IM nowadays that most people don't feel a need to go out with people anymore and actually have physical interaction with friends more than once every 3-4 monthsI hear talk of pills that will allow you to basically have a great body without having to workoutWhat will that do for people? I can see people gorging themselves on food already because they know they only have to pop a pill later and they won't gain weightThey won't even need to actually go exercise to stay in shapeWe are slowly becoming more and more bound by our technology.
The Dark Ages was more of an effect than the causeBut yes, during the period between the fall of the Roman Empire up to the Fall of Constantinople, the western world was mired in technological stagnationThe sciences continued to expand and be investigated, but outside the western worldThe key events that led to technological stagnation were: 1The burning of the Library of Alexandria by the soldiers of Julius Caesar2The decline of Greek learning and scientific investigation during the Roman Empire3The destruction of the pagan temples by the Christians from the time of TheodosiusThis period also led to the suppression of scientific learning on a wide scaleThe temples being depositories and libraries of the ancients and thus locations of written knowledgeAlso the persecution of the pagans with the rise of Christianity during the late Roman Empire and during the Byzantine Empire4Barbarian invasions of Europe and Fall of the Roman EmpireAnother period of great losses of already few remaining records and archives and dwindling education.
Crystallization of something in the metal breaking as it cools.
