Chinese were innovative but their inventions at that time focused on "green" i.e. energy-saving technology, because wood and coal were so expensive to transport, whereas northwestern Europe, far from Malthusian limits with ample fodder, focused on energy-intensive innovations.
The importance of space-filling (dendritic) networks in transportation: https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2014/10/transportation-divergence-and.html … https://twitter.com/NickSzabo4/status/525137982680883201 …https://twitter.com/BelieveInBob/status/900121170623606784 …
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the Ming dynasty "bureaucrats" wanted to focus on building a self-sufficient empire. China had the largest % of global GDP during those centuries. "Create wealth by invading the world" is a uniquely "Western" strategy
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I'm sure Tibetans will be relieved to hear that.
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it's complicated. China's not interested in Tibet for its wealth, but mainly to protect their western border.
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Why not protect their own border instead of Tibet's?
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bc it's easier to protect mountains than flat ground. if foreign powers occupy Tibet, China is completely exposed.
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Tricky situation, thanks for the explanation. Still not ethical for China to claim Tibet.
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um. 1.4 billion Chinese ppl might disagree with you, but ok.
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You could say this trucking map is a "carbon copy" pun intended of the Mississippi watershed.
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It spreads well beyond that watershed, but does seem to still follow some supply chain relationships originally based on water transport.
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Both inside, and outside the head!pic.twitter.com/6YaOhhXpLv
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Both inner/outer contain transportation systems that follow Constructal Law. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructal_law …) Or, at least appear that way to us!
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About Morphology or How Alan Turing Made the Dream of Goethe Come True http://hans.wyrdweb.eu/about-morphology-or-how-alan-turing-made-the-dream-of-goethe-come-true/ …
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@matettore a zillion thanks for the link, Hofstadter fans should rush to that site for an elegant reprise of elegant themes, non-Hofstadter fans should rush there for a fascinating history of certainty, and the lack thereof.
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the space filling concept was captured wonderfully by Geoffrey West in the book Scale, thanks for sharing these images
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the terminal units of such hierarchical networks are typically identical and a natural selection process makes these networks optimized
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Nice follow-up comment quoting Freeman Dyson on post-Roman tech of hay as winter fodder enabling better animal muscle power in N. Europe.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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