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Comment by bluerooibos | Hacker News Reader

> Is anyone making LLM-in-a-box for emergency supply kits yet?

Maybe someone should be making this, but for rebuilding society in the event of a disaster - a solar-powered black box with most of humanity's knowledge within. Even something running one of the Qwen models would be useful.

"So, we had a nuclear war and need to start from scratch. How do I turn this rock into a computer chip?"

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If you are rebuilding society most of this knowledge is useless for centuries. You don't have enough labor to build and maintain factories. You will spend centuries in the hunter gather phase struggling to survive, while slowly building agriculture. You will be lucky if you can teach your grandkids to read - since that will be a useless skill.

Print important knowledge on paper and store it in a desert. in 2000 years society and population will advance enough to get a jump start based on our knowledge.

There is no rebuilding society because of energy. All of the oil and coal that could be extracted by a civilization that only has wood for fuel has been used. If we go back to the Stone Age, we aren’t returning to the present. If we’re lucky, we will get to the Middle Ages.

There is still a lot of coal and oil to be had. It isn't as easy as it used to be, but there is still a lot. If we get to the middle ages then society can build a lot with knowledge. More efficient iron production than what the middle ages (when still using wood) had for example would be useful, and our knowledge of technology may allow bicycles sooner (bicycles need higher technology than a steam engine)

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