766K views · Jan 16, 2019 · 49:22 · 12 HN recommenders · 18 mentions · discussed 2019–2026
The first episode of James Burke's 1978 BBC series Connections traces modern dependence on complex technological networks, starting with the 1965 New York blackout, and moves through ancient agriculture to Kuwait's oil-driven leap.
Why Hacker News points people here: Heavily recommended as a masterpiece of popular science and the classic illustration of how fragile interdependent systems are, trotted out in every blackout or supply chain thread.
“It's a masterpiece of popular science production made better with the grainy film patina of the 70s and 80s.”HN comment, 2022
“Years back I was introduced to a terrific BBC show called Connections with James Burke (1978).”
Episode on society's reliance on power and fragility without it.
Years back I was introduced to a terrific BBC show called Connections with James Burke (1978). The first episode, available on YouTube [0], is all about the world's reliance on power and that within a short period of time we'd be catapulted back to the plow. [0] this video
“I highly recommend James Burke's Connections”
Original Connections series on technology and society.
I highly recommend James Burke's Connections (the original series if this kind of thing interests you) this video
“It's a little dated (1978), but it's an excellent watch even today.”
Shows how losing electricity sends us back to the plow.
For the uninitiated, Connections is a documentary series from the seventies exploring the interconnectedness of technology. In the first episode, titled "The Trigger Effect" [0], Burke shows that if electricity were taken away from us, we'd be sent back to the plow. It's a little dated (1978), but it's an excellent watch even today. [0] this video
“It's a masterpiece of popular science production made better with the grainy film patina of the 70s and 80s.”
A masterpiece of popular science production.
^^^ Thank you! ^^^ Came here to reccommend Connections by James Burke and glad to see someone else has mentioned it. It's a masterpiece of popular science production made better with the grainy film patina of the 70s and 80s. this video
“Connections is one of the greatest shows in television.”
Pilot episode on dependence on technology we don't understand.
Connections is one of the greatest shows in television. The pilot episode is amazing, highlighting the problem with dependence on technology that we don't understand. "Never have so many people understood so little about so much." Even more true today. this video
“he talks about how fragile our complex infrastructure can be”
Burke on how fragile complex infrastructure is.
John Baez's blog has a series on how civilizations collapse, first looking at the Anasazi, and then how one might model it using agent-based modeling and also looking at general collapse through differential equations: link link link link James Burke is a science historian and BBC documentarian, and in his first episode of "Connections" a series on the nature of innovation, he talks about how fragile our complex infrastructure can be, and, much like this article, how hopeless individualist survival skills would be once we "leave our technological womb". this video In his later series, After the Warming, a 1988 documentary which imagines what it would look like in 2050 if we failed to act on climate change (in which it predicted refugee crises, wars, hurricanes, mass flooding), and looks back on thousands of years of climate shaping civilizational rise and collapse, from the Ice Age to the Nabataeans to today and beyond. It gets most things scarily right, with the notable exception of failing to see Japanese economic bubble popping in 1991. link link
“Watch episode one of James Burke's excellent documentary "Connections" to get an idea of what occurs when that breaks down”
Shows what happens when interlinked systems break down.
> " we're not going to stop being able to produce enough food to feed everyone in the US " The Great Depression? Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic? I'm sure there are modern examples as well. There may be a plentitude of food and other products but if the societal and economic structures that process it and get it to where it needs to be collapse, that food might as well be on the far side of the moon. And even producing that food is questionable. Modern production is reliant on mechanical and electronic systems nowadays, even farming. Without replacement parts and consumable supplies, everything rapidly grinds to a halt. We saw an example of this in the recent COVID-19 shortages; lack of packaging and other consumables from overseas blocked domestic production of products even when the actual content of the product was still available. Everything is interlinked today. Everything. Watch episode one of James Burke's excellent documentary "Connections" to get an idea of what occurs when that breaks down: this video
“For those who haven't experienced Connections-style history, four episodes are on YouTube”
Introduction to Connections-style history.
I completely agree. For those who haven't experienced Connections-style history, four episodes are on YouTube: this video My favorite is this one about proto-computers that came about due to the Black Death: link
“Your comment reminds me of the excellent series "Connections" by James Burke.”
Opening episode asks the question raised.
Your comment reminds me of the excellent series "Connections" by James Burke. The opening episode in the series asks that exact question. this video
“similar to James Burke’s excellent series “Connections”.”
Compared to the excellent How We Got to Now series.
I recall visiting the museum many years ago and seeing a demo where they heated a glass rod and pulled a fiber. This was probably when fiber optics was in its infancy. It was definitely a highlight for a young science nerd. I would love to go back some day. Along those lines I highly recommend the episode of the show “How we Got to Now” about glass [0]. It tells the story of how clear glass was developed, something I always took for granted, but early glass was not clear and took a major effort to create. The show then goes into how Corning took it to a new level for fiber optics. The whole series is excellent and similar to James Burke’s excellent series “Connections”. [1] [0] link [1] link [1] this video
“the first episode of James Burke’s Connections describes some of the same concepts and themes in the context of the NYC blackout of 1965”
Disturbing first episode on the 1965 NYC blackout.
There’s definitely not a lot to like, but there is a lot to appreciate. If you want a somewhat toned down version, the first episode of James Burke’s Connections describes some of the same concepts and themes in the context of the NYC blackout of 1965, and is only somewhat less disturbing, but is easily the most upsetting episode of the otherwise charming educational program. this video link link link
“I think James Burke's classic talking about the fragility of our complex interdependent systems starting the episode from the 1965 Northeast blackout is still relevant”
Classic on fragility of interdependent systems, from the 1965 blackout.
I think James Burke's classic talking about the fragility of our complex interdependent systems starting the episode from the 1965 Northeast blackout is still relevant and an interesting watch: this video
“it is a presentation of technical development that meets my standard.”
Presentation of technical development meeting the commenter's standard.
They are not blog posts but it is a presentation of technical development that meets my standard. james burke connections this video Tim Hunkin Secret Life of Machines link I have read plenty of blog posts that meet my standard. If I can think of one I will post it.
“Modern life depends on surprisingly deep connections.”
Illustrates deep connections in modern life.
I wouldn't be surprised if it is spreading this way. If not already, then certainly in future. Having said that, a steady stream of supplies is what will allow everyone else to stay holed-up. If you can't get the supplies you need to get through the ordeal then you'll start to see individuals go out on far-and-wide "hunting trips" to find those supplies (at best) or you'll start to see societal breakdowns which will give Covid-19 a run for its money on lives and damages. That's more than just trucks delivering food. It may be trucks delivering electrical equipment to keep refrigeration running, to keep other trucks, moving, etc. Modern life depends on surprisingly deep connections. this video
I was going to edit but I think a new comment here is more fair: The other comments about commercial vs. residential TP are good, too. Turns out our economy is complex. Think of how even this discussion about TP reveals a large scale bifurcation of how a singular, simple product is produced and supplied. Once you bring in the rest of the upstream and downstream supply chains... it's incomprehensibly complex. This gets to something I'm concerned about which is the readiness of policymakers to designate this business "non-essential" and so should shut down, and that business "essential" and should remain in operation. How much does the essential economy depend on the non-essential economy? I mentioned logistics, I bet trucks carrying TP (of either class) also depend on other, less essential products... how many of these trucks were marginal in the good times and will end up closing up shop reducing overall readily available container space? Some of my clients are companies that make use of industrial CNC machines; and I've seen some of the same machines in use in very different businesses. For example, one client made higher end bicycle parts and the other made lab equipment for bio-tech applications. One is likely considered essential, the other not: the company that makes the CNC machines will still get business from the "essential" business while they won't from the non-essential business. How will that CNC machine company deal with the reduced economies of scale or their ow
“(James Burke's Connections, ref. cascading power cut 1965)”
Burke covers the 1965 cascading power cut.
>" overloading the remaining servers and crashing the subsystem. The failure snowballed until " the entire Eastern Seaboard was without power? this video (James Burke's Connections, ref. cascading power cut 1965)
The cost of a company not preparing for a catastrophe is hugely externalized, resulting in a lopsided risk equation that represents a market failure. In texas, the cost of that market failure can be measured in preventable deaths, none of which private energy companies needed to account for when managing risk. In the event of a solar flare knocking out national power for months, the cost could be the collapse of modern civilization. this video
“The goal of the series after all is in its title: to teach viewers how to make their own connections.”
Full episode context; Burke teaches viewers to make connections.
Arguably, that's the rest of the programme. The next scene opens in Egypt, at the dawn of agriculture, with the invention of the plough itself. See the full episode: this video The scene linked in this post ends at 29:33. Burke's style isn't to explicitly state all lessons and relationships. The goal of the series after all is in its title: to teach viewers how to make their own connections.
