I need a certain type of catastrophe

[nexus]

What event or series of events could cause a global backslide in the technology (about 30-50 years) without causing a massive population die off or razing most of civilization to the ground. Cities would still be intact, but most of the high tech (most electronics) would be non functional. Rubber science is fine (this is a Chamopions setting) but some quasi realism would be good.

[Vanguard00]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

A falling missile platform (ostensibly a "communications satellite") explodes in the upper atmostphere, causing worldwide EMP.

[Speedball]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

The EMP was the first idea that popped into my head as well, but you could also use persistant and unusual solar activity for an explanation as to why newly manufactured electronics would continue to be inoperative or unreliable.

 

Interesting plot seed, by the way.

[Crimson Arrow]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

A massive EMP being generated in some way?

 

However, that wouldn't necessarily stop the technology eventually being replaced, which I think might be what you are after.

 

How about the world's reserves of silicon being destroyed or lost? Perhaps a character like Marvel's Sandman gets a massive power upgrade and takes over all the world's sand. To defeat him, he gets dumped into another dimension, taking a lot of usable silicon with him. Mind you, that would leave you without beaches, or sand for concrete too.

 

Could some powerful villain seize the silicon supplies, then use them up, or trade them off to an inter-galactic villain?

 

No silicon = no silicon chips.

 

I imagine someone is now going to tell me that they've stopped using silicon (I'm not very techie).

[Blue]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Gotta agree. An electormagnetic pulse was my first thought.

 

A solar event could interfere with communications. But not sure what else.

 

Of course temporal events (events that alter the timeline and our advancement therein).

 

Aliens somehow "jamming" our inferior technology.

 

There's a shift in focus when it's discovered that Science causes cancer

[UglyJimStudly]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

If rubber science is OK, you could maybe have some big mojo that increases the electrical resistance of whatever substances you're interested in limiting. Get rid of semiconductors and you get rid of transistors, which pretty much makes most modern electric items stop working until some entrepreneur gets back into the vacuum tube business. After that things will be far bigger and bulkier.

 

Without some kind of big mojo (be it a spell, or a change in the laws of physics, or whatever) then any crisis is probably transitory, since it'll still be possible to rebuild the electronics. You can probably avoid a big die-off if you stage the changes over a few months, and make them detectable, but I think a sudden change might be bad for a lot of people's health. All those electronics do play a major role in the transportation and distribution of food, water, and power, after all.

[Trebuchet]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

A massive EMP being generated in some way?

 

However, that wouldn't necessarily stop the technology eventually being replaced, which I think might be what you are after.

 

How about the world's reserves of silicon being destroyed or lost? Perhaps a character like Marvel's Sandman gets a massive power upgrade and takes over all the world's sand. To defeat him, he gets dumped into another dimension, taking a lot of usable silicon with him. Mind you, that would leave you without beaches, or sand for concrete too.

 

Could some powerful villain seize the silicon supplies, then use them up, or trade them off to an inter-galactic villain?

 

No silicon = no silicon chips.

 

I imagine someone is now going to tell me that they've stopped using silicon (I'm not very techie).

Silica is 25.7% OF Earth's mass by weight, and is the second most common element after oxygen. It's pretty unlikely silicon could all be removed.

 

A continuous solar event is the best prospect if Nexus is looking for a natural event. Of course a magical event that hampers modern electronic devices could also do the job while still allowing use of "tube" technology from the 1940's. The Brits call these "valves."

[Vanguard00]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Why not combine the EMP and alien ideas? Aliens destroy our satellite system and put into place a series of EMP generators. Humans are effectively landlocked without modern science until some way can be found to remove the EMP generators.

 

Reasons the aliens did this: fear of possible Human expansion into space ("Quick! Bottle 'em up before they destroy the universe like they have their own planet!"), or as a way to soften us up for a forthcoming invasion (which may or may not ever come, depending upon your storyline, or might not come for many years at the very least).

[OddHat]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Go from the low-tech end. Remember all the people in the 60s and 70s who claimed we'd be out of oil by 1985? They were almost right. The global energy crisis has gutted industrial economies, greatly harmed industry, vastly reduced peoples ability to get around, and slowed most technological progress to a halt since 1972. An American industrial theorist never went to Japan, their Auto industry never took off, and Detroit remained king. A certain British Scientist ended up getting very involved in the Energy Conservation movement, and web browsers were never invented. A certain American Engineering student went into the petrochemical industry, and home computers remained expensive toys. 2005 looks a lot like 1975, maybe even a bit behind, though here and there a few pockets of true 21st century technology remain.

[AlHazred]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

"Disaster" (to me, at least) implies accidental, possibly uncontainable. Since the best way to destroy electronics but leave lives intact is EMP, that'd probably be your best bet. The problem with a missile platform or some such is that such an event would only target a certain area. Even if it was large enough to bathe the globe, the bulk of the earth itself would protect the electronics on the far side of the planet (leading to instant advantage for the lucky quarter).

 

As Speedball suggested, the Sun would be a good culprit. If the Sun suddenly started bombarding us with pulses of electromagnetic energy that actually caused damage to electronics, it would have to be extremely large. Recently, the Sun had some massive eruptions of radiation and material; the only effect we noticed was some particularly heavy static.

 

So, I'd say your best bet was the Sun, but you'd better have an "explanation" for the unprecedented (within human memory) Solar activity.

[OddHat]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Gremlins. Ever since Nazi Arcano-Scientists managed to create these little monsters in WWII, occult terrorist groups and government agencies around the world have sought the secret.

 

No one knows who succeeded. Or why they succeeded so well.

 

Now, all over the world, any technology at a draws the attention of hungry, angry, sharp toothed little flying monsters, bats that can bite through metal. Kill one, kill a hundred, it doesn't make much difference. Clear a garage or machine shop today and they'll just be back next week or next month, the magical equivelant of cockroaches. Government agencies can aford to keep a staff of guards and mechanics 24/7 to keep things running, and most people keep a cat or two (gremlins hate cats) but in the end technology has taken a nose dive.

 

Gremlins.

[sinanju]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

In A FIRE UPON THE DEEP, Vernor Vinge described a universe where the physical laws vary depending on how far out you go from the galactic core. Near the core (the "unthinking depths", things are really low-tech and sentience is impossible; humans who travel too far into that area find their intelligence decreasing (and their ship's systems failing. Lots of things we take for granted on earth simply won't work.

 

Earth is in the "slow zone" where tech works, but not Uber-Tech. FTL tech will NEVER work near earth, for instance. Nearer the edge of the galaxy you get Star Trek and space opera-style ultratech becoming possible. And out in the void between galaxies, magic-tech works...but you also find impossibly powerful, god-like entities too.

 

So maybe the galactic core exploded and the barriers shifted. Or maybe it's a natural (but long-term) cycle we've never experienced before. If it happened every 1000 years, how would we know?

 

Earth is suddenly subject to more stringent physical limits on what works and what doesn't. You can make it as bad as you want, and it can get worse (or better) if you decide you want to change things.

[CBikle]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Some major chemical shift changes the nature of oil/petroleum making them

unusable as fuel or lubricants.

[LadyChaos]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

There was a story/book awhile back (I want to say it was connected to The Andromeda Strain) that told about a petroleum product-eating organizm that came to Earth either by space exploration or maybe a meteor. Or maybe it was about a virus that ate oil slicks in the ocean that went nuts. Awwww, I can't remember.

 

Anyway, you could create something similar which attacked and destroyed the portions of technology you want to destroy.

[CBikle]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Maybe fire just stops existing one day. What would that do ?

[Highwayman]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

I might be getting this wrong, but I'd think solar activity powerful enough to fry electronics on the ground would also drown out any radio or TV broadcast, even if you rebuilt the transmitters and receivers with tubes.

[LoresLost]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

The Gray Goo solution.

 

Dr T.K. a reknown mathmatician and engineer at a large University secretly creates a self replecating nanomachines which destroys all refinded semiconductor materials. After much planing he releases these devices in multiple locations on earth. After only a few weeks the nanomachines destroy most of the semiconductors on earth and being that devices based on semiconductors are the only means to create the cure for them it leaves science without the means to stop the technology "infection" until another technology is found. These devices hide in the very bodies of the engineers and scientist that are trying to create semi conductors (as well as any one who has touched an infected elecronic device) making any attempt to rid the world of the devices nigh imposible.

[John T]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

If your universe works around the idea that magic and technology are mutually exclusive or inversely proportional to each other, any event that dramatically increases the level of magic in your world would cause a corresponding decrease in the level of viable technology.

 

John T

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Continuous EMP/solar activity is probably your best bet, but even so there would be some well-shielded stuff that would continue to work. And going forward, people could build new, well-shielded stuff that would work. But 99+% of electronics existing now would be trash.

 

There's going to be casualties with that (plane crashes, etc) but not massive die-offs (assuming the world powers don't freak out and nuke each other).

 

If you really want to be mean, have several events. The continuous solar flares, which cause the oil-eating nanites to go nuts, destroying the world's oil supplies. The EMP also causes shutdowns/meltdowns at many nuclear plants.

 

Without electronics or easy fuels, things take a big step back. Lots of people get hats with lights and start mining coal in a more old-fashioned way again. Trees get scared. Urban society would face major adjustments - hard to refrigerate, get food shipments, power, etc. Without fuel and power, fires in cities could get out of control pretty easily.

 

I think the easiest thing to do really is just set the game in 1940.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Aliens steal all Earth's engineers and scientists to use as technicians in their massive space armada. The people remaining have to re-learn things from scratch. On the plus side, the aliens bring Elvis back.

[Stray Cat]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

What event or series of events could cause a global backslide in the technology (about 30-50 years) without causing a massive population die off or razing most of civilization to the ground. Cities would still be intact' date=' but most of the high tech (most electronics) would be non functional. Rubber science is fine (this is a Chamopions setting) but some quasi realism would be good.[/quote']

 

What about a dramatic reversal of the magnetic field? We think they've done that sort of thing before, and I bet that would mess with technology somewhat. Dunno, that might do bad things to people too though, since our magnetosphere might flake out for a short time too... Worth looking to?

 

Or... Someone has messed with the core of the Earth in a new and unpredicted way with new and unpredicted results!

 

My vote is on a compound unforeseen problem... like a major solar flare coincidental with the release of evil nanotech silicon-eating gremlins.... (EDIT: Argh! SS already said something like this! Shoot!)

 

Cat

[Whitewings]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

There was a story/book awhile back (I want to say it was connected to The Andromeda Strain) that told about a petroleum product-eating organizm that came to Earth either by space exploration or maybe a meteor. Or maybe it was about a virus that ate oil slicks in the ocean that went nuts. Awwww, I can't remember.

 

Anyway, you could create something similar which attacked and destroyed the portions of technology you want to destroy.

Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters. It was about a company that created a bacterium which fed on certain very rare plastics, from which the company made its soft drink containers. You'd pull off a strip on the can, exposing the eaters to UV. They'd "wake up," and chow down, digesting the can and turning it into harmless goo. After hundreds of tests, they started putting out the new, environmentally sound, biodegradable containers. You can fill in the rest.

[AlHazred]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Earth is suddenly subject to more stringent physical limits on what works and what doesn't. You can make it as bad as you want' date=' and it can get worse (or better) if you decide you want to change things.[/quote']

Jack Vance wrote a story about this, where the Solar System travels into a region of space where the old laws of physics no longer apply. People become Relicts, an increasingly small population of rational people who attempt to do things the old way, ekeing out a meager existence. However, some crazy people exist whose thought processes cause them to fit in perfectly with the new "non-rational" universe. They become Beings, almost godlike in their power.

 

Though, I think that might be a bit more extreme than nexus wanted.

[sinanju]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

Jack Vance wrote a story about this, where the Solar System travels into a region of space where the old laws of physics no longer apply. People become Relicts, an increasingly small population of rational people who attempt to do things the old way, ekeing out a meager existence. However, some crazy people exist whose thought processes cause them to fit in perfectly with the new "non-rational" universe. They become Beings, almost godlike in their power.

 

Poul Anderson wrote one too. "Brainwave," in which the earth moved into a region of space where the laws were different. In that case it turned out that most of the universe was less restrictive on electrical, electromagnetic, and electrochemical effects. End result: humans (who'd evolved under more restrictive physical laws) became Protector-level smart, and animals achieved human level intelligence. We whipped up high tech spaceships and went exploring, and found that most of the alien species in the universe were...special (short bus special) compared to us because they hadn't had to overcome our handicap.

 

Nexus could always do it backwards...

[freakboy6117]

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

 

the problem with an EMP that effects a majority of modern technology will pretty much result in a major die off how long would a city like new york survive with no food power water transport saniatation oh and the complete destruction of normal finacial transactionmoney still works but does your bank accopunt still exist and even if it did hwo woudl youget that cash when only 1/7th or less of teh money in circulation is actually printed.

 

poor countries with limited high tech infrastructer will be fine and certain high tech protected facilities would be much better off but the global balance of power would change over night.

 

how about being really evil.

an alienrace turns up there more advanced than humanity but the rate of invention the human race has managed scares them they think we wil be a big threat in a century so they turn up on earth one night put the whole population in statsis and then rewind the clock 50 years and keep it there.