Christophe wrote:
Mmmm we must not have the same sense of "mastery" ... when we master a technology, it means that controls perfectly: this is not the case for hydrocarbons given the disasters (of all kinds ... including wars) that their past AND future exploitation causes ...
Continue in your analogy please because I still did not understand the relationship with the 2 examples and this subject ... (I am a little kite ...)
Perfection is not of this world, any use necessarily leads to accidents.
I have mastered bikes from a very young age but that did not prevent me from taking a few beautiful bowls, it is almost consubstantial by the way! It is valid for walking, or even eating (who has never swallowed crookedly?)
Given the gigantic quantities of hydrocarbons used for more than a century and the number of accidents (low in terms of use), I think we can speak of mastery.
Evolution takes place through the process of failure / success / memorization.
This is the case for technologies, of course.
As mentioned above, I do not see how 19th century society could have mastered thermonuclear fusion or high-efficiency photovoltaics without taking other previous steps?
It was in itself quite logical that we extract coal, then oil and finally gas to make the industry work (and therefore by extension generate pollution ...).
There are therefore many thresholds to be crossed, and I hardly see how it would have been possible to envisage "shortcuts", given the knowledge of the time (and social determinisms).
Worse if future travelers had disclosed some secrets to their ancestors, this would have been the best way to destroy humanity!