As far as reliance on technology goes...always remember that once upon a time the bow was the pinnacle of human weaponry. It is technology - and for the most part, the bows we use are more advanced in terms of materials and construction than anything used in the ancient world.
Technology always - always - replaces a skill that was previously abundant. The difficulty of the skill is the reason the new technology is invented - to make it cheaper, easier, faster. Blast furnaces and assembly lines replaced blacksmiths. The car replaced the horse and buggy The bow replaced the atl-atl. The gun replaced the bow. The GPS replaced the compass.
The problem is that the new high-tech - electronics especially - works so much like magic that people stop thinking about it like a tool. 99% of people who use a computer all day, every day, at work, would be hard pressed to tell you how it works at even a basic level. People don't understand the way it works, but trust it implicitly. Unlike bows and arrows, where it is readily apparent how it all works, GPS units, smartphones and computers are, for most people, magic boxes.
I guess the point to my rambling is, for most people woodsmanship skills are irrelevant...right up until the magic box fails. The complexity of it means that it can't be fixed or replaced in a primitive situation. The trust people have in fragile electronics, with no backup older tech like compass or any skills at all, is extremely dangerous.
End Rant, sorry for the wall of text!
Topic: woodsmanship skills being lost? (Read 1734 times)
