Question: Did you learn about so-called “simple machines” (lever, wheel-axle, inclined plane, wedge, screw is one popular set) in school? Did your teacher critique the model or offer alternatives to it?

(for context, from a modern engineering perspective, this is basically a bullshit theory of machines on par with 5 elements, 4 humors etc)

Delver at contraptions.venkateshrao.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

Yes, they were taught as something like “the basic mechanics” and they could be combined like legos for more complex ones. But I personally never understood how those basics were discovered. Interesting, they sit in my mind in a diff bucket than friction and Young’s modulus etc.