## Genesis
![[Thought Experiement -- Re-Inventing Electricity.png|400]]
[[Illusion of Explanatory Depth -- People feel they understand complex phenomena with far greater precision, coherence, and depth than they really do]]
similar:: [Knowledge is Ignorance](https://jimmyzhang.org/think/knowledge-is-ignorance)
You never turly "learned" something unless you were able to build it from scratch.
## Prompt
```
<Prompt>
Imagine I have the ability to travel back in time with only my current knowledge. My mission is to reinvent electricity for humanity and accelerate civilization. Analyze this scenario and provide a strategic plan covering:
1. Historical Period
- Identify the historical time period that is optimal for introducing electricity
- Justify your choice
2. Knowledge & Skills
The essential scientific and engineering knowledge I must know in advance
3. Technical Implementation Plan
Detailed step-by-step methods to recreate electricity from available resources
4. Social Engineering
- Recommend practical demonstrations that would impress contemporaries while proving electricity’s utility
- Identify the most influential people or institutions to target in the chosen time period & persuasion strategies
- Describe how to expand from a demonstration to a sustainable industry.
5. Risk Assessment
Identify possible dangers & mitigation strategies
---
Deliver the answer in a structured report format, with each step clearly labeled, concise summaries for quick reading, and in-depth subsections for technical details.
IMPORTANT -- the goal is that i can bring this report back in time and re-invent electricity. Anything mentioned has to be clearly defined. Assume high school knowledge from me and no more. Really go into detail -- for example, instead of saying "buiild a circuit", tell me where to find the materials and exactly how.
</Prompt>
```
## Raw Responses
[[<Raw Response> Thought Experiement -- Re-Inventing Electricity (ChatGPT Deep Research)]]
[[<Raw Response> Thought Experiement -- Re-Inventing Electricity (Claude Opus 4)]]
[[<Raw Response> Thought Experiement -- Re-Inventing Electricity (Gemini 2.5 Pro)]]
## My Thoughts & Takeaways
core: [[Social (human) engineering is more important than the knowledge itself to change the world]]
side-inspiration (a future billion-dollar business idea): [[History-Based VR Challenges for Education]]