alt Hacker NewsThere's also this insane (or amazing) drive towards productivity that we don't notice - we build roads that not only support 80+ MPH 18 wheelers, but do so durably and safely!
You can build a road an 18 wheeler can transit with manual labor, just slowly. And if you don't need to support more than a Jeep, the road can almost build itself.
Or another way - building a modern house with modern conveniences and efficiencies is pretty dependent on a ton of things.
Building a sufficient house in many parts of the world is dependent on manpower.
Being W.Australia, where the Pintupi Nine popped into the modern world during the 1980s, there are a few people happily getting along with no house at all, as they and their families ever did for a few thousand years past.
But on that matter of road building, here's a vague relative kitted up to travel and take photo's in 1920 or so: https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/1d5472eb9b8a4e3e...
and here's one of his images taken much the same time of a road and railway being built: https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/20d3070e95eb924a...
It's all manpower and horse drays - the really tough bits are dropping, chopping, and moving those trees, they're a bit bigger and tougher than they look.