A lot of your life happens behind the scenes. In fact, it’s safe to say that the majority of your life happens in areas that you are not cognizant of. A good example of this concerns infrastructure. You assume that you go about your day and things just work. Your plumbing works. Your cell phone works.
You can hook up to the Internet whenever you want. But have you ever thought about the hidden structural elements behind all of these daily habits of yours?
One way to appreciate your life more is to understand how some of these infrastructures are put into place and maintained all around you. Wastewater is a good example, as sewage systems hook into all of the waterworks of your house. Recognizing how cell phone towers are constructed is another big one. And even though you expect the Internet to work automatically, have you ever thought about why it works in the first place?
Wastewater Systems
When you turn the faucet on, you expect water to come out. When you flush the toilet, you expect the water to go down. And you are extremely frustrated when these things don’t happen as you expect. But when you look at the technology behind wastewater treatment or plumbing fixtures, you’ll be fascinated to see how it all works together.
Civil engineers are truly brilliant. They create systems that handle the basic necessities of life so that you don’t have to worry about them not working. It’s usually only when the system breaks that you start thinking about it, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Cell Phone Towers
Everyone complains about bad cell service every once in a while. But what about no cell service at all? If no one ever built cell phone towers, then none of the communication structure that’s in place right now would be present.
The technology behind cell phone systems is truly incredible, and a number of public and private companies have spent billions of dollars creating this infrastructure so that you can watch YouTube whenever you want or reliably send and receive text messages.
The Internet
The Internet has changed your life. Perhaps for the better, or maybe sometimes it feels like for the worse. But regardless, the fact that you are connected to the world’s knowledge along with the world’s ignorance creates a different world for you to live in.
But do you know how the Internet’s network actually functions? If not, you are missing out on a big piece of wisdom regarding the secret infrastructure of your life. Even with a few hours of research, you will have a few moments of striking comprehension regarding the state of modern conductivity.