Consider the possibility of everything going dead, completely dead, indefinitely. It would be worse than technology reverting back to 50 years ago because that old technology doesn't exist any more.
All forms of transportation, all forms of communication, power production, EVERYTHING would be dead forever. Permanently damaged and beyond repair.
“Consider the possibility of everything going dead”
Wrong. An EMP cannot do that. If it did, ask yourself how did we ever record nuclear tests if it destroys all things electronic and electrical.
“All forms of transportation, all forms of communication, power production, EVERYTHING would be dead forever. Permanently damaged and beyond repair. “
A bit of a Chicken Little “THE SKY IS FALLING”, aren’t you?
But everything else is so interconnected (no electricity to pump water or fuel, nuclear power plants and chemical processing plants going down, sometimes as catastrophically as Monica Lewinsky, generators at hospitals running out of fuel) that we'd be in for a *LOT* of fun even after the feral yutes were all dead after turning on each other or being sniped at one-by-one in the second ring of bedroom communities.
The interesting speculative part, would be (heh heh heh) what would happen -- societally -- to the Zuckerbergs and Gates and so forth, after they'd fled for their New Zealand redoubts: I doubt they'd be welcome back anytime soon.
“EVERYTHING would be dead forever. Permanently damaged and beyond repair.”
A lot of stuff will be damaged, but not everything. We simply do not know how much will be damaged, and to what extent - but we know a lot of stuff has the potential to be damaged.