>Whoever isn't fascinated by the modern power grid is slightly dead inside. The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems, garbage disposal and recycling, and so on.

I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things, even in a calamitous context.

> I feel like the vast majority of people have absolutely no interest in learning about these things

True, but shows like How It's Made are incredibly popular, even if they give a very very surface view of the details.

Definitely, but how does that relate to the power grid being a mundane system?

Are you saying that we're supposed to take the word of the majority when deciding if something is "mundane"? In that case, almost everything we're discussing and upvoting here on HN is "mundane", because <90% (just a guess) of humans actually give a shit.

how unfortunate for them

I agree, but I down voted the comment for now because it doesn't really contribute anything to the conversation and doesn't seem like it means to.

> I think the word "mundane" is out of place.

I think it's perfectly fine. "Mundane" means "commonplace", "everyday"; it's an antonym of "exotic".

Some people use it in a slightly derogatory fashion because, unlike you, they don't appreciate the complexity and ingenuity of many mundane things. Which is a shame, but I think sadly inevitable, as many (most?) are designed to be unobtrusive; the only time you should notice a sewage system, say, is when it goes wrong.

Aren't we all slightly dead inside, then? I'm sure there are things you take no interest in, until it's pointed out to you.

Agreed: nobody is interested in everything. If someone was talking about the 19th century Slovakian art movement, I'd probably zone out.

But there are some complex systems that form the basis of civilization that just cannot be simply dismissed as "mundane", at least in my opinion. Systems that, without their presence and correct end-to-end operation, would result in absolute collapse of civilization. Systems that have been developed and perfected through the work of countless scientists, engineers, and laborers over the span of decades.

The power grid falls into this category, while the aforementioned 19th century movement does not.

Of course, I'm probably not aware of all such systems, and I'd definitely be delighted when someone points one out. Heck, I only learned about the complexity of HDTV standards throughout history on a HN thread today! It does not fall under the category I noted above, but I still found it deeply interesting.

I am interested in everything - even 19th century Slovakian art movements.

I love talking to people who are interested in anything other than themselves - it really doesn't matter what as long as they are interested in something enough to have learnt and thought about the topic in some depth.

The real shame is so few people are interested in anything at all.

Honestly, that's an awesome attitude to have, as people nowadays have a much shorter attention span (myself included!).

And yes, I agree: it's getting harder and harder to hold a deep conversation with someone on a technical topic, even in a professional setting. Or perhaps I'm just not looking correctly?

It is really hard to get people to open up about their interests. People with interests are so used to being shut down by other people "yeah that is interesting now let's talk more about me" that you need to slowly coax them out. The best way is to listen intently and ask probing questions to draw them out. Once they feel safe you will have some amazing conversations.

Just watch out for the bores that will just parrot whatever they heard on FOX/CNN last night.

The phase I like to remind myself is: "Be interested, not interesting."

Obviously, trying promoting such an idea to a culture that worships the selfie is foolish at best.

We can at least try :)

I am the same way. Sometimes, when I hear someone get excited/interested about something I know a lot about, I try and shut up and just listen to them talk about it. It is really a great experience.

Would you put wheel design/construction in the "mundane" category? That has similar characteristics, I think, except for the scale and coordination required.

I think I disagree that those characteristics necessitate interest. People can consider the fact that the electric grid is an awesome accomplishment, while also having no care for understanding its history or inner workings.

I'd probably go for automobile manufacturing instead, since (modern) wheel design is a subset of that; i.e., without vehicles, we wouldn't really need advanced tire technology.

That's true. I just feel that a better term could be used, since "mundane" makes it seem like the thing you're talking about is "no big deal". It just feels wrong to use it on something like the power grid.

> The same applies to a ton of other "mundane" things, like road and rail networks, sewage systems,

One of my still-on-the-shelf projects is to photograph, geo-locate and categorize all the manholes from my city that have been installed prior to WW2 in order to document how the city evolved over time (surprisingly enough my city still has manholes from the early 1900s), because a city with no working sewage system cannot be called a "city".

I live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I know a guy here who's hobby is exploring the old underground tunnels – sewage, overflow channels, catacombs. He's making a map of these because there's currently no official complete map. He often finds places there in a very alarming state – like, about to collapse and create a huge hole in the ground – and reports this to muni service so they can fix it and prevent a disaster.

Check with the city first - in the US they often have a management program due to the need to inspect manholes. Depending upon how advanced they are they may even have georeferenced photos and age information.

That's only because those with contempt for the mundane hold sway on the connotation of the word, essentially "of the world", and therefore quite rightly more fascinating than any of the airy fairy arty farty nonsense favoured by those higher ups.