Is there a question in there somewhere?

It looks like a rant that you need to rely on other people. Unless you are planning on writing everything including the operating system, the device drivers, the compilers, and everything else, you'll need to rely on other developers.

I share the sentiment actually (to a degree).

It was one of my hidden motives to become an indie, and to effectively do it 'all on my own': know every angle.

There's a lot of satisfaction with doing more parts, being 100% responsible for a brick is more satisfying than 1% of a NASA shuttle.

That being said, that train of thought originated in the fear of not being able to do 'shit' after an apocalypse. My fear of not being able to properly build some of the commodities of today (Microwave!) led me to try to have a more hands-on experience. The compartmentalization of our society had led to great progress (otherwise un-achievable), but it also makes it that much more frail. However unlikely, what if all engineers and engineering books disappeared? How would the rest of us fend for ourselves?

I generally don't think too much about that, until somebody else mentions it obviously ;)

However unlikely, what if all engineers and engineering books disappeared? How would the rest of us fend for ourselves?

Prehistoric people manage, so I'm sure we'll cope.

It may be easier to cope with the pressure to know everything once you understand that there's a natural limit to what one can know about something in the universe.

On the deepest of levels, as studied by quantum theory, the universe is governed by phenomena that are unpredictable in a certain way. When you extrapolate this to the higher levels (where our daily life resides), you realize that some things are naturally out of complete comprehension. There's no way to know everything
The thought of that can be liberating to some, perhaps similar to the notion that there's a divine, mysterious force taking care of you and the universe.

My personal fear is more to every-day commodities matters personally. I don't seek to 'know everything', but having the understanding that I could rebuild a significant part of everyday's appliances in case of catastrophe would be a comforting thought.

how many programmers even know how ac current works, from the magnet to the transformer to the diodes. and quantum physics, i know nothing about, if I thought anything about Einstien's theory id be completely without any standard of knowledge to contest anything. You forgot how important it was to be a plumber, not all this high level c code that depends on the entire development of technology I know nothing about.

how many programmers even know how ac current works, from the magnet to the transformer to the diodes. and quantum physics, i know nothing about, if I thought anything about Einstien's theory id be completely without any standard of knowledge to contest anything. You forgot how important it was to be a plumber, not all this high level c code that depends on the entire development of technology I know nothing about.

Nobody knows everything, which is why human beings work in groups and use one another's skills to get things done. A plumber alone isn't going to get very much further than any other random guy if all modern technology were to disappear tomorrow. Very few people are self-sufficient, and they usually don't do it for the fun of it (and no, going "off the grid" doesn't count as being self-sufficient - it just means you can sort of generate your own power for now and the near future - do you also grow your own food, cut your own wood, can you heal yourself when you break your leg or get bitten by a venomous animal, can you repair your roof on your own if a storm knocks it down, and, more importantly, would you want to have to do all that yourself for the next 40 or 50 years?).

how many programmers even know how ac current works, from the magnet to the transformer to the diodes. and quantum physics, i know nothing about, if I thought anything about Einstien's theory id be completely without any standard of knowledge to contest anything. You forgot how important it was to be a plumber, not all this high level c code that depends on the entire development of technology I know nothing about.

You are a little bit incoherent, but Einstein tried to contest quantum mechanics right till his death, so even Geniuses may have challenges, even though they may seem to you to "know all".

Few electricians know how to design software. Few hardware techs know what a linked list is.

What's your point?