If a pre-industrial society was confronted with a running car, what would they conclude?

Question

If they discovered a car which was running (assume it has several years worth of gas) but had no way to disassemble it, what would they conclude about the inner workings of the car and where it came from. Keep in mind that they have no counterpart to an internal combustion engine in their experience.

Answer 1

I guess that would be dependent on how far back you are talking.Go to the middle ages or before, and a lot of people would probably  think it was a monster of some sort and try to kill it. Or Worship it. Any time after that or in an area that was a little more advanced, and once it didn't eat someone, they would probably try to get get a scientist to disassemble it. Wonder how long it would have taken Gallio or De Vinci to disassemble it and figure it out.

Answer 2

Run from it, deify it, appease it, put it into some cosmology/mythology, try to kill it, own it, paint it, worship it.

What would they do when they got a look at their first insurance bill? Hee.

Innerworkings - Gods or Demons (gut feeling)

Tell us, what do you think our response would be to an enormous space ship hovering over the east coast I refer you  to H.G. Well's for a "what if" moment.

Answer 3

If they had access to the pedals and could experiment, I'm sure that after a few days, they would figure out that something was burning and turning something in there. They would probably think it was a steam engine of sorts.

Answer 4

As Sir Arthur C. Clarke observed, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Interestingly, there are real-world examples confirming this opinion: the so called "cargo cults" of some tribal societies in New Guinea and Melanesia. After first contact with western people, some of these societies developed the belief that manufactured western goods ("cargo") have been created by divine spirits and are intended for the local indigenous people, but that white people have unfairly gained control of these objects.

Answer 5

This is a true story. I live wayfar out in the hills. I volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels. One old guy in his 90s told me a great story about when he was a boy, about maybe age 10 or younger. He heard in the distance a GREAT NOISE!

He went loping across the hills to tell his cousin, yelled out "Guess what! Guess what I heard! A TRAIN!"

His cousin doubled over with laughter, being much more Sophisticated and Experienced and at least 2-3 years older. "You fool! That was an AUTO!"

(Needless to say there are no train tracks out here for 50 or 100 miles and never were.)

Answer 6

It would be magic.

Maybe good. Maybe bad.

Answer 7

It depends on when and where the car was discovered.  Pre-industrial societies have encountered Europeans and North Americans with vehicles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and oftentimes they assumed that the owners were either gods or devils.  The Romans or Greeks of the classical era would probably have been fascinated by the vehicle, and the people of Europe during the middle ages would probably have assumed it to be witchcraft and burned it's creator.  Just before the industrial age, Europeans and North Americans would probably have just thought that it was a fascinating novelty from the future, and wondered how it got there.