Hardly retarded if they are talking about mechanical water wheels to run something like a mill. That stuff is WAY older than the middle ages, and water wheels go back all the way to the 1st bronze age.
Now hydroelectric damns, yah I wouldn't quite believe it. But even far back as the bronze age, its known people in the Mediterranean would make simple acid batteries to eletro-plate goods often with salts of gold, sliver, or bronze. In fact its the origin of the idea of biting coins, since even as far back as the medival era people were well aware of counterfeit gold goods and coins made from plating lesser metals with a thin layer of gold.
And to say nothing of the fact the romans and greeks used clock-work computers. Many ages alter Americans would use similar devices in the Iowa Class battleships to calculate firing solutions for their guns.
The past is considerably more advanced than most people realize. They were not stupid, they just didn't have the pieces together yet to make advanced materials like steel in sufficient quantity to implement tech like steam engines. Like ancient egypt knew about steam engines, but rejected them because trying to hand-cast bronze was terribly expensive, and they has so many manual laborers, it was FAR cheaper to hire 10,000 men then try and build a very expensive machine that did the work of 100 men. Its the same reason modern India doesn't use caterpillars despite being well able to afford them.
Hardly retarded if they are talking about mechanical water wheels to run something like a mill. That stuff is WAY older than the middle ages, and water wheels go back all the way to the 1st bronze age.
Now hydroelectric damns, yah I wouldn't quite believe it. But even far back as the bronze age, its known people in the Mediterranean would make simple acid batteries to eletro-plate goods often with salts of gold, sliver, or bronze. In fact its the origin of the idea of biting coins, since even as far back as the medival era people were well aware of counterfeit gold goods and coins made from plating lesser metals with a thin layer of gold.
And to say nothing of the fact the romans and greeks used clock-work computers. Many ages alter Americans would use similar devices in the Iowa Class battleships to calculate firing solutions for their guns.
The past is considerably more advanced than most people realize.