system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 : how did people in the past ensure that a building/structure will be structurally sound?
gpt
They basically knew from experience in what way to build buildings for them to be sturdy. To the modern eye, the surviving ancient buildings are massively over-engineered (which is likely one factor of why they are still standing). Like, today we would build the same kind of structure using much less of the same materials. As the saying goes, anyone can build a bridge that stands, but only an engineer can build a bridge that barely stands. In this sense, all modern buildings “barely stand”, that is, they are as sturdy as is required plus a safety margin, but no more than that.