4 ms·
The Internet is of revolutionary importance. However even with the most sophisticated data per second flows, virtual and augmented reality, we still need progr
by internaut 10y ago
The Internet is of revolutionary importance.
However even with the most sophisticated data per second flows, virtual and augmented reality, we still need progress in the physical realm or our infrastructure will fall around our ears while we're constructing the New World.
> crispr will be huge.
What do you think they said about?
1. The discovery of DNA.
1.1 The Human Genome Project.
1.1.1 CRISPR
1.1.1.1 ????
The ability to cut and paste DNA is a great advance but people expected revolutionary steps forward in the past too and were disappointed with actual results. Anytime you hear 'biotech this' or 'biotech that', recall to mind only about 16 new biotech drugs are allowed onto the market, and I bet you cannot name any off the top of your head. That tells you something.
It is worth knowing what our grandparents really thought about the future. I strongly recommend you watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRxqg4G-G4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRxqg4G-G4
> The way you define advancement also seems to ignore incremental improvements, and the incremental improvements weve made in all fields in the last 40 years is vast
Far from it!
I am concerned that people are being chronocentric e.g. They have forgotten that energy prices used to be much, much cheaper. Exponentially cheaper!
I have two proposals for you.
1. Technology means doing more, with less. Less input, more output.
2. The basic metric for economic progress is that prices go downwards.
These are straight forward claims. They are not outrageous.
In areas where we have clear progress, like computation, finding downward trending prices is easy. In other areas the answer is far less clear and I find people become prone to rationalization instead of imagining a better possible present and future.
I'm not a pessimist. I just think we could be doing a whole lot more. It took me considerable time to realize that not everything was progressing and there were giant gaping holes in that reasoning.