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Nope. Progress will come through a thousand people solving a thousand unimportant problems. No one built a better ship to build a better ship. They built it so
by arjie 10y ago
Nope. Progress will come through a thousand people solving a thousand unimportant problems.
No one built a better ship to build a better ship. They built it so that they could go buy more black pepper and then more nutmeg and mace. Flavouring the food of the comfortably off is what built modern trade and civilisation. Nobody set out to build a trade network that would lift millions into prosperity. All they set out to do is get a little coffee.
Silly problems are what drive society. Your desire to watch crappy TV will launch a satellite.
I don't use a single one of these so-called mom startups. Let me tell you, though. The day any society chooses to have its neurosurgeons go grocery shopping instead of neurosurgery solely so that they're not using mom startups is the day that it starts to fail.
- plg 10y agoTrickle-down scientific progress via babysitting apps and ways to trick web browsing consumers to click on ads? Maybe. I get your argument. But it's not all or nothing. I think my argument is that IF there was more government funding for Science, THEN it's likely more smart people would directly pursue important scientific advances, right now, rather than pursuing the next great app, and hoping that maybe the technology will one day trickle down.
- RugnirViking 10y agoI understand what you are saying but I thought I would add a few specific examples of trickle-down technology that has come from such things: > ways to trick web browsing consumers to click on ads Ad networks tracking people use often use/fund cutting edge AI research to match people to what they want to buy > babysitting apps This one is a little more general but the microcomputing insights gained from the funds generated by smartphone sales (which most people soley use for such menial apps) are arguably one of our greatest drivers of progress