3 ms·

> [the information] revolution will dwarf the petrochemical revolution. I remember people thinking this was a crazy idea, but his forecast was largely correct

• tim333 9y ago
  And it still has a ways to go.
• barrkel 9y ago
  The petrochemical revolution is more than the market cap of an oil company. The petrochemical revolution guides the way we've built our cities for the past 100+ years, how we ship our goods and how we travel the world. The entire transport system - cars, trucks, ships, planes - almost all petrochemical. And the negative side too. Vast fields of tarmac (petrochemical) parking lots (petrochemical) for strip malls. Urban sprawl. Well over a million people killed on roads every year. Millions more affected by chemical byproducts. Acid rain. Global warming. Computers are only getting started. They'll get there eventually though; computers are to the brain what engines are to the body.
  • antod 9y ago
    Not only those aspects of the petrochemical revolution, it's also the total pervasiveness of plastic products in our lives.
  • louprado 9y ago
    > The petrochemical revolution guides the way we've conducted foreign policy should have received top billing. Unless you were intentionally excluding items not in both sets.
    • barrkel 9y ago
      Petrochemicals also enabled mechanized warfare. That's a bigger impact on killing power than any squabbles in the Middle East. I expect deaths in Levantine squabbles are also dwarfed by road accidents.