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This actually opens a profound issue: why has progress in areas like computers and biotech been so breakneck fast but has utterly stalled in areas like energy,
by api 16y ago
This actually opens a profound issue: why has progress in areas like computers and biotech been so breakneck fast but has utterly stalled in areas like energy, propulsion, aviation, etc.?
I think I know the answer: those fields are capital intensive, so their "generation time" is very slow. But that might not be the only answer.
- brettnak 16y agoIt seems to me that progress in computers is much more incremental. Meaning, step N+1 is pretty well visible from step N. When dealing with energy and propulsion, this does not seem to be the case. I realize this is pretty hand-wavy, but it's how I get myself to sleep.
- jerf 16y agoComputers and biotech are the exceptions. Progress continues in those other fields at a normal pace.
- grinich 16y agoIt hasn't stalled, it's just classified.
- sliverstorm 16y agoFor every person who chooses to dive into computing and biotech, that's one more person who cannot work on energy, propulsion and aviation. I know I for one would probably do one of those if I wasn't in computing.
- api 16y agoMaybe it's that the job market in computers especially is so much more dynamic with better opportunity for advancement, so it attracts a greater share of the best and the brightest. It might also be accessibility. Anyone can play with a computer. A jet engine, not so much.