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World War II is chronologically a mid point between the American Civil War and now. The progress made in the first half of that period seems to me vastly more i

World War II is chronologically a mid point between the American Civil War and now. The progress made in the first half of that period seems to me vastly more impressive than that of the later half.

lm28469 7y ago
Idk, I can come up with so many example of life changing tech ... But yeah, all things considered, having running water or central heating is def more life changing than reusable spaceX rockets for example. The progresses of the first half are more impressive because they were basic needs with high impact on health, transportation, &c. once these are met everything simply becomes "nice things" to have. I think the most obvious progress was smarthpones, they are : - Navigation systems - Allowing seamless and instant text and video communication worldwide - Capable of holding more music than you'll ever need - Having better cameras than anything before (price for quality/convenience, I know medium/large format cameras from < 1930 produce better images but they are nowhere as convenient) - Letting you manage things like your bank account or your emails, &c. - Allowing you to rent shared cars/bicycle on the fly When you really think about it something like google Earth would have been close to witchcraft not even 70 years ago. I could probably store the entire library of Alexandria in my $60 kindle. A tesla is "just" a car, but hasn't much to do with cars from < 1950s. An airbus A320 is "just" a plane, but has't much in common with planes < 1950s. A single PS4 is probably more powerful that the entire NASA computing system of the 60s. Reusable space rockets, supersonic planes, landing a probe on a comet, the curiosity rover, GMO, nuclear power plants, discovery of planets out of the solar system, credit cards, microwave ovens, efficient freezers, induction cooking plates, washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers, advances in psychology & medicine, satellite internet, photochromic lenses, solar panels, li ion batteries, birth control, 3d printers, you can watch lectures from top universities of the world on youtube for free, the list goes on forever. If your grandparents are still alive ask them about how life was 60 years ago, everything changed. Being used to amazing tech doesn't negate the fact that progress still happens. I think people just got bored/lost their ability to see magic. A dog playing with a stick is more ecstatic than the average Joe having the entire world's knowledge in the palm of his hand.
- zarkov99 7y ago
  If you want to talk about magic, what do you think a Spitfire would look like to a Union soldier? How about radio? Electricity? Horseless carriages? Radar? The innovations in that period were of kind, 0 to 1 transitions, while from 1945 onwards we have seen rapid, but mostly incremental improvements.
  - deleted 7y ago
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Gibbon1 7y ago
One difference between those two is the amount of energy available. Going from roughly 100 watts of usable energy per person to 2-3000 watts was massive. What am I going to do with 50,000 watts that would make my life better? Commute to Seattle every day on a hypersonic personal airplane? Nah.

World War II is chronologically a mid point between the American Civil War and now. The progress made in the first half of that period seems to me vastly more impressive than that of the later half.

lm28469 7y ago

Idk, I can come up with so many example of life changing tech ... But yeah, all things considered, having running water or central heating is def more life changing than reusable spaceX rockets for example. The progresses of the first half are more impressive because they were basic needs with high impact on health, transportation, &c. once these are met everything simply becomes "nice things" to have. I think the most obvious progress was smarthpones, they are : - Navigation systems - Allowing seamless and instant text and video communication worldwide - Capable of holding more music than you'll ever need - Having better cameras than anything before (price for quality/convenience, I know medium/large format cameras from < 1930 produce better images but they are nowhere as convenient) - Letting you manage things like your bank account or your emails, &c. - Allowing you to rent shared cars/bicycle on the fly When you really think about it something like google Earth would have been close to witchcraft not even 70 years ago. I could probably store the entire library of Alexandria in my $60 kindle. A tesla is "just" a car, but hasn't much to do with cars from < 1950s. An airbus A320 is "just" a plane, but has't much in common with planes < 1950s. A single PS4 is probably more powerful that the entire NASA computing system of the 60s. Reusable space rockets, supersonic planes, landing a probe on a comet, the curiosity rover, GMO, nuclear power plants, discovery of planets out of the solar system, credit cards, microwave ovens, efficient freezers, induction cooking plates, washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers, advances in psychology & medicine, satellite internet, photochromic lenses, solar panels, li ion batteries, birth control, 3d printers, you can watch lectures from top universities of the world on youtube for free, the list goes on forever. If your grandparents are still alive ask them about how life was 60 years ago, everything changed. Being used to amazing tech doesn't negate the fact that progress still happens. I think people just got bored/lost their ability to see magic. A dog playing with a stick is more ecstatic than the average Joe having the entire world's knowledge in the palm of his hand.

zarkov99 7y ago
If you want to talk about magic, what do you think a Spitfire would look like to a Union soldier? How about radio? Electricity? Horseless carriages? Radar? The innovations in that period were of kind, 0 to 1 transitions, while from 1945 onwards we have seen rapid, but mostly incremental improvements.
- deleted 7y ago
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Gibbon1 7y ago

One difference between those two is the amount of energy available. Going from roughly 100 watts of usable energy per person to 2-3000 watts was massive. What am I going to do with 50,000 watts that would make my life better? Commute to Seattle every day on a hypersonic personal airplane? Nah.