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> Yes, but much more insignificantly 1950-2000 to 1900-1950 -- and slowing down ever since. Here are a few more significant innovations since 1950: 0. Search

> Yes, but much more insignificantly 1950-2000 to 1900-1950 -- and slowing down ever since. Here are a few more significant innovations since 1950: 0. Search Engines 1. Video Games 2. GPS 3. Medical 3D Imaging (CT/MRI) 4. Genetic Sequencing 5. 3D Printing 6. Autonomous Machines (ground robots, drones) > None of which is particularly exciting You aren't excited about having all of human knowledge in your pocket? Does something have to fundamentally change our understanding of physics for you to get excited?

chrisco255 7y ago
You can search for facts at the touch of a button, but understanding and wisdom remains a time intensive task that requires immense focus. Focus and attention has become a rather rare commodity in this age.
- wildermuthn 7y ago
  Knowledge is a prerequisite for wisdom. Wisdom is up next.
  - mdonahoe 7y ago
    I feel like you can get a descent amount of wisdom with the right youtube playlist But an interactive tutorial would be better!
  - coldtea 7y ago
    Nope. You can have wisdom without knowledge, and even more so without the amounts of knowledge and BS piled up on the net. Only experience is a prerequisite.
coldtea 7y ago
>0. Search Engines 1. Video Games 2. GPS 3. Medical 3D Imaging (CT/MRI) 4. Genetic Sequencing 5. 3D Printing 6. Autonomous Machines (ground robots, drones) Well: 0. a huge dilution of the concept of expertise (see my other point) and easy access to crap information mixed-in with the good in huge piles, 1. a big waste of time for children/teens/infantilized adults (and a killer of socialization) that's already an "addiction", 2. something ho-hum (I was there in the 90s and 80s before GPS became widespread. We could still walk around towns, find our way, and drive places). 3. OK-ish, still an order of magnitude less helpful in saving lives compared to early low hanging fruits like access to running water, antibiotics, hand-washing in hospitals, etc. 4. Still a yawn atm. 5. A fad if I ever saw one, touted to "change the world" and already nearly forgotten except in enthusiast circles, 6. Something still marginally useful, and with a large potential for a dystopian future (large parts of the population living in slums as their work is not required, drones/robots used to police autocratic states, etc). >You aren't excited about having all of human knowledge in your pocket? No. I'm more excited about the output (books, articles, etc) from people pre-2000 (sometimes much pre) who didn't have "all of human knowledge in [their] pocket" and had to study hard, be dedicated, and actually digest the information to consider themselves knowledgable. As opposed to "instant faux-experts" (people confident to chime in because they've read 2 paragraphs about a subject in Wikipedia - or worse something like some anti-vaxxing website etc), and: https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750 https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/d... Access to "all of human knowledge" was hardly ever a problem since the invention of the printing press, and even less in the 20th century with libraries, bookstores, media, and so on. Knowing what to read, how to value some piece of knowledge (which could be crap, like 90% of what's on the net is), and understanding of what you've read was a problem since forever.

chrisco255 7y ago

You can search for facts at the touch of a button, but understanding and wisdom remains a time intensive task that requires immense focus. Focus and attention has become a rather rare commodity in this age.

wildermuthn 7y ago
Knowledge is a prerequisite for wisdom. Wisdom is up next.
- mdonahoe 7y ago
  I feel like you can get a descent amount of wisdom with the right youtube playlist But an interactive tutorial would be better!
- coldtea 7y ago
  Nope. You can have wisdom without knowledge, and even more so without the amounts of knowledge and BS piled up on the net. Only experience is a prerequisite.

coldtea 7y ago

>0. Search Engines 1. Video Games 2. GPS 3. Medical 3D Imaging (CT/MRI) 4. Genetic Sequencing 5. 3D Printing 6. Autonomous Machines (ground robots, drones) Well: 0. a huge dilution of the concept of expertise (see my other point) and easy access to crap information mixed-in with the good in huge piles, 1. a big waste of time for children/teens/infantilized adults (and a killer of socialization) that's already an "addiction", 2. something ho-hum (I was there in the 90s and 80s before GPS became widespread. We could still walk around towns, find our way, and drive places). 3. OK-ish, still an order of magnitude less helpful in saving lives compared to early low hanging fruits like access to running water, antibiotics, hand-washing in hospitals, etc. 4. Still a yawn atm. 5. A fad if I ever saw one, touted to "change the world" and already nearly forgotten except in enthusiast circles, 6. Something still marginally useful, and with a large potential for a dystopian future (large parts of the population living in slums as their work is not required, drones/robots used to police autocratic states, etc). >You aren't excited about having all of human knowledge in your pocket? No. I'm more excited about the output (books, articles, etc) from people pre-2000 (sometimes much pre) who didn't have "all of human knowledge in [their] pocket" and had to study hard, be dedicated, and actually digest the information to consider themselves knowledgable. As opposed to "instant faux-experts" (people confident to chime in because they've read 2 paragraphs about a subject in Wikipedia - or worse something like some anti-vaxxing website etc), and: https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750 https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/d... Access to "all of human knowledge" was hardly ever a problem since the invention of the printing press, and even less in the 20th century with libraries, bookstores, media, and so on. Knowing what to read, how to value some piece of knowledge (which could be crap, like 90% of what's on the net is), and understanding of what you've read was a problem since forever.