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Robotics last far less than humans do though. Last year there were literal forest fires in CA because we can't figure out how to hang power cables without succu

by lhorie 6y ago

Robotics last far less than humans do though. Last year there were literal forest fires in CA because we can't figure out how to hang power cables without succumbing to corrosion from a measly 100 years span. If we want to make arguments about longevity, we could maybe look at microorganisms, but my understanding is they are similar to us in the sense that they thrive where it's conducive for any given strain to thrive, but die where it's not.

TheCapeGreek 6y ago
Everything needs maintenance in some form, whether organic or not. The only limitation for inorganics right now is an incapability of self-maintenance. We do it through many ways in our biology: nutrients from diet, exercise (on purpose or just day-to-day activities) for muscles & cardiovascular health. On top of that humanity added its own methods, namely everything done in healthcare & pharmaceuticals.
Chris2048 6y ago
> because we can't figure out how to hang power cables without.. I think it's unfair to cherry-pick one task attempted by a cost-aware electricity company, that didn't involve the majority of humanity, and judge humanity on that basis. The nations best and brightest where not called upon to hang power cables.
- lhorie 6y ago
  I don't think I'm being particularly uncharitable. Look at the Opportunity Mars rover. It died after a record breaking... 15 years. And that is arguably one of the most sophisticated robotics projects humanity has ever deployed. The IIS has been around for only like a quarter of a century and despite being constantly maintained by highly trained astronauts, it already had air leak issues. And FWIW, power line maintenance is much closer to average humanity than NASA is, and also quite a fundamental piece of technology that you'd think we as a species would have figured out by now. I just don't see a post-human future that is based on silicon: the manufacturing process is far too complex and poisonous to be viable as a self-replicating system and it doesn't last long either. I don't see a biological post-human civilization being feasible either: we've all but depleted all easily accessible natural resources, so any new civilization would have an uphill climb to surpass our technology. People talk about Dyson spheres but for some reason no one mentions that space debris will puncture every material known to humankind because it's just flying so damn fast. Seems like a fairly obvious and fundamental physics issue IMHO; not exactly something that one can just wave away with theoretical future technology. Maybe you know something I don't, but as far as I'm concerned, space colonization feels more like wishful thinking than something that could actually realistically happen.
  - Chris2048 6y ago
    I'm afraid I'm unable to judge how state-of-the-art Mars rover is, but I'll point out public-sector investment in space projects is much lower than it used to be, such that it was possible for SpaceX to eat its lunch - beyond that I have no idea. > also quite a fundamental piece of technology I don't think long-term cable maintenance is considered important; whether a technology exists, and whether it was provided (at cost) is different. In most cases the electricity companies where obligated to provide maintenance to small communities, without profit, so did it on a least effort basis. > I just don't see a post-human future that is based on silicon: the manufacturing process is far too complex and poisonous to be viable as a self-replicating system I didn't say anything about self-replication; but AI controlled hardware could be self-replicating/sustaining in exactly the way human society is. In the meanwhile, If a sufficiently flexible robot can be remotely controlled by human operators, what stops multiple robots maintaining each other?

by lhorie 6y ago

TheCapeGreek 6y ago

Everything needs maintenance in some form, whether organic or not. The only limitation for inorganics right now is an incapability of self-maintenance. We do it through many ways in our biology: nutrients from diet, exercise (on purpose or just day-to-day activities) for muscles & cardiovascular health. On top of that humanity added its own methods, namely everything done in healthcare & pharmaceuticals.

Chris2048 6y ago

> because we can't figure out how to hang power cables without.. I think it's unfair to cherry-pick one task attempted by a cost-aware electricity company, that didn't involve the majority of humanity, and judge humanity on that basis. The nations best and brightest where not called upon to hang power cables.

lhorie 6y ago
I don't think I'm being particularly uncharitable. Look at the Opportunity Mars rover. It died after a record breaking... 15 years. And that is arguably one of the most sophisticated robotics projects humanity has ever deployed. The IIS has been around for only like a quarter of a century and despite being constantly maintained by highly trained astronauts, it already had air leak issues. And FWIW, power line maintenance is much closer to average humanity than NASA is, and also quite a fundamental piece of technology that you'd think we as a species would have figured out by now. I just don't see a post-human future that is based on silicon: the manufacturing process is far too complex and poisonous to be viable as a self-replicating system and it doesn't last long either. I don't see a biological post-human civilization being feasible either: we've all but depleted all easily accessible natural resources, so any new civilization would have an uphill climb to surpass our technology. People talk about Dyson spheres but for some reason no one mentions that space debris will puncture every material known to humankind because it's just flying so damn fast. Seems like a fairly obvious and fundamental physics issue IMHO; not exactly something that one can just wave away with theoretical future technology. Maybe you know something I don't, but as far as I'm concerned, space colonization feels more like wishful thinking than something that could actually realistically happen.
- Chris2048 6y ago
  I'm afraid I'm unable to judge how state-of-the-art Mars rover is, but I'll point out public-sector investment in space projects is much lower than it used to be, such that it was possible for SpaceX to eat its lunch - beyond that I have no idea. > also quite a fundamental piece of technology I don't think long-term cable maintenance is considered important; whether a technology exists, and whether it was provided (at cost) is different. In most cases the electricity companies where obligated to provide maintenance to small communities, without profit, so did it on a least effort basis. > I just don't see a post-human future that is based on silicon: the manufacturing process is far too complex and poisonous to be viable as a self-replicating system I didn't say anything about self-replication; but AI controlled hardware could be self-replicating/sustaining in exactly the way human society is. In the meanwhile, If a sufficiently flexible robot can be remotely controlled by human operators, what stops multiple robots maintaining each other?