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The difference between having a tractor and not having a tractor is much larger than between having a computer/gps-guided tractor and having an old school tract
by blfr 4y ago
The difference between having a tractor and not having a tractor is much larger than between having a computer/gps-guided tractor and having an old school tractor. While it's certainly an improvement, it's a smaller improvement.
The difference between hailing a taxi via app and hailing a taxi by waving at it is much smaller than the difference between automobiles being available and not being available. Again, it's a great improvement but a smaller step than the original one.
Marriage rates are down so that abundance may be overrated.
EDIT: I don't know about steam engine but all these are certainly far behind an internal combustion engine.
- juve1996 4y agoThese differences aren't the results of taking less risk. They're the results of the technology being low-hanging fruit. The low-hanging fruit is gone now. There could be some revolution that comes - but physics is at a standstill and has been for decades. Most of the gains are coming as evolutions, not revolutions, focusing on optimization.
- ivan_gammel 4y agoIt depends on where to look for examples. E.g. in agriculture there's a huge difference between a water pump (or a water wheel, both - incremental updates from a bucket with water) and computer-controlled watering system, which can deliver significant increase in yield or even save your crop during drought.