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Economic limits are imaginary, secondhand effects of the ideological goggles one's society decides to wear at a certain time for arbitrary reasons. USA during t
by ly3xqhl8g9 3y ago
Economic limits are imaginary, secondhand effects of the ideological goggles one's society decides to wear at a certain time for arbitrary reasons. USA during the Manhattan Project knew of no economic limits, i.e. they could arbitrarily push them according to the greater goal; China today, for instance, knows no economic limits. But yes, today, in the "Western" world a speech such as "we choose to get 160 zetaflops (10^21) [1] under your desk in 10 years because it is hard" [2] would be unimaginable, also because you can count on the fingers of an amputated arm how many politicians know what a FLOP is.
[1] https://geohot.github.io/blog/jekyll/update/2023/04/26/a-person-of-compute.html https://geohot.github.io/blog/jekyll/update/2023/04/26/a-per...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon
- cubefox 3y agoThere is no use in making chips that are not cost effective.
- ly3xqhl8g9 3y agoThere is no use in synthesizing (C6H6O·CH2O)n [1] (or LK-99, to be actual, real or not) that is not cost effective. It's precisely this penny pusher rhetoric which in the end will make China win, deservedly so. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite
- Qwertious 3y ago"Penny pusher rhetoric" is an interesting name for capitalism. Because, for better or worse, that is what's being described. You're not wrong though.
- ly3xqhl8g9 3y agoInterestingly enough, penny pushing also destroys capitalism, see The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy [1]. [1] https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism/David-Gelles/9781982176426 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Man-Who-Broke-Cap...