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> I don't see why progress will be a straight line and not a sloping-off curve. Technological progress often appears linear in the short term, but zooming out

by czl 2y ago

> I don't see why progress will be a straight line and not a sloping-off curve. Technological progress often appears linear in the short term, but zooming out reveals an exponential curve, similar to compound interest. > You shouldn't see the progress we've made in vehicle speed and assume we can hit the speed of light. Consider the trajectory of maximum speeds over millennia, not just recent history. We've achieved speeds unimaginable to our ancestors, mostly in space—a realm they couldn't conceive. While reaching light speed is challenging, we're exploring novel concepts like light-propelled nano-vehicles. If consciousness is information-based, could light itself become a "vehicle"?

robertlagrant 2y ago
> While reaching light speed is challenging, we're exploring novel concepts like light-propelled nano-vehicles Do you think hitting light speed is an engineering problem or a fundamental constraints problem?
- czl 2y ago
  Reaching light speed isn't just an engineering problem—it's a fundamental issue in physics. The laws of physics (as we know them) prevent any object with mass from reaching light speed. Notice however that our minds, like the instructions in DNA and RNA, are built from atoms, but they aren't the atoms themselves. They're the information in how those atoms are arranged. Once we can fully read and write this information—like we're starting to do with DNA and RNA—light itself could become our vehicle.
- trashtester 2y ago
  If even a single electron moves at the speed of light, it would tear apart the universe, at least that's what both special and general relativity would predict. (It would have infinite energy meaning infinite relativistic mass, and would form a black hole whose event horizon would spread into space at the speed of light).
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    Yeah, I'm not saying otherwise. If you read the thread you'll see why I asked it : - )

by czl 2y ago

robertlagrant 2y ago

> While reaching light speed is challenging, we're exploring novel concepts like light-propelled nano-vehicles Do you think hitting light speed is an engineering problem or a fundamental constraints problem?

czl 2y ago
Reaching light speed isn't just an engineering problem—it's a fundamental issue in physics. The laws of physics (as we know them) prevent any object with mass from reaching light speed. Notice however that our minds, like the instructions in DNA and RNA, are built from atoms, but they aren't the atoms themselves. They're the information in how those atoms are arranged. Once we can fully read and write this information—like we're starting to do with DNA and RNA—light itself could become our vehicle.
trashtester 2y ago
If even a single electron moves at the speed of light, it would tear apart the universe, at least that's what both special and general relativity would predict. (It would have infinite energy meaning infinite relativistic mass, and would form a black hole whose event horizon would spread into space at the speed of light).
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  Yeah, I'm not saying otherwise. If you read the thread you'll see why I asked it : - )