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Why did we stop building crazy stuff like this? Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits Even our billionaires are boring now Whe

by spaceman_2020 2y ago

Why did we stop building crazy stuff like this? Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits Even our billionaires are boring now Where are the wild eyed people dreaming up impossible megastructures and geoengineering projects? I can’t imagine anyone even attempting to build the Panama canal today

neuralRiot 2y ago
>Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits It has always been, but now the idea is to maximize it as fast as possible and “tomorrow is not my problem”, same as school grades discussed in another post, the goal is to pass the metrics, the final result doesn’t really matter.
- leobg 2y ago
  You may be right. And it’s odd. Everyone is talking about AI and the future and all of that. But really, we live as if there is no tomorrow. Nobody would start a construction project anymore that would pay off a generation later. Compare that to medieval building projects. I imagine we lack a stable foundation to stand on. If you have no idea what the world will look like 50 years from now (and what people will value them), it’s useless to make any long term investments. Your customers are the people of today, along with their ideas about the future - but not the people of the future themselves. Same problem in education. We have no idea what kids will need 20 years from now. So we just let them do what they like. Not because we cared more than the teachers of the past. But because they had a plan and a mission and a reason why to pull kids through training that sometimes was tough for them, whereas we don’t.
trhway 2y ago
Yep, optimization. I did at some point napkin on cargo Zeppelin 3-4 days vs 747 in half a day Shanghai to SFO. Zeppelin would burn almost the same fuel, and ultimately 747 would provide higher ROI due to more flight over the same time period.
derbOac 2y ago
The Hindenburg, and apparently those linked planes ended after catastrophic accidents. Not saying they couldn't have been revived but safety has a way of constraining what you might do. Reading the main article reminded me of the Concorde. Similar luxury vibes and similar end.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  The interior of the Concorde was cramped. It's luxury was speed.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    My dad once was once upgraded from his usual first class to a Concorde. His reaction was basically "meh." As I recall, he landed at a less convenient time and really preferred his usual seating which wasn't as comfortable as today.
WalterBright 2y ago
> Even our billionaires are boring now Not Elon Musk. He's anything but boring.

neuralRiot 2y ago

>Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits It has always been, but now the idea is to maximize it as fast as possible and “tomorrow is not my problem”, same as school grades discussed in another post, the goal is to pass the metrics, the final result doesn’t really matter.

leobg 2y ago
You may be right. And it’s odd. Everyone is talking about AI and the future and all of that. But really, we live as if there is no tomorrow. Nobody would start a construction project anymore that would pay off a generation later. Compare that to medieval building projects. I imagine we lack a stable foundation to stand on. If you have no idea what the world will look like 50 years from now (and what people will value them), it’s useless to make any long term investments. Your customers are the people of today, along with their ideas about the future - but not the people of the future themselves. Same problem in education. We have no idea what kids will need 20 years from now. So we just let them do what they like. Not because we cared more than the teachers of the past. But because they had a plan and a mission and a reason why to pull kids through training that sometimes was tough for them, whereas we don’t.

trhway 2y ago

Yep, optimization. I did at some point napkin on cargo Zeppelin 3-4 days vs 747 in half a day Shanghai to SFO. Zeppelin would burn almost the same fuel, and ultimately 747 would provide higher ROI due to more flight over the same time period.

derbOac 2y ago

The Hindenburg, and apparently those linked planes ended after catastrophic accidents. Not saying they couldn't have been revived but safety has a way of constraining what you might do. Reading the main article reminded me of the Concorde. Similar luxury vibes and similar end.

WalterBright 2y ago
The interior of the Concorde was cramped. It's luxury was speed.
- ghaff 2y ago
  My dad once was once upgraded from his usual first class to a Concorde. His reaction was basically "meh." As I recall, he landed at a less convenient time and really preferred his usual seating which wasn't as comfortable as today.

WalterBright 2y ago

> Even our billionaires are boring now Not Elon Musk. He's anything but boring.