3 ms·

Why do we need constant innovation?

by sph 4mo ago

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
hodgehog11 4mo ago
Because if spread equally and used responsibly, it raises quality of life for everyone. Generally speaking, the vast majority of people alive today have far easier lives than hunter-gatherers. There is less famine and starvation. There is less fatal disease, etc.
- sph 4mo ago
  > Because if spread equally and used responsibly That ‘if’ is Atlas carrying the entire world on its shoulders. It should be clear by now that at global scales and with competing interests, the entire premise is impossible.
  - hodgehog11 4mo ago
    Not really, western countries were doing a lot of that in the 20th century (amongst themselves, anyway). Then the 80s happened. Or what, do people think that the boomers were all that good, that they genuinely earned everything they got? The generations before just worked out how to govern properly.
    - dag100 4mo ago
      The 80s happened because of the stagnation of the 70s.
      - hodgehog11 4mo ago
        [dead]
  - halperter 4mo ago
    I think the point hodgehog was trying to make is that overall wellbeing increased. Famine is down, disease is down, wars are down, security up, well-being up. Innovation overall benefits everyone in the long run. Global scales aren't the problem---goods once reserved for the wealthy are being copied and produced at markedly lower prices, with examples such as EVs and drones. I realize that "overall" is doing some heavy lifting but I think it's rather unreasonable to dismiss the entirety of human technological progress as only benefiting the elite.
  - tancop 4mo ago
    only if you assume capitalism is the only stable economic system. without wealth differences there is nothing other than your own abilities that can make access to tech unequal.
    - sph 4mo ago
      I assume that capitalism is viral enough that no alternative can be realistically by established on a global scale. Ignoring wealth differences is another instance of dreaming of a magical world where greed has disappeared. A good read is Mark Fisher’s book Capitalist Realism
- KellyCriterion 4mo ago
  So how does quality of life increase overall for everyone, if Nvidia builds now HA200 instead of HA100? (or whatever they are called)
  - hodgehog11 4mo ago
    GPU innovation in the past led to the development of new artforms and allowed researchers to solve tougher computational tasks. Today, not so much. You're missing the "spread equally and used responsibly" part here. Nvidia's customers now are the data centers, which have debatable impact on quality of life.
TacticalCoder 4mo ago
> Why do we need constant innovation? Because, for example, no parents should lose their kids to leukemia. At 17 y/o I was save from peritonitis / sepsis first misdiagnosed as harmless belly pain and hidden by painkillers. Then it became a matter of hours and from the moment the doctor saw me again and I undergo surgical operation, less than two hours happened. My father got diagnosed a stage 3 bladder cancer with metastasis to the prostate about 3 years ago. He's still there and doing better. That's why we need innovation. And, no, science ain't a bag out of which you pick what suits you (medicine) and leave out what you don't like (the Internet / LLMs / etc.).
- KellyCriterion 4mo ago
  Good one! Nitpicking here: I bet 100 USD that this type of innovation, is not that type of "innovation" meant by befores posting? :-D
- dragontamer 4mo ago
  > And, no, science ain't a bag out of which you pick what suits you (medicine) and leave out what you don't like (the Internet / LLMs / etc.). Uhhhh. Sure it is. We stopped nuclear weapons development. At best, rogue countries can catch up to where we are but there's no political will to build even bigger or more powerful bombs anymore. Thats an entire branch of science that we've literally cut off on a worldwide basis. Science is, and must, be controlled to stay within the realm of useful to the people. The minute it is no longer serving us is the minute we should work on getting rid of it. Fortunately, science isn't a cohesive bathtub where everything must be thrown away with the baby. We can (and do) pick-and-choose what to develop.
  - TurdF3rguson 4mo ago
    Nuclear weapons development hasn't stopped outside of US. Maybe you mean it hasn't spread to any new countries lately... which is true but I wouldn't count on that lasting.
    - dragontamer 4mo ago
bel8 4mo ago
Because I would like for a future with better health. And technology is a great catalyst for that.
elzbardico 4mo ago
Because our economy is based on the sacred right to compound interest, and the only way this can work is with continuous growth. Lacking new markets, given the population growth is accelerating, the only way we can keep this running is by increasing consumption via new gadgets and innovation.
nerdsniper 4mo ago
It's inevitable. We can't stop innovating.

Why do we need constant innovation?

by sph 4mo ago

Why do we need constant innovation?

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

hodgehog11 4mo ago

Because if spread equally and used responsibly, it raises quality of life for everyone. Generally speaking, the vast majority of people alive today have far easier lives than hunter-gatherers. There is less famine and starvation. There is less fatal disease, etc.

sph 4mo ago
> Because if spread equally and used responsibly That ‘if’ is Atlas carrying the entire world on its shoulders. It should be clear by now that at global scales and with competing interests, the entire premise is impossible.
- hodgehog11 4mo ago
  Not really, western countries were doing a lot of that in the 20th century (amongst themselves, anyway). Then the 80s happened. Or what, do people think that the boomers were all that good, that they genuinely earned everything they got? The generations before just worked out how to govern properly.
  - dag100 4mo ago
    The 80s happened because of the stagnation of the 70s.
    - hodgehog11 4mo ago
      [dead]
- halperter 4mo ago
  I think the point hodgehog was trying to make is that overall wellbeing increased. Famine is down, disease is down, wars are down, security up, well-being up. Innovation overall benefits everyone in the long run. Global scales aren't the problem---goods once reserved for the wealthy are being copied and produced at markedly lower prices, with examples such as EVs and drones. I realize that "overall" is doing some heavy lifting but I think it's rather unreasonable to dismiss the entirety of human technological progress as only benefiting the elite.
- tancop 4mo ago
  only if you assume capitalism is the only stable economic system. without wealth differences there is nothing other than your own abilities that can make access to tech unequal.
  - sph 4mo ago
    I assume that capitalism is viral enough that no alternative can be realistically by established on a global scale. Ignoring wealth differences is another instance of dreaming of a magical world where greed has disappeared. A good read is Mark Fisher’s book Capitalist Realism
KellyCriterion 4mo ago
So how does quality of life increase overall for everyone, if Nvidia builds now HA200 instead of HA100? (or whatever they are called)
- hodgehog11 4mo ago
  GPU innovation in the past led to the development of new artforms and allowed researchers to solve tougher computational tasks. Today, not so much. You're missing the "spread equally and used responsibly" part here. Nvidia's customers now are the data centers, which have debatable impact on quality of life.

TacticalCoder 4mo ago

> Why do we need constant innovation? Because, for example, no parents should lose their kids to leukemia. At 17 y/o I was save from peritonitis / sepsis first misdiagnosed as harmless belly pain and hidden by painkillers. Then it became a matter of hours and from the moment the doctor saw me again and I undergo surgical operation, less than two hours happened. My father got diagnosed a stage 3 bladder cancer with metastasis to the prostate about 3 years ago. He's still there and doing better. That's why we need innovation. And, no, science ain't a bag out of which you pick what suits you (medicine) and leave out what you don't like (the Internet / LLMs / etc.).

KellyCriterion 4mo ago
Good one! Nitpicking here: I bet 100 USD that this type of innovation, is not that type of "innovation" meant by befores posting? :-D
dragontamer 4mo ago
> And, no, science ain't a bag out of which you pick what suits you (medicine) and leave out what you don't like (the Internet / LLMs / etc.). Uhhhh. Sure it is. We stopped nuclear weapons development. At best, rogue countries can catch up to where we are but there's no political will to build even bigger or more powerful bombs anymore. Thats an entire branch of science that we've literally cut off on a worldwide basis. Science is, and must, be controlled to stay within the realm of useful to the people. The minute it is no longer serving us is the minute we should work on getting rid of it. Fortunately, science isn't a cohesive bathtub where everything must be thrown away with the baby. We can (and do) pick-and-choose what to develop.
- TurdF3rguson 4mo ago
  Nuclear weapons development hasn't stopped outside of US. Maybe you mean it hasn't spread to any new countries lately... which is true but I wouldn't count on that lasting.
  - dragontamer 4mo ago

bel8 4mo ago

Because I would like for a future with better health. And technology is a great catalyst for that.

elzbardico 4mo ago

Because our economy is based on the sacred right to compound interest, and the only way this can work is with continuous growth. Lacking new markets, given the population growth is accelerating, the only way we can keep this running is by increasing consumption via new gadgets and innovation.

nerdsniper 4mo ago

It's inevitable. We can't stop innovating.