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I appreciate your comment because your starting point for a vision of the future is looking towards the past. However, when I look back 50 or 100 years I think

I appreciate your comment because your starting point for a vision of the future is looking towards the past. However, when I look back 50 or 100 years I think life was vastly different. Coincidentally, Ford "invented" the assembly line 100 years ago, but let's not limit ourselves to technology, consider that 100 years ago people in the US may have sat around and thought less than 50 years ago it was lawful to own another human, that human flesh was the number 1 commodity in Virginia, ect... The reality is that these types of injustices, not necessarily slavery, but a legal system that codified the inequality of humans based on skin color and sex continued in the US from that time until about 50 years ago. I do not want to limit the discussion to the US either, because colonialism created second class citizenry across the globe and other examples exist such as apartheid in South Africa. Down that road it was 1930 when Ghandi broke the British Salt Tax, which made it illegal to produce salt - essential to this day, but even more important before refrigeration ("salt is worth it's weight in gold"). On many fronts, not just technology, the World has slowly moved forward, it is likely technology - especially instantaneous communication - shall demand the World continue moving in that direction.

mindcrime 13y ago
Sure, the world has definitely changed, and more so for certain groups of people (obviously African Americans in the US, who are no longer treated as property). The point was just that, in many ways, the changes we've seen have been more or less incremental improvements to the same basic activities we do today. So what will the future be? Depending on how far ahead you project, we'll presumably still be seeking food, sex, shelter, sleep, and what-not. It'll be the same as today, but with more labor saving contraptions, faster communications, etc. What excites me are the technological advances that stand to make the world better for the "bottom third" or whatever. What can we do to improve the lives of people in 3rd world countries? What do they need? Better access to fresh water, wholesome food, proper sanitation, modern medicines, and what not. So finding ways to make, say, water desalination / purification cheaper, lighter, and faster, would be an aspect of the future that would be very exciting. It wouldn't be groundbreaking in a certain sense (not like the star trek transporter or the Holodeck), but it would be significant in improving the standard of living for a large number of people.

mindcrime 13y ago

Sure, the world has definitely changed, and more so for certain groups of people (obviously African Americans in the US, who are no longer treated as property). The point was just that, in many ways, the changes we've seen have been more or less incremental improvements to the same basic activities we do today. So what will the future be? Depending on how far ahead you project, we'll presumably still be seeking food, sex, shelter, sleep, and what-not. It'll be the same as today, but with more labor saving contraptions, faster communications, etc. What excites me are the technological advances that stand to make the world better for the "bottom third" or whatever. What can we do to improve the lives of people in 3rd world countries? What do they need? Better access to fresh water, wholesome food, proper sanitation, modern medicines, and what not. So finding ways to make, say, water desalination / purification cheaper, lighter, and faster, would be an aspect of the future that would be very exciting. It wouldn't be groundbreaking in a certain sense (not like the star trek transporter or the Holodeck), but it would be significant in improving the standard of living for a large number of people.