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It seems kind of strange how in such a short time between 1901 to 2001 we went from horse and buggy to man on the moon or building the International Space Station. Or how the population of the earth went from 1.6 billion to 6.0 billion in less than 100 years. What was the major cause of this? Do you think that the 21st century is going to experiance another explosion in technology like people of the 20th?
Scientists seem to think the 21st Century will progress at an even more rapid pace than the 20th Century. Its hard to envision. We've sort of hit a point where I cannot imagine what else we can invent that would drastically improve life. I suppose flying cars, airplanes that get you from NY to California in 20 minutes, or something like that. Space exploration and possibly colonization of other planets and/or the moon is another possibility.
Scientists seem to think the 21st Century will progress at an even more rapid pace than the 20th Century. Its hard to envision. We've sort of hit a point where I cannot imagine what else we can invent that would drastically improve life. I suppose flying cars, airplanes that get you from NY to California in 20 minutes, or something like that. Space exploration and possibly colonization of other planets and/or the moon is another possibility.
Genetics, bionics, robotics, we're still in the frontier stage of a lot of areas which could greatly alter life. At the start of the next Century people could be living to the age of 150, humans could be enhanced by a wide array of implants which serve to multiply brain and physical power. Perhaps humans have gained a mastery over the climate and can manipulate weather to serve their needs.
I don't think anyone in 1900 was anticipating a year 2000 which featured the internet, yet that is one of the defining dynamics of this generation.
Genetics, bionics, robotics, we're still in the frontier stage of a lot of areas which could greatly alter life. At the start of the next Century people could be living to the age of 150, humans could be enhanced by a wide array of implants which serve to multiply brain and physical power. Perhaps humans have gained a mastery over the climate and can manipulate weather to serve their needs.
I don't think anyone in 1900 was anticipating a year 2000 which featured the internet, yet that is one of the defining dynamics of this generation.
The internet was hard to predict in 1900. Few people in 1970 could have imagined the internet. But automobiles were just invented around 1900 and have not improved too drastically since then. I mean cars today are way faster and better, but the basic function hasn't improved too much. I suppose people thought we'd have flying cars by now. In 1985, people thought we'd have flying cars by now. I am basing that assessment on the movie Back to the Future.
And do you think people living until 150 years old is a good thing? We already have 6 billion people on this planet and population growth is out of control. If people started living twice as long, we'll all kill ourselves off in 100 years.
The reason why it has moved soooooooo fast in the recent century is because one technology builds upon another. the discovery of electrical applications led to computers allow us to invent more stuff than we could have without. Also if someone figures out how to make humans live to 200 then the rate of invention will progress even faster because people will have more time to see their ideas to fruition.
The tecnhological boom actually got under way in America around 1830, with the completion of the first major improvements to our transportation infrastructure -- most notably, the Erie Canal, which reduced the per-mile cost of water-borne commerce between the entire Great Lakes region and most of the Atlantic Seboard by a factor of ten (90%).
In Great Britain, the process had already been under way for several decades, with the contribution of steam power by Watt and Trevethick a major element.
And on both sides of the Atlantic, the dimunition of the absolute power of both king and pontiff via the first stirrngs of parliamentary democracy was an enormous plus. With freedom of expression came economic freedom -- the process know as capitalism which too many of the world's losers and misfits use as a scapegoat for their own failings -- via the lust for, and misuse of, that selfsame monopoly on the use of force cited above.
The last 150 years has changed the world.. not all for the better.. a slower pace of life was maybe better for us all. now everyone is in a hurry, stressed out . no one can live without a mobile phone or seems so.. and if your tellys is under 40 inches wide, its a travesty... we all want too much too fast.. some dont want to work to get , and are in debt to provide these things..... no one seems to have patience to sit down and do small pursuits or games with kids like ludo.. draughts, jigsaws. storytelling, its all machines now to take care of that for us.... speed is the essence of life, travel has become a need not a necessity with some.... too much too soon.... far too much... where will it all go... I dread to think... weve plundered the earth for oil. went into space, put both men , vehicles into the atmosphere, things that never existed till quite recently.... the Earth can only sustain so much. and were overloading it... I dread to think what is being left to our grandchildren..
It seems kind of strange how in such a short time between 1901 to 2001 we went from horse and buggy to man on the moon or building the International Space Station. Or how the population of the earth went from 1.6 billion to 6.0 billion in less than 100 years. What was the major cause of this? Do you think that the 21st century is going to experiance another explosion in technology like people of the 20th?
Not so strange. Technological advancements during the 20th century simultaneouly led to the extending of human lifespan and generational intellectual and geographic overlap (via exponentially accelerating communication and data info storage technology) while decreasing humanity's need to spend their most precious resource (TIME) on non-cognitive tasks / activities. When this relationship is transposed technological innovation grows logarithmically. (idea sharing, ease of collaboration)
I would contend this relationship will naturally continue in its usual cycles unabated except for the restraints placed upon it via the buiness - economic - financial reward system which seeks hegemony through 'regulated oligarchy and monopoly' and measure success as marginal unit profit gain.
The economic command control function exuded by those driving the mechanisms of control (legislators, corporations, lobbyists, regulators etc...) may at times suppress innovation / technological advance if it doesn't continue to reinforce their hegemonic control of resources. (See Invention Secrecy Act of 1951)
The system tends more toward seeking to manage false 'scarcity' to maximize marginal unit profit for those who control the resources.
I'd suggest reading R Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path, especially the description he gives of the migration of technological innovation being under the control of corporations via relationships with academic research facilities and the corp research labs. While this is in many ways a natural path due to scale and monetary needs, it shows how a corporation who is guided by the aforementioned business ecnonomic model may not have an interest in truly forwarding tech advances - if the current state of technology remain 'cash cows' in the product / service marginal reward arena.
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