Has it been too long ... ?

[Perraine]

Just "spit balling" here, but I recently saw a clip of one of the "talking heads" of Daimler equating their latest version of self their driving technology to the Apollo Moon landings!

 

And it got me thinking. Has it been too long since the world has ... Seen something?

 

Has the world become ... jaded somehow? Has it been to long since we've seen a truly world altering technology or technological achievement? Too long since we've seen a truly world changing heroic, masterful, and dare I say humble, accomplishment by a person or group?

 

Has it been too long since we've truly seen what horror and devastation, heartbreak and loss comes from a world war?

 

It seems these days, no matter how significant an event is, it barely stays in the consciousness for more than a few days to a week before the next "news cycle" throws something else at us.

[gnarly1]

Has it been to long since we've seen a truly world altering technology or technological achievement?

Interesting thoughts. I'll pick up on this one. CRISPR-Cas9 is a world-altering technology because we can now modify our own DNA sequences and gene function. I was listening to Fyodor Urnov talk about it today and he said that calling it 'revolutionary' wasn't sufficient because of how fundamentally it changes the world.

[Perraine]

 

Has it been to long since we've seen a truly world altering technology or technological achievement?

Interesting thoughts. I'll pick up on this one. CRISPR-Cas9 is a world-altering technology because we can now modify our own DNA sequences and gene function. I was listening to Fyodor Urnov talk about it today and he said that calling it 'revolutionary' wasn't sufficient because of how fundamentally it changes the world.

 

Interesting, I'll have to look it up. And there in perhaps is another symptom of the problem? If it is such an amazing technology, why isn't the whole world talk about it?

[gnarly1]

Interesting, I'll have to look it up. And there in perhaps is another symptom of the problem? If it is such an amazing technology, why isn't the whole world talk about it?

It was sensational news when the technology was first announced several years ago now. Perhaps it's explained by the old adage about technology diffusion: we tend to overestimate how quickly it will become 'mainstream', but underestimate the scope of the change that occurs in society.

[Perraine]

Hmmm, perhaps you are correct. Modifying DNA even if easy and affordable, still seems more "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary". I mean, we've had Science Fiction talking about "Viral Vectors" for years, we've had shows like Star Trek telling us they have eliminated almost all genetic illnesses in humans etc, heck we've even cloned a sheep!!! So it feels like we've kinda been "primed" for something like that for years.

 

I was in the ADF fro 14 years, and active for 12 of those. I seen conflict in many parts of the world, I've been shot (twice) and have shot others, and I would NEVER wish that on any other human being EVER!

But I can't help hearing a small voice saying "well, if we can't do something truly awe inspiring and good to wake up or unite the world, then maybe we need to give it a kick in the a$$ instead"

[gnarly1]

Hmmm, perhaps you are correct. Modifying DNA even if easy and affordable, still seems more "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary". I mean, we've had Science Fiction talking about "Viral Vectors" for years, we've had shows like Star Trek telling us they have eliminated almost all genetic illnesses in humans etc, heck we've even cloned a sheep!!! So it feels like we've kinda been "primed" for something like that for years.

Well, if your requirement is that we haven't been primed for it via science fiction, then one of the only things I can think of that fits that criteria is the ramifications of the results of the double slit experiment.

 

I'm sure somebody else will mention something I've overlooked though.

[Perraine]

 

Hmmm, perhaps you are correct. Modifying DNA even if easy and affordable, still seems more "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary". I mean, we've had Science Fiction talking about "Viral Vectors" for years, we've had shows like Star Trek telling us they have eliminated almost all genetic illnesses in humans etc, heck we've even cloned a sheep!!! So it feels like we've kinda been "primed" for something like that for years.

Well, if your requirement is that we haven't been primed for it via science fiction, then one of the only things I can think of that fits that criteria is the ramifications of the results of the double slit experiment.

 

I'm sure somebody else will mention something I've overlooked though.

 

Well, that, or perhaps a true understanding of EPR correlations, the true nature of Dark energy/matter, the unification of relativity and quantum mechanics etc. but those are things that only a small number of people even know about.

 

Now, if someone figured out some way to use an understanding of those phenomena and say created "Transporters" or some new 100% clean and "free" energy production or perhaps "anti-gravity" so we can get those flying cars we' were promised, then THAT would most likely be the "good" wake up call that the world REALLY needs right now.

[gnarly1]

In that case another one to add to the list would be discovering if and how we can experience reality as it truly is rather than the abstraction our brain presents us. Donald Hoffman makes a very persuasive case that we don't experience reality as it truly is and that there is something more fundamental to reality than space-time.

 

Anil Seth seems to agree with this as he argues that we, to a certain extent, hallucinate our experience of reality.

 

Our inability to understand/find dark energy might just be an indication that we don't understand gravity as well as we think we do. In fact, we still don't really know what gravity is.

[MrJoseCuervo]

"Has it been to long since we've seen a truly world altering technology or technological achievement?"

 

 

​No. There have been many advancements. You need to pay attention. People have their noses pointing to one of them so much they miss whats going on in the world around them.

 

Many of the world altering technologies are not in public view but they are there.

 

Ones I can list without even thinking..

 

Mars Rover

Landing on an asteroid

Gene Editing

Stem Cell Research

Artificial limb and organ advancements

Reusable Rockets...

[Striker879]

I think the size of the audience "that understands" the announcement has something to do with how long it remains in the current news cycle. For example, what portion of the world population do you think even understands what you are talking about when you mention genes (perhaps vs how many think you are talking about jeans and just don't know how to spell). That portion of the population wouldn't even read an article (if they actually read anything) past the point that CRISPR-Cas9 is first mentioned, and if it was a newscast that was their introduction to it they'd go grab another beer from the fridge at the first inclination that the story had something to do about science.

 

This is that "lowest common denominator" world I see around me every day. Perhaps we are evolving into two species.