Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on April 13, 2015
John Michael Greer: The God Of Technological Progress May Well Be Dead
As we often state here at Peak Prosperity, the narratives we hold are immensely important. The stories running our heads influence everything from our beliefs to our values to our actions.
Which is why it’s so dangerous when a society clings onto a narrative that is no longer serving it well, a narrative divorced from reality.
This week, Chris and John Michael Greer address the global faith in inexorable technological advancement as a cure-all to every predicament we face. In many ways, it’s become the dominant religion of the 21st century. Sadly, there are a growing number of threats for which ‘improved’ technologies actually exacerbate the risks (particularly in regards to depleting critical resources) — but society refuses to acknowledge this, as it runs counter to the tech-as-savoir meme so many are pining their hopes on.
23 Comments on "John Michael Greer: The God Of Technological Progress May Well Be Dead"
Dredd on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 6:59 pm
The god Oilah Akbar is not dead until all the followers are.
Godiness 101 (Oilah Akbar! Oilah Akbar!, 2, 3, 4).
Plantagenet on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 7:16 pm
Technological progress isn’t stopping. Its not even slowing. By all measures technological progress is accelerating.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us?language=en
Apneaman on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 7:29 pm
So what Plant? What is it progressing too? And for whom? At what cost? All that technology is only possible by burning carbon for energy. End the industrial age and watch most of it disappear.
Davy on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 8:03 pm
Planter, your technological progress is clearly hitting diminishing returns and limits. We have a whole range of technologies that have stalled. What we are seeing is tweaking. Tweaking is not real innovation. In a whole range of areas technology is falling behind. Our technology is creating new and worse problems that cannot be fixed by technology. I do not see acceleration in core areas I see stagnation and regression. As population increases, the environment degrades, high quality resources deplete, and climate destabilizes I see little chance technology can maintain even the appearance of progress.
Apneaman on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 8:38 pm
Much of it is just toys to distract ourselves. Lots of hype and even more failed promises.
The golden quarter
“Yet there once was an age when speculation matched reality. It spluttered to a halt more than 40 years ago. Most of what has happened since has been merely incremental improvements upon what came before.”
http://aeon.co/magazine/science/why-has-human-progress-ground-to-a-halt/
Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit
“Where, in short, are the flying cars? Where are the force fields, tractor beams, teleportation pods, antigravity sleds, tricorders, immortality drugs, colonies on Mars, and all the other technological wonders any child growing up in the mid-to-late twentieth century assumed would exist by now? Even those inventions that seemed ready to emerge—like cloning or cryogenics—ended up betraying their lofty promises. What happened to them?”
http://www.thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit
Makati1 on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 8:40 pm
Trying to think of the last real technological invention:
I think the microchip is one. Even that was invented in 1959, 55 years ago.
Solar panels? 1941
Lithium battery? 1912
Modern Computer? 1938
???
What we consider ‘modern tech’ is nothing more than tweaked originals from before my time. A different color or shape or a few more gigs of storage but nothing new.
Man made, controlled, fusion energy? Still a joke after decades of research and multi-billions spent, and it always will be “just a few more years”.
Tech is dying along with excess, cheap energy. I think that is a good thing as it has mostly given us ways to commit mass suicide or murder, not steps to a better future, as promised by so many over the years. Duck and cover!
Nony on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 9:10 pm
I agree that few of the innovations have been that fundamental. Internet is a glorified combination of a phone book and a TV.
The one fundamental one I think is the cell phone. No more pay phones.
Plantagenet on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 9:52 pm
Here is MITs list of the top 10 tech advances in 2014:
Agricultural Drones
Relatively cheap drones with advanced sensors and imaging capabilities are giving farmers new ways to increase yields and reduce crop damage.
Ultraprivate Smartphones
New models built with security and privacy in mind reflect the Zeitgeist of the Snowden era.
Brain Mapping
A new map, a decade in the works, shows structures of the brain in far greater detail than ever before, providing neuroscientists with a guide to its immense complexity.
Neuromorphic Chips
Microprocessors configured more like brains than traditional chips could soon make computers far more astute about what’s going on around them.
Genome Editing
The ability to create primates with intentional mutations could provide powerful new ways to study complex and genetically baffling brain disorders.
Microscale 3-D Printing
Inks made from different types of materials, precisely applied, are greatly expanding the kinds of things that can be printed.
Mobile Collaboration
The smartphone era is finally getting the productivity software it needs.
Oculus Rift
Thirty years after virtual-reality goggles and immersive virtual worlds made their debut, the technology finally seems poised for widespread use.
Agile Robots
Computer scientists have created machines that have the balance and agility to walk and run across rough and uneven terrain, making them far more useful in navigating human environments.
Smart Wind and Solar Power
Big data and artificial intelligence are producing ultra-accurate forecasts that will make it feasible to integrate much more renewable energy into the grid.
Cheers!
Nony on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 10:02 pm
None of those can be really labeled a 2014 development. All existed before and are just increasing in extent.
Davy on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 10:03 pm
Just watched “Planet Ocean”. Scary stuff friends. We are kidding ourselves with our worship of technology. The oceans are dying and they are our canary in the coal mine for this progress we worship.
Apneaman on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:09 pm
Nony, the basic foundation for cell phone technology goes back to WWII and was invented by a very fine woman. Phones and women-who woulda thunk it?
Hedy Lamarr
Invention of Spread Spectrum Technology
http://www.women-inventors.com/Hedy-Lammar.asp
ffkling on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:22 pm
Davy-
You should watch Dr. Jeremy Jackson’s presentation of, “Ocean Apocalypse” given at the US Naval War College. If this does not convince, than it’s hopeless. Here is the YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zMN3dTvrwY
Speculawyer on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:24 pm
LOL. The druid writing endless doomer books says technology is dead. Meanwhile, programmers and engineers in Silicon Valley continue to make millions.
It is a good thing that the world still has lots of “can do” people instead of “can’t do” quitters like JMG.
Speculawyer on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:29 pm
“All that technology is only possible by burning carbon for energy”
That’s weird. My house and car run on net solar PV electricity.
“Where, in short, are the flying cars?”
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, will tell you why you have no flying cars:
http://www.startalkradio.net/show/the-future-of-humanity-with-elon-musk/
And all that other stuff? Just because some sci-fi writer imagines it, that doesn’t mean it is physically possible or economically practical.
We continue to advance is many fields simultaneously. Sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. However, we are always hemmed in by the laws of physics and economic realities. But there is still much more to discover and develop.
Apneaman on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:38 pm
can do what spec?
All I see is a bunch of scared clever tool making apes who are destroying their environment at an ever increasing rate. I guess some think it’s OK as long as you “can do” the toxic part in someone else’s back yard and have them ship the nice new shiny feel good green products over here.
The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth
Davy on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 11:56 pm
FF, I watched the “Ocean Apocalypse” also several months ago. Planet Ocean is the same message but with amazing photography. Both present a sobering look at a dying ecosystem directly related to human activity.
Davy on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 12:00 am
Spec, while we may be progressing somewhat on the technology front we are regressing on the spiritual front. The farther we journey from our roots the less human we become. We are becoming more and more like the machines we are creating and further from our nature.
meld on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 10:05 am
It’s obvious technological “progress” is slowing down at least for the general population. The only difference between my youth (born 1981) and now is that the computers are handheld. and they call them phones for some reason. They still do the same shit but slightly faster.
Now look at the difference between my parents generation between birth and their early/mid 30s, huge massive changed that they couldn’t keep up with. I still have 90% in common with most of the kids I work with, most of them even like 90s games and music because it’s better. I wouldn’t have been seen dead listening to 60/70s music when I was a teen.
ERRATA on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 10:34 am
Makati1 is right.
In the energy industry (what is important), there is no real progress since 1890 (Eng. Doliwo-Dobrowolski invented the three-phase system)
The production of electricity, has not changed since approx. 120 years !! despite the “mad” (progressive) futuristic vision of the 60s!
“Demon” entropy (the laws of thermodynamics) does not allow for real progress.
Being (internal skeleton) and electro power networks, does not change.
JuanP on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 11:02 am
An hour long, but fun and interesting enough to be worth it. I would comment on several things if I had more time, but I’ll stick to the Falklands War.
Uruguay maintained its traditional neutrality during the war. Soldiers and sailors from both Argentina and the UK were regularly attended in Uruguay throughout the war as it was the closer neutral ground. One of my father’s sisters was a manager at Montevideo’s British Hospital at the time. I volunteered by reading and talking to the wounded British men. I already was completely fluent and proficient in English at that age, and the men enjoyed my company and we had many good times together. I didn’t know anything about war and weapons, but I learnt some in those conversations. Chris comment about the Argentine MiGs with Exocet missiles is right on. One of the British sailors told me once that if the Argentines had had five or six more Exocets, the British would have lost the war, and all the rest agreed. He also said that the Brits knew the Argentineans didn’t have enough Exocets and wouldn’t get more. It was a close bet.
Speculawyer on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 5:45 pm
I wonder if Chris Martenson ever thinks . . . “You know . . . I used to be an exec in the Biotech biz. And now I am talking doomer tales with a druid. What happened to my life?”
Apneaman on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 6:12 pm
You make it sound like he had no choice spec. That would be wrong. Ever see a picture of him from when he was da man? – fat doughy n pasty. Looks pretty fit now – upbeat and cheerful too in spite of the subject matter. Probably has something to do with having ones own definition of success and the balls and ability to pull it off.
Davy on Tue, 14th Apr 2015 7:35 pm
Ape Man, touche!
Spec, I used to be an exec and I can tell you that life does not impress me. I wonder what you will be someday when all your BAU support mechanisms are gone. People who make comments like you made above lack depth of character.