[NeoPeasant]

CNN's Welcome to the Future Sat. and Sun. 7 ET


I hear it's just going to be a rerun of "Soylent Green"

[Novus]

It seems like the show is more of the very same cornucopian pie in sky BS the technologists have been promising us fo 20+ years. We will put computers in our clothes ho-ray. Truely mindless consumerism.

[ThunderChunky]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'I')t seems like the show is more of the very same cornucopian pie in sky BS the technologists have been promising us fo 20+ years. We will put computers in our clothes ho-ray. Truely mindless consumerism.

[NeoPeasant]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ThunderChunky', ' ')Yeah... technology hasn't advanced in the last 20 years. ROFL

[ThunderChunky]

We've also increased the human lifespan by several years, cured various diseases, created new therapies. Advances in technology have helped us reduce human suffering and will continue to do so. That is the purpose of this "frankenstein Expletive deleted. " you refer to. You yourself likely benefit from advances is technology, unless you're Amish.

[mekrob]

Increased lifespan, you say? Uhh, you might want to recheck that. Today's children have a lower lifespan than their parents because consumerism has taught them to be a good little kid so they can get a new game and sit inside their homes all day, instead of outside where they can get excercise. So they sit and sit and eat McDonald's until they are overweight (in a few years, half of children will be overweight). That's a breakthrough? We spent hundreds of thousands of years going through evolution so snot-nosed little kids can piss it away getting high blood pressure and heart attacks by the age of 18?

And some of that other 'frankenstein shit' that has 'reduced human suffering' has only reduced it for those that have the guns and weapons and torture tools, not the ones on the receiving end, whose pain just increases and their numbers multiply.

[Sys1]

The reason of lifespan increase comes from food and hygiene. I bet that with peak oil, we will loose both (and many more).

[TorrKing]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ThunderChunky', 'W')e've also increased the human lifespan by several years, cured various diseases, created new therapies.--snip--You yourself likely benefit from advances is technology, unless you're Amish.

[TITAN]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ThunderChunky', 'W')e've also increased the human lifespan by several years, cured various diseases, created new therapies. --snip--You yourself likely benefit from advances is technology, unless you're Amish.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ThunderChunky', 'W')e've also increased the human lifespan by several years, cured various diseases, created new therapies. Advances in technology have helped us reduce human suffering and will continue to do so. That is the purpose of this "frankenstein shit" you refer to. You yourself likely benefit from advances is technology, unless you're Amish.

[ThunderChunky]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', 'I')ncreased lifespan, you say? --snip-- And some of that other 'frankenstein shit' that has 'reduced human suffering' has only reduced it for those that have the guns and weapons and torture tools, not the ones on the receiving end, whose pain just increases and their numbers multiply.

[Zardoz]

Silly rants about technological advances having no real benefits are just Luddite nonsense.

The problem is in the minds of the Luddites. They seem to have been caught up in some belief that technology would provide a Utopian paradise. Only the most drug-addled ever believed that, and now they're bitter and resentful that it hasn't come to pass.

The advance of science and technology never held out the hope or promise of Nirvana. Blaming it for McFat is just absurd. What, you think McDonald's has something to do with medical and electronic advances? Have you taken a severe blow to the head or something?

If you think it's all a fraud, smash your cell phone down onto the concrete, and go take a dump in the bushes. Certainly you won't want to use a flush toilet.

[TITAN]

TC, I find your borderline obsession with the extension of human lifespan to be highly narrow-minded. Do you fear dying? Do you actually believe that the world is going to just keep getting better, exponentially? Do you believe in the peak oil theory? Do you even know what peak oil is?

Technology and everything that it 'produces' is absolutely dependant on an abundant supply of oil...

[Rodney]

Well, I watched a little bit of it. Just a little bit... then tuned away, then came back to see if it was as bad as I thought the first time. It was.

It was just a talk show -- half a dozen or more people BSing about the future, not necessarily with any real knowledge or wisdom. There were a couple of well-known techies there -- I saw Dan Kurzweil, I _always_ see Dan Kurzweil -- but also a clutch of "cultural" types, including comedian Margaret Cho who predicted that government will always be ineffectual because she has to wait in the line at the DMV just as long now as she did 20 years ago. And everyone agreed with her, or let the point pass. And I thought, it's actually been five years since I've even _been_ to the DMV (and even then, I was able to make a reservation and not wait in line). I do all my routine vehicle registration stuff through the web interface. If Margaret Cho doesn't know this, it could only be because she's not computer-literate. And that's not the DMV's fault.

Yeah, and the rest of it was: we'll live forever; we'll have creativity chips in our heads; "Describe the future in one word;" all that sort of thing. Pretty much worthless.

[ThunderChunky]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TITAN', 'T')C, I find your borderline obsession with the extension of human lifespan to be highly narrow-minded. Do you fear dying? Do you actually believe that the world is going to just keep getting better, exponentially? Do you believe in the peak oil theory? Do you even know what peak oil is?
Technology and everything that it 'produces' is absolutely dependant on an abundant supply of oil...

[ThunderChunky]

Hey look it's frankenpig:

Researchers create pigs that produce heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')esearchers report they have created pigs that produce omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to improve heart function and help reduce the risks for heart disease, representing the first cloned transgenic livestock in the world that can make the beneficial compound. The research could be a boost to both farmers and health-conscious consumers seeking an alternative and safer source of omega-3 fatty acids. Currently, the only way for humans to realize the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is by taking dietary supplements or by eating certain types of fish that may also contain high levels of mercury.

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ThunderChunky', 'T')he only other options are give up technology and revert to the stone age, or pollute the earth until we all die. Considering record billions are still invested into research and green technologies are advancing every way, we can rule the two alternatives out.

[ThunderChunky]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', 'W')e're doing a pretty good job of pollutiing the earth even if we have gigabot clothing and nanocrap.--snip-- Nobody is desiging the eco-techno-topia that you allude to. Get real ya goofball : )

[Falconoffury]

ThunderChunky, I would like you to do some research on a drug named Vioxx, and then get back to us.

[Ingenuity_Gap]

Guys, stop fighting against each other. The whole discussion about technology and its benefits/side-effects is pretty clear:

1. First comes the "problem". Let's say the problem is us getting fatter and fatter, with an increasing risk of heart disease.

2. Then somebody comes with the "observation". Let's say the observation is that by consuming aliments with a high content of “heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids” people will reduce the risk of heart-attack.

3. Then somebody comes with the "idea". And what a smart idea: since people like eating pigs, let's make pigs that produce heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Kool!

4. Than finally somebody comes with the "implementation". And the tech-pigs start pouring out of the factory ready to be transformed into steaks, sausages and other finger licking goodies.

5. Everybody eats tech-pigs and live happily ever after. End of story.


Or maybe not. What did we forget out of the picture? I would say a lot of essential things. Let's see how the real story unfolds.

1a. We didn't try to understand the "problem" in the first place. Why are people getting fatter and fatter each and every day? Maybe because of other so called smart "ideas", like technologically enhanced pigs and cows, full of growth hormones and antibiotics? Maybe because of our beloved tech gadgets like TVs, game consoles, computers, cars etc. that is keeping us from moving and making exercise.

2a. The "observation" is far from being exhaustive and does not take into account possible side effects that will most likely create more "problems”.

3a. The "idea" is far from being fully tested and God knows what else may happen after we eat those fabulous tech-pigs. But we need to bring it to the market quickly. Again, more "problems" will probably arise.

4a. The "implementation" is done by people subject to all kinds of vices like the rest of us: greed, negligence, opportunism, more greed. And because it involves high-tech and lots of money, those people will probably be big corporations, with all the rights of normal people (and more), but with little or no responsibilities. The end result will be far from perfect and will create more "problems".

5a. The cycle of problems-observations-ideas-implementations continues ad infinitum creating exponentially more difficult problems that require countless more observations, vastly more complicated ideas and extremely more costly implementations.


Conclusion

Because the world we live in is infinitely complex and becomes increasingly more fast-paced every day, the chance of solving our problems by increasing the complexity (i.e. by quick techno-fixes) gets slimmer by the second.

Most of the problems we are facing today were created by our beloved technology in the first place. We are trying to fix them but in the process we are creating more. Any normal person with the tiniest bit of common sense would say that something is wrong with our approach.

And the tragedy is technology isn't good or bad, it's the way we use it. Our social, financial, economical and cultural system encourages greed, negligence, opportunism, quick and profitable fixes and allows the system to perpetuate.

I can hardly wait to see what nanotechnology will "benefit" the environment. It will probably reduce pollution, but what I'm interested in are the side-effects. And I bet they will not be small ones. The problem here is that we are trying to reduce pollution not by reducing the pollutant factors, but by something that will make the pollution go away, so we can create pollution as much as we like. I can’t help but thinking of the movie “Envy” and the slogan: “Were does the crap go, we want to know!”. Do we really think that “Va-poo-rise” will solve our problems?

This kind of approach will only allow us to create more pollution (and use nano-bots to get rid of it), use more fossil fuels, water, resources etc. It is this kind of thinking that brought us here in the first place. This way of life gave us global warming, environmental degradation, overpopulation, peak oil, and other “benefits”.

Now the question is: are we stupid enough to continue on this path of destruction?