Is technology finite?
 

Obviously oil is important and one of the major reasons we're in Iraq which leads me to believe that we've been unable to produce an equally efficient replacement or at least one with a large enough supply.

Will oil run out during our lifetime and if so, how can we possibly continue?

Back to the original question, will their come a time when we cannot make a smaller microprocessor and a faster computer?

What about diseases. Do you believe their is a cure for every ailment that exists (cancer, aids) and it's just a matter of finding the right combination of antidotes.

I'm just wondering if we're coming up to a plateua.

If there is a "plateau" we as humans are about 2 million years away from achieving it. As far as oil goes, alot of money is being spent on research of alternate fuel methods.

convergence is coming...

No, technology is moving faster and faster, because all technology build on existing technology.

I think there is still lots of room before we reach the pinnacle. But it seems for some things we may have reached it. Maybe there is no efficient equally productive alternative to oil.

It's not just for your car too. There are hundreds of other uses for oil. Kinda concerns me. Probably shouldn't as I will be an old man or dead before the well runs dry. I just don't see how future generations are going to live the life we have.

Kinda like music, tv, and movies. All the themes appear to have been done. Things now are a spinoff, remake, or cut and paste of previous works.

What are some examples?

For instance, do you believe that there are limitations though. Do you think we will ever have the technology to visit all the planets in the solar system. Right now it takes years to get to some of those planets.

I agree but you have to note that as some earlier threads proposed, technology is moving at an exponential rate. I see things like harboring energy directly from the sun as possible future endeavours. Not just from rays taht reach the earth but perhaps some other ways that are considered "science fiction" at the moment.

I do agree that there might be an oil crisis one day but i am confident in the human kinds ability to overcome such obstacles.

Absolutely, there are blueprints already infact. The next great wave of technology will come from nanotechnology.

Humans are ingenius. I do have faith in them too.

In North America, we don't even use things like windmills to generate electricity. There is definite room for improvement and new technologies.

From a purely financial, economic, political, and militaristic standpoint, I can see why going to 'war' with Iraq to extract oil (let's argue that it was the sole reason, just for arguments sake) as it's fundamental to our lifestyle. Clearly it's a moral and ethical disaster.

New technology, no matter how simple, often unlocks thousands of new uses and even technologies. Take the slowing of light that was accomplished by a female Danish scientist some years back. That will have many uses in future computer technology and also allow scientists to do some interesting new stuff to discover yet more technology.

As for your second question, yes I believe so. I think it's inevitable, provided we don't kill ourselves first, of course.

Ya know my next door neighbor in Florida was a democrat who was running for the house. He lost, but one time i talked to him. He said and i quote "I am pushing for more funding in research of alternate fuels. So that next time you wont have to go to war for oil". He said that abour 20 days before initial reports started circling about a possible invasion of iraq.

Of course there are limitations. We will most likely never travel backwards in time, visit other universes (if they exist), globally change the laws of the universe, or make an object smaller than a bunch of atoms.

Cool.

What would you say to this.

Would it be better to:

1) Try to spread the wealth of wealthy nations throughout the world so that everybody has a decent standard of living, opportunity, goals stability/peace... which would theoretically lead to more brains trying to innovate new technologies with new ideas

or

2) Continue to keep the wealth as we do now, and keep the poorer nations essentially our laborers. It seems to me this is the way it works. Banana Replubics exist for our benefit only. Either we use them or let them languish after having invaded them and removed their ability to sustain themselves (culture).

The moral answer is easy. But does morality function or play a key role in technological innovation. Much of our technology were created as the result of war.

Wow, that's so telling and troubling and hopeful at the same time.

I beleive that the "infinite" universe creates an infinite possibility spectrum. So if the human brain can come up with it i think its very possible.

AND infact there are actually factually valid blueprints for a time machine based on Einsteins theories. However it requires the energy of splitting 2 Stars or something in that nature. Something we are obviously not capable of doing.

The human brain must be limited, no? It's a finite object with a limited amount of cells.

But it's not just the brains limitation. We may think of flying using our arms, but in reality it's impossible to do on Earth. So the actual application of things we can come up with may not always be able to be realized.

You can conceive, believe, and still not achieve, no?

We already have alternatives to many of the oil uses. Automotive fuel can be produced from renewable resources such as corn.

Are we taking full advantage of other renewable resources such as solor rays, wind, and water? The answer is no.

Also, if that's true, than does everything we've dreamt of actually exist somewhere?

Does the Alien in the movie Aliens actually exist somewhere in the far reaches of the universe?

I still think that things may not be exist and all possilibilites may not exist even if the space we live in is infinite.

Everything is finite.

I think on a possibility spectrum its POSSIBLE. I dont think that everything we think about actually exists. I think that all our ideas have a correlation with the possibility spectrum.

No we're talking much more than that even when we're only talking about oil. Qoute from somebody else in another thread:

" There are over 500,000 uses in this economy, including

Saccharine (artificial sweetener), roofing paper, aspirin, hair
coloring, heart valves, crayons, parachutes, telephones, bras,
transparent tape, antiseptics, purses, deodorant, panty hose, air
conditioners, shower curtains, shoes, volleyballs, electrician's
tape, floor wax, lipstick, sweaters, running shoes, bubble gum, car
bodies, tires, house paint, hair dryers, guitar strings, pens,
ammonia, eyeglasses, contacts, life jackets, insect repellent,
fertilizers, hair coloring, movie film, ice chests, loudspeakers,
basketballs, footballs, combs/brushes, linoleum, fishing rods,
rubber boots, water pipes, vitamin capsules, motorcycle helmets,
fishing lures, petroleum jelly, lip balm, antihistamines, golf
balls, dice, insulation, glycerin, typewriter/computer ribbons,
trash bags, rubber cement, cold cream, umbrellas, ink of all types,
wax paper, paint brushes, hearing aids, compact discs, mops,
bandages, artificial turf, cameras, glue, shoe polish, caulking,
tape recorders, stereos, plywood adhesives, TV cabinets, toilet
seats, car batteries, candles, refrigerator seals, carpet,
cortisone, vaporizers, solvents, nail polish, denture adhesives,
balloons, boats, dresses, shirts (non-cotton), perfumes, toothpaste,
roller-skate wheels, plastic forks, tennis rackets, hair curlers,
plastic cups, electric blankets, oil filters, floor wax, Ping-Pong
paddles, cassette tapes, dishwashing liquid, water skis, upholstery,
chewing gum, thermos bottles, plastic chairs, transparencies,
plastic wrap, rubber bands, computers, gasoline, diesel fuel,
kerosene, heating oil, asphalt, motor oil, jet fuel, marine diesel,
butane hearing aids, bandages, artificial limbs and heart valves, contact
lenses and hundreds of medications derived from petroleum

Not to mention Water supply pumping, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, street/park
maintenance, hospitals & health systems, police, fire services.
National defense (land, sea, air).

PLUS, Food grains produced with modern, high-yield methods (including packaging and delivery) now contain between four and ten calories of fossil fuel for every calorie of solar energy. It has been estimated that about four percent of the nation's energy budget is used to grow food, while about 10 to 13 percent is needed to put it on our plates. In other words, a total of 17 percent of America's energy budget is consumed by agriculture

Everything around you is plastic, or oil derived. If we didn't have it, this country would turn into a starving, dying, chaotic wasteland in a few months...."

What we conceive and how we conceive it are 2 different things. For instance... We dreamed about flying, so we built a machine that flies us.

We dreamt about traveling great distances with ease so we built a car.

Quick and easy answer..

The cure for cancer was developed some years ago..

Why isn't it readily available??

Let's say these words: Pharmaceutical companies.. Government.. greed..

Not a conspiracy "theory" .. FACTS!!!!!!!!!!

Do some research and the proof is all around...

Just an example of answers to the question, "why"...

Ive heard the same thing for the cure of aids. My friend told me it was "population control". I honestly dont know which one to beleive.

Could be true. I don't know one way or the other. I've heard this argument many times.

To the larger question, do you think that all diseases have a cure or anti-dote that exists and it's just a matter of us finding it or developing it?

Or are their some things that simply cannot be rectified, corrected, and made healthy again.

I see what you mean. We're in full agreement on this.

Thanks i like to see talent...

One of my famous quotes
"Talent sees talent, Talentless sees insanity" NM

Why do you ask me this? It doesn't seem relevant.

But I choose neither, and I disagree with you on your conclusion that the moral answer is easy.

I think that quality is better than quantity, that the world is overpopulated enough by humans as it is, and that the nations of the world are already depending on eachother on a much too dangerous degree. Make of it what you will.

It's not directly relevant. I only asked it on the idea that the more braincells being used toward techonology and innovation (could?) lead to those needed innovations quicker.

I guess in a roundabout way, I was making an analogy to two people trying to brainstorm an idea versus those two people within a larger group. They may get more suggestions/ideas from the larger group.

I didn't read all of your last paragraph, sorry. My answer is that morality is completely subjective, but of course, someone with a lack of for example religious dogma are relieved of restraints that others suffer. That's not necessarily a key role.

Im sure there are cures for many major diseases, but unfortunately there is too much money involved for them to be let out of the bag anytime soon.

as for technology being finite....id say it definately is. just think about it. if in 10 million years humans are still around, what would they have that you cannot imagine today? time travel? lightspeed transport? lightsaber ahahha? where would you go from these points? eventually there will be nothing else desirable for mankind.

As for medicine, in my opinion we should also practice voluntary eugenism and reduce the need for medicine rather than focusing all efforts on finding ways in which to let weak people compete on equal grounds with strong people.

It's more compassionate to be politically incorrect and not hurt anybody (voluntary eugenism) than letting the children of tomorrow be utterly dependent on socialism and the benevolence and patience of others in other to be able to have some kind of quality to their life.

Maybe I have said too much already. I'm tired of posting for today any way.

Interesting. I'm tired myself so I won't respond at length.

I'll just say that personally, I've made an effort to stay away from medicines/drugs so that I'm never dependent on them. Thankfully I'm blessed with good health (aside from an illness I had as a child which probably would have killed me had it not been for modern medicine)

Humans limit advancement of technology. Wait, let me change that. Money limits the advancement of technology. Not just lack of money, but also the ability to make money on current technology. We cant advance if companies are spending billions and have tons of power. An oil alternative would cause thousands of jobs to be lost, the Middle Eastern oil countries would lose TONS of money. The world would change significantly in one year.

Thats extremely pesimistic. Im sure there is some factual value to your statement thou. There is alot of waste that could be put to better use.

Met John Titor yet?

pesimistic? if a cheap, limitless, easy to produce oil alternative was found, people would RUN to it. You think the US likes other people controlling the black currency?

I'd actually think there would be wars... the Middle Eastern countries have almost nothing without oil. They'd have to completely change everything.

I'm pretty sure we already have an alternative almost ready for oil . They just aren't getting it out because of money

When at last the work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upward and hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son in the same manner, and taught him how to fly, as a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air. When all was prepared for flight, he said, "Icarus, my son, I charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe." While he gave him these instructions and fitted the wings to his shoulders, the face of the father was wet with tears, and his hands trembled. He kissed the boy, not knowing that it was for the last time. Then rising on his wings he flew off, encouraging him to follow, and looked back from his own flight to see how his son managed his wings. As they flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the shepherd learned on his staff and watched them, astonished at the sight, and thinking they were gods who could thus cleave the air.

Icarus

Man will die and evolve in pursuit of the stars.
Part will parish part will be free from the prison that held them.

You have lifted this senseless discourse to the heights of "...it matters not at all..."

Thanks.


j-

To put it simply.., "There's nothing new under the Sun" ..

If there is a disease.. there is a cure..

and in a number of cases... If there is a cure.. there is some entity that is keeping it hush hush..

In this day and time, it would be totally ignorant to think that cures for diseases couldn't be thrown to the surface for all to see if it weren't for the greedy fucks that run the gov't and pharmaceutical co.'s..

None of it matters dude...

What makes you think, you matter or anything for that matters?

Progress matters, thats the only part about living.

You can break rocks all your life and when you learn to break rocks differently you change forever.

"In strange eon's death may die" - HP Lovecraft.

Alternatives to oil and energy sources is all too real. Think war in Iraq, money, business, and your way of life.

I'm looking beyond my way of life, beyond the brief span of my own years -- ultimately, these questions will fade against the relentless murdering (and giving birth again) of time.

j-

PS: I'm a little fucked up right now.

You're right:(

In our life times crazy things will be achieve... Dna processing computers I believe it's off the seven bases. Then you get into quatom computer which is 32 photons I could be wrong which then could also computer with matter. Though with quotom computing you have something that processes infinite times infinite what would that bring? Either utter choas or a true utopia....

Doubt true quatom computing will be seen in my life time but alot of stuff will sure make it intresting.....