If you hadn't quit vaping, you'd have known we're living in a golden era of hardware development: everything getting cheaper, faster, smarter, and more powerful at such insane rates that it's hard to reason about e.g. industrial design anymore because what's possible changes so fast!
Obviously I agree at the macro though: in shared spaces βI suspect because of our general political dysfunctionβ there's been wild technology lag. I think architecture is a good example: I don't know anything and could be wrong, but it seems strange to see the materials and fabrication advances we see everywhere but see very little changing, and glacially, in architecture. As you know, I go to church, and I often wonder: is any architect, anywhere in the world, trying to make the most visually and acoustically and psychologically awe-inspiring experience with today's technologies and methods, as they once did with churches? Or for any other purpose? What would that look like? Should all walls and floors be OLEDs? How tall could the tallest building be now? What can we do with light, sound, color, interaction, etc.?
I am deeply excited for self-driving cars, too. I think we might have discussed this, but: self-driving RVs βesp. once they can really be designed entirely as living spaces, no driving space neededβ will revolutionize the busted dynamics of urban real estate. Instead of buying a home, many will buy a home that moves; they can follow opportunities, get dropped off in urban cores and picked up there too without parking, can "live" outside the city, can vacation while doing their normal routine, etc..
There are hundreds of angles like that: little stuck states self-driving will increment forward, problems that will suddenly vanish, opportunities that will open up, etc. A mature self-driving vehicle industry will change so much about America and the world for the better that I really do hope to see it.
I have mixed, strong feelings. I too would love to see cities full of robot electric taxis, but they're still basically computers with wheels, and computers often freeze in traffic or fry for no reason apparent to the average user. Waymo is still not perfect in that regard. (On the other hand, robots don't drive drunk or get angry, so.... )
Another thing to consider is the dark side of the battery industry, which deals in toxic minerals and chemicals that must be mined in places that are politically fraught. We don't talk about it much.
My solution is a concerted effort, particularly in cities, to emphasize shared electric transit: light rail, subways, buses... The American Way (private car whenever possible) is not the only way.
Being a techno optimist requires one to be a human optimist. While the technology will certainly keep racing ahead, we humans will remain largely the same as we've been for thousands of years.
And so the relationship between the technology and we humans will continually change, probably at an accelerating pace. We will increasingly be in a position of having to safely manage ever more powerful tools. First we give an 8 year old a sling shot, then a BB gun, then a rifle, then automatic weapons, then a cruise missile, and then nuclear weapons. At some point along that progression the 8 year old is going to get in to trouble.
The modern world is built upon a logic failure that will sooner or later have to be paid for in pain.
We sensibly limit the powers available to children out of a realistic recognition of their limitations. So far, so good.
But then, the logic failure...
We go on to assume that because adults are more mature than children (true) adults can therefore handle any amount of power delivered at any rate (false).
And so we embrace a "more is better" relationship with knowledge which is handing us ever more power at what seems an ever accelerating rate. We remain largely the same, while the power available to us gets bigger and bigger, faster and faster.
I'm an optimist over a very long run, and in regards to what comes after this life. But in the shorter run, it's slam dunk guaranteed that we are going to crash this version of the modern world.
Here's why.
We aren't all that bright.
Evidence: We're coming to the conclusion of a year long presidential campaign that's received around the clock coverage on what seems an infinite number of channels. And over the course of that year almost no one has thought to discuss the most important responsibility of the presidency, saving the modern world from nuclear weapons.
What can't be known is exactly how or when a coming crash will unfold. Nukes? AI? Genetic engineering? Something else? There's no way to say.
But using high school level logic we can confidently predict that the party can't go on forever.
Optimism? Yes. But over a very long time period. Probably thousands of years.
I've seen them in downtown Austin. Freaks me out a little. I know I'll get used to it but I'm not there yet. Thanks for sharing! sabrinalabow.substack.com
If you hadn't quit vaping, you'd have known we're living in a golden era of hardware development: everything getting cheaper, faster, smarter, and more powerful at such insane rates that it's hard to reason about e.g. industrial design anymore because what's possible changes so fast!
Obviously I agree at the macro though: in shared spaces βI suspect because of our general political dysfunctionβ there's been wild technology lag. I think architecture is a good example: I don't know anything and could be wrong, but it seems strange to see the materials and fabrication advances we see everywhere but see very little changing, and glacially, in architecture. As you know, I go to church, and I often wonder: is any architect, anywhere in the world, trying to make the most visually and acoustically and psychologically awe-inspiring experience with today's technologies and methods, as they once did with churches? Or for any other purpose? What would that look like? Should all walls and floors be OLEDs? How tall could the tallest building be now? What can we do with light, sound, color, interaction, etc.?
I am deeply excited for self-driving cars, too. I think we might have discussed this, but: self-driving RVs βesp. once they can really be designed entirely as living spaces, no driving space neededβ will revolutionize the busted dynamics of urban real estate. Instead of buying a home, many will buy a home that moves; they can follow opportunities, get dropped off in urban cores and picked up there too without parking, can "live" outside the city, can vacation while doing their normal routine, etc..
There are hundreds of angles like that: little stuck states self-driving will increment forward, problems that will suddenly vanish, opportunities that will open up, etc. A mature self-driving vehicle industry will change so much about America and the world for the better that I really do hope to see it.
I cannot wait for the day that they operate to SFO
This is WAYMO better than UBER or LYFT.
100% agree.
I left the SF Bay Area in 2016 and haven't been back since. Waymo is one of the top things I want to try out whenever I visit again.
Uber's deal with Waymo brings the magic to Austin and Atlanta. Maybe they're doing all the A cities first
All of this is so cringe. '..the physical world felt stagnant'...I feel sorry for you. I hate that I use your app.
Agreed, so far probably all technology has freed people and made the world better. We have yet to see if A.i. will stick to this trend
AI is revolutionaryβ¦
Check this guy out, https://www.x.com/Xhesra
I have mixed, strong feelings. I too would love to see cities full of robot electric taxis, but they're still basically computers with wheels, and computers often freeze in traffic or fry for no reason apparent to the average user. Waymo is still not perfect in that regard. (On the other hand, robots don't drive drunk or get angry, so.... )
Another thing to consider is the dark side of the battery industry, which deals in toxic minerals and chemicals that must be mined in places that are politically fraught. We don't talk about it much.
My solution is a concerted effort, particularly in cities, to emphasize shared electric transit: light rail, subways, buses... The American Way (private car whenever possible) is not the only way.
And Iβm still driving my 20-year-old MINI Cooper with a stick shift.
They're all over Los Angeles. I canβt wait to try one.
The best way to understand life is to love many things.
ββMy Universities (written by Maxim Gorky)
Being a techno optimist requires one to be a human optimist. While the technology will certainly keep racing ahead, we humans will remain largely the same as we've been for thousands of years.
And so the relationship between the technology and we humans will continually change, probably at an accelerating pace. We will increasingly be in a position of having to safely manage ever more powerful tools. First we give an 8 year old a sling shot, then a BB gun, then a rifle, then automatic weapons, then a cruise missile, and then nuclear weapons. At some point along that progression the 8 year old is going to get in to trouble.
The modern world is built upon a logic failure that will sooner or later have to be paid for in pain.
https://www.tannytalk.com/p/the-logic-failure-at-the-heart-of
We sensibly limit the powers available to children out of a realistic recognition of their limitations. So far, so good.
But then, the logic failure...
We go on to assume that because adults are more mature than children (true) adults can therefore handle any amount of power delivered at any rate (false).
And so we embrace a "more is better" relationship with knowledge which is handing us ever more power at what seems an ever accelerating rate. We remain largely the same, while the power available to us gets bigger and bigger, faster and faster.
I'm an optimist over a very long run, and in regards to what comes after this life. But in the shorter run, it's slam dunk guaranteed that we are going to crash this version of the modern world.
Here's why.
We aren't all that bright.
Evidence: We're coming to the conclusion of a year long presidential campaign that's received around the clock coverage on what seems an infinite number of channels. And over the course of that year almost no one has thought to discuss the most important responsibility of the presidency, saving the modern world from nuclear weapons.
What can't be known is exactly how or when a coming crash will unfold. Nukes? AI? Genetic engineering? Something else? There's no way to say.
But using high school level logic we can confidently predict that the party can't go on forever.
Optimism? Yes. But over a very long time period. Probably thousands of years.
People who donβt love Waymo are ngmi
THIS!!!
I've seen them in downtown Austin. Freaks me out a little. I know I'll get used to it but I'm not there yet. Thanks for sharing! sabrinalabow.substack.com