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The Unimaginable Future of Technology

Speculating the Future Using The Past

For futurologists, the modern social-scientific line of thought that speculates on the future, what the future holds can be predicted by what we see now.

We do not know what will happen in the future, but the past can paint a picture. In 1903, the Wright brothers invented the plane, but it took over 50 years before the first planes were commercialised.

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The Unimaginable Future of Technology

daydreamerlive.com

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Speculating the Future Using The Past

For futurologists, the modern social-scientific line of thought that speculates on the future, what the future holds can be predicted by what we see now.

The Tipping Point of Technology

A pessimistic futurologist might suggest that perhaps technology may be coming up on its peak and cannot improve further.

Generations have speculated the next advancements that will be past their times, such as the myth of the flying car. Other very accurate speculations are related to the development of mass media. Recently, cloning has become a reality.

The Technological Time Frame

The philosophical futurologist's perspective is that the rate of change for our technology has outpaced anything we could predict in the future.

In the past, the Greeks understood the very basics of chemistry, yet it took 5,000 years after that to develop the basic models of chemistry we now understand. In contrast, with our modern advancements, it took only 70 years from the invention of man-made flight to send humans to the moon and back.

Misconceptions About the Future of Technology

Futurology skeptics who believe advancement is coming to an end do not consider the progress we are not yet able to understand.

DaVinci and Galileo may have contributed hugely to technological advancement in their times, but even they could not comprehend the future of today. Computing power could radically be improved through the invention of a quantum computer, and power generation could still face improvement.

Technology And Philosophical Challenges

The industrial revolution sparked new and philosophical theories from people like Karl Marx, who tried to seek meaning in a new industrial-labor world. These philosophical revolutions may become more common as technology advances into the unimaginable.

With robotics and artificial intelligence, we may be required to accurately consider what makes us human. Massive industrialization will leave people without work, which leaves humans to consider what they ought to do with themselves.

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The Myth Of Busyness

huffpost.com

In chapter five of "Through the Looking-Glass," Alice finds herself in a dark shop, where she tries to purchase an egg. "I never put things into people's hands - that would never do - you must get it for yourself," the shopkeeper tells her. Alice, bewildered, asks herself " why it wouldn't do?"

Key Ideas

The status shift

Busyness proselytizers suggest that Thorstein Veblen’s fin de siècle theory of “conspicuous consumption,” whereby the moneyed class establishes its status through ostentatious spending, has reverse...

We take on more

New convenience technologies have never resulted in more leisure time.
When we reach each new Utopia we're neither closer nor further from a true life of leisure. Rather than offload work, we choose equilibrium, absorbing our gains so as to take on more.

Working less

If we ever want to reach a workless society — or at least one where we work less — it won’t do to rely on dispassionate historical or technological forces to bring it about.

Instead, we’ll have to get it for ourselves.

About time: why western philosophy can only teach us so much

theguardian.com

The long read: By gaining greater knowledge of how others think, we can become less certain of the knowledge we think we have, which is always the first step to greater understanding. By Julian Baggini

Key Ideas

We cannot understand ourselves if we do not understand others. Getting to know others requires avoiding the twin dangers of overestimating either how much we have in common or how much divides ...

To travel around the world’s philosophies is an opportunity to challenge beliefs we take for granted. By gaining greater knowledge of how others think, we can become less certain of the...

To travel around the world’s philosophies is an opportunity to challenge beliefs we take for granted. By gaining greater knowledge of how others think, we can become less certain of the knowledge we think we have, which is always the first step to greater understanding.

We should not be afraid to ground ourselves in our own traditions, but we should not be bound by them.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Key to Innovation

fs.blog

Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Doers and thinkers from Shakespeare to Jobs, liberally “stole” inspiration from the doers and thinkers who came before. Here’s how to do it right.

Key Ideas

Innovation at work

When you look at great geniuses like Newton, for example, it can be easy to imagine that their ideas and work came exclusively out of their minds. But that is seldom how it works.

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Everyone gets a lift up

We get to see further than our predecessors, not because we have a greater vision or greater height, but because we are lifted on their gigantic stature.

There are giants in every field. Don't let them intimidate you. Take from anywhere that resonates with you and inspires or fuels your imagination. Build upon it and improve it. Doing this will make your work authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.

The "Not invented here" syndrome

'Not invented here syndrome' is a term for situations when we avoid using ideas, products, or data created by someone else, and instead develop our own even if it is more expensive, time-consuming, and of lower quality.
The syndrome can also show up as a reluctance to delegate work.
Creating a new solution may be more exciting, but new solutions create new problems.

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