thought for the day/the logan's run future
Arthur C Clarke published in 1948 his "Against the Fall of Night." It was a story about mankind confining itself inside a dome world to lock itself away from the universe. In Arthur C Clarke's story here, mankind did so because it met an intelligence that was way ahead of it and Humanity would never catch up to these extraterrestrial intelligences. I'm finding that Humanity, namely nanotechnologists, are going to do this "Logan's Run" type of solution. They're arguement is going to be that we can't let humanity run wild through the universe with nanotechnology because somebody, sooner than later, will abuse it.
I've tried to argue with them; their responce is to not respond. Well, I've come to see that whether the pioneering nanotechnologists accomplish this or not won't matter. I just want to point out some quantum technology - the atomic clock.
ReplyDeleteI've pointed out an interesting underrated quantum technology that most non-scientists probably havn't even heard of today - the electron microscope. I bring up the atomic clocks to suggest that whether the nanotechnologists are right or wrong, the resultant nanotech era culture will be so fundamentally dependent on technology, the religion will always be technology-apologetic; they'll always make excuses for not cutting their own throat.
They can destroy all the fossil records they want; they'll never destroy the nano-manufacturing units; they'll never bust up the atomic clocks and so on and so forth.
The atomic clocks will always be important for everything from global positioning systems to the astronomers. Today, the religious say how the big bang cosmology is proof that God started the universe; similarly, they'll find ways to say that every scientific discovery points to a god.
In due time, people will forget about the universe - but, not the astronomers!
ReplyDeleteIn religion, there's all kinds of arguements about son of man, son of god, trinity or no trinity and so on and so forth. Some scientists believe in god and some don't. Similarly, there's many scientists who believe in axiomatics and some don't. In mathematics, there's the intuitionists, the constructivists(even the intuitionists and constructivists are at each others throats!), the logicist(I'm kind of a logicists; i believe that the axiomatics define the abstraction; and, I've said plenty of how I think abstraction works in mathematics), the pur set theorists or formalists. Bottom line is that humanity is getting into the nano era in a very confused state. All the best that can happen is that time and more intellectual development, more data and logic.
ReplyDeleteSome time perhpas a hundred thousand years of nanotechnology and quantum computers and for all kinds of social upheavals(yes, even in a nanotech logan's run world!) and those irrationalists to turn their back and forget about the universe will be required for humanity to grow up.
Personally, I think every creed or society should be allowed to go their separate ways in space; it will all amount to the same thing.
Those who know that Clarke book should see what I hope this blog becomes for the future. It's kind of like those time capsules societies like to do these days; they like to put peoples concerns into a time capsule not to be opened till some time in the future.
ReplyDeleteThere's all kinds of details that could go into this blog; but, i think this lays enough of my viewpoint.