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Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

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Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#31

Post by dnsworks »

drcode wrote: post #22
mechanical_fish wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and what empirical evidence would that be exactly? Surely, if it is empirical, you can cite it! Could you at least define what you mean by technological progress ?

Cheaper food, better cars, faster computers, improved life expectancy, cheaper energy, better education, enhancements to human intelligence, better public transportation, more efficient manufacturing, better understanding of biology, better understanding of physics. Empirically, it seems to me all of the above have seen noticeable, but merely linear improvements in the last decade. (admittedly, computers are much fas…

Everything you've cited here just says "marginally better and cheaper crap to buy". Education has not improved in the past 20 years. Neither has public transit. Manufacturing has gotten cheaper, but it also puts out cheaper products in terms of quality. Oh, and we have better video games. Yippee!

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#32

Post by dnsworks »

gkefalas wrote: post #7

In terms of medical advances, there may not have been any major blockbuster disease cures found, but there were several very important advances & innovations. I'll crib from ABC News and call out a few that I think are impressive as a layperson: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Decade/genome-hormones-top-10-m... - Heart disease numbers dropped considerably: so many heart-related diseases and emergencies that previously w…

I will definitely buy this. Stem cell research might be the one "world-changing" innovation that's happened since the dawn of the internet, but I don't know if we'll have a clear view of that for another decade.

Arthroscopic surgery is also pretty awesome. So maybe it isn't all bleak. Maybe it's just the tech industry that has failed to do anything but sell us more crap, invade our privacy, and advertise us into submission.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#33

Post by jacquesm »

dnsworks wrote: post #30
jacquesm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ask around, when I was living in Toronto I found out that a neighbouring company had pulled in fiber, they let me piggyback on to theirs for a relatively low fee. If you need it then I assume it's work related so you probably have some budget available. You'd be surprised how much fiber has been pulled in metropolitan areas. If you're in the sticks or some small town then it's a different matter, but you could concei…

I live in SOMA. Downtown San Francisco. Twitter is across the street from me, literally. My best option is 6-30mbps down, and 1mbps up, or comcast which gives 10mbps up. I'd gladly pay $250/month to get 20mbps up. Unfortunately Comcast is allowed to force apartment building to sign exclusive contracts. Nobody is allowed to put fiber or coaxial into the building but comcast, and DSL just doesn't cut the mustard. After…

I used a short haul directional rig for high speed wifi (short haul being anything up to a mile or so) in another location, it cost me some money but it worked like a charm.

I got it from these guys: http://www.star-os.com/

They really seem to know their stuff. Using that trick you could likely jump from your balcony or window sill to any location in the neighbourhood that is in line-of-sight, to get you significantly more bandwidth than you have today.

They also sell a transmitter that isn't entirely legal in all parts of the world that will do significantly longer distances.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#34

Post by dnsworks »

jsz0 wrote: post #18

I think you're being a bit too hard on humanity.. -Dozens of extrasolar planets discovered. -Confirmation of water on Mars. -Completed the principal construction of ISS -Cassini–Huygens -AIDS drug therapy drastically increasing life spans -US elects a black President -Lowest number of homicides in the US since the 1960s

I won't be impressed until humans no longer fgeel the need to point out that a leader is of a specific color. That's just proof that racism is very real. And Mr. Obama himself is filled with religious hatred, as seen by his turncoat stance on the "Defense Of Marriage Act" that he originally promised to repeal. A black man denying others equality is pretty messed up.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#35

Post by jacoblyles »

dnsworks wrote: post #34
jsz0 wrote: post #18

I think you're being a bit too hard on humanity.. -Dozens of extrasolar planets discovered. -Confirmation of water on Mars. -Completed the principal construction of ISS -Cassini–Huygens -AIDS drug therapy drastically increasing life spans -US elects a black President -Lowest number of homicides in the US since the 1960s

I won't be impressed until humans no longer fgeel the need to point out that a leader is of a specific color. That's just proof that racism is very real. And Mr. Obama himself is filled with religious hatred, as seen by his turncoat stance on the "Defense Of Marriage Act" that he originally promised to repeal. A black man denying others equality is pretty messed up.

I am pretty sure he is the first black man elected head of state in any country that is not majority black, and I know of no precedent of a leader being elected from any racial minority that makes up only 13% of a nation.

Outside of cutting into people's brains and taking out in-group preferences that have existed since before the Cambrian explosion, I don't know what else you want us to do. Barack's election does say something about how far the power of racism has declined as a force in American society.

Now the rest of the world, they are still racist as hell. Try pulling the same stunt in Japan, or France.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#36

Post by jacoblyles »

dnsworks wrote: post #4
csuper wrote: post #2

Because all of the necessities are covered? Death by comfort?

But they aren't. Humanity is a social failure. The number of people who go without food, shelter, and basic healthcare in this world is pretty staggering.

The proportion of people who go without basic necessities is at or near an all time low.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#37

Post by onedognight »

dnsworks wrote: post #31
drcode wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheaper food, better cars, faster computers, improved life expectancy, cheaper energy, better education, enhancements to human intelligence, better public transportation, more efficient manufacturing, better understanding of biology, better understanding of physics. Empirically, it seems to me all of the above have seen noticeable, but merely linear improvements in the last decade. (admittedly, computers are much fas…

Everything you've cited here just says "marginally better and cheaper crap to buy". Education has not improved in the past 20 years. Neither has public transit. Manufacturing has gotten cheaper, but it also puts out cheaper products in terms of quality. Oh, and we have better video games. Yippee!

Are you kidding? Education has made great strides if you don't need it shoved down your throat. Every person with an internet connection can take any class they want from MIT and Stanford for free! That's progress.

Re: Ask HN: Why has humanity failed to innovate in the past decade?

#39

Post by jsz0 »

dnsworks wrote: post #34
jsz0 wrote: post #18

I think you're being a bit too hard on humanity.. -Dozens of extrasolar planets discovered. -Confirmation of water on Mars. -Completed the principal construction of ISS -Cassini–Huygens -AIDS drug therapy drastically increasing life spans -US elects a black President -Lowest number of homicides in the US since the 1960s

I won't be impressed until humans no longer fgeel the need to point out that a leader is of a specific color. That's just proof that racism is very real. And Mr. Obama himself is filled with religious hatred, as seen by his turncoat stance on the "Defense Of Marriage Act" that he originally promised to repeal. A black man denying others equality is pretty messed up.

Personally I don't think there's anything inherently bad about acknowledging someone's membership in a minority group. Otherwise I feel like we're denying minorities, and majorities, an important perspective on how we got to where we are today.
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