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Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

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Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#41

Post by Fargren »

pretoriusB wrote: post #11
shanelja wrote: post #2

I hadn't thought of these individual achievements as being that big until I saw them all together in one place and now I can say that this has truly been a breakthrough year all across the technology sector. Every year we seem to be accelerating our speed of development when it comes to technology, I'm only 19 and in my life I've seen us go from 56kb/s internet to 1gb/s internet, go from the rare NASA launch to regul…

> We live in the golden age of human history up to now and I would be willing to place a long bet that in 100 years, we will look back on the last 30 years as the dawn of the modern age. Well, we live in the golden age of human _technology_. But, I'd argue, far from the golden age of human history. And maybe closer than ever to the extinction of mankind, if that "let's fix the climate issue with even more technology…

Ok, how about the fact that we've halved extreme poverty since the 1990? Or the worldwide increase of life expectancy (Africa's average almost reached 55 this year)? AIDS and malaria are both in decline. And apparently we accomplished the decade with least deaths in war in the last century.

I don't know if i would call this a golden age, but we are seeing improvements in more than technology.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#42

Post by pyre »

djtriptych wrote: post #30
kjackson2012 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not. The Earth has always experienced devastating weather-related occurrences. There's nothing about it that suggests things are on a upward and exponential track.

The process by which you came to know that the Earth has "always" experienced devastating weather is exactly the same process by which contemporary climatologists are now asserting the existence of anthropogenic climate change. You can't pick and choose when you accept knowledge arising from steadfast application of the scientific method. That's kinda the point.

The parent you are responding to isn't denying climate change, just that events like Sandy or Katrina are caused by it. Saying "you can't pick and choose" is trying to have a different discussion.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#43

Post by JanezStupar »

jacquesm wrote: post #39
JanezStupar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't say western people don't own our brethren anything. I said that coporations are not the problem. And that our coporations don't own anybody anything, beyond respecting the law and paying taxes that is. Also one would expect (and that is what I am hinting at) that the rest of the world will smart up and stop acting as if we know what is the best for them. They are independent people and are not our children.…

Except corporations dodge tax in ways no individual ever could. Oh, it's all perfectly legal, it is called 'tax avoidance'. And corporations as a rule are part and parcel of the societies they're engendered in and quite a few can trace their opportunity and starting capital right back to some crime against humanity, or are in the process of committing some of those during their life-cycle. The countries we plundered…

All I am saying is that go ahead and do something about it. Stop preaching to the people who don't believe you and don't agree with your outlook.

If your way is truly better then it should give better results. If it gives better results then you will do more good via paying more taxes and helping people out. Lead by an example. Don't lament old ways, make us want to follow in your path.

That is all I am proposing and all my other arguments are just that arguments for the sake of truth as I personally see it.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#44

Post by petercooper »

Are there any citations for the initial predictions? Or is this just a list of cool technology related things in 2012 that seem like someone might have predicted them? "The World's First Cybernetic Hate Crime Occurs at a McDonalds in France" seems awfully specific for a prediction.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#45

Post by atr123 »

Fargren wrote: post #41
pretoriusB wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in the golden age of human history up to now and I would be willing to place a long bet that in 100 years, we will look back on the last 30 years as the dawn of the modern age. Well, we live in the golden age of human _technology_. But, I'd argue, far from the golden age of human history. And maybe closer than ever to the extinction of mankind, if that "let's fix the climate issue with even more technology…

Ok, how about the fact that we've halved extreme poverty since the 1990? Or the worldwide increase of life expectancy (Africa's average almost reached 55 this year)? AIDS and malaria are both in decline. And apparently we accomplished the decade with least deaths in war in the last century. I don't know if i would call this a golden age, but we are seeing improvements in more than technology.

>> AIDS and malaria are both in decline.

Not only AIDS is on decline, but also, two people has been "cure" of AIDS since the "german patient" in 2007. The average life expectancy of HIV+ people has triple since the 80s.

Still a long way to go, but I hope to see AIDS at least as a just another chronic disease.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#46

Post by pdelgallego »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #14

I really hope the one point about communicating with patients in a vegetative state is wrong. Not because it's not a groundbreaking discovery, but the implications are horrifying to me. Imagine all those patients who are left to just lie there their entire lives, and those that like Terri Schiavo that were allowed to starve to death. If they were actual aware of what was going on, that is the most horrifying fate I c…

That reminds me to the novel "Johnny got his gun". Highly recomended

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#48

Post by 31reasons »

cwp wrote: post #34
pretoriusB wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "development for development's sake"? Development doesn't happen for its own sake. It's about improving the quality of human life and alleviating suffering. No, it's not. It's mostly about making money. No business cares about "improving the quality of human life and alleviating suffering" (they might pay lip service to that on their brochures though). Shareholders don't care about "alleviating suffering", only abo…

> It's mostly about making money Those things go hand in hand. Ideally, you can't make money without improving human life in exchange. Sure, any political system will include a bit of corruption and rent-seeking, but by-and-large, it's exactly the profit motive that has improved the human condition. > billions_ of people continue to do that So it's all pointless? Because we haven't achieved a paradise of endless blis…

What we are missing as a society is Long Term Thinking. Yes businesses do provide value and reduce human suffering as long as its perceived to reduce human suffering from the customer's point of view. For example, cigarettes. It does provide some value but only for the short term without thinking about the long term. If society makes it legal to sell Meth to the public I am sure big pharma will jump on the opportunities to provide you the highest quality.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#49

Post by archangel_one »

petercooper wrote: post #44

Are there any citations for the initial predictions? Or is this just a list of cool technology related things in 2012 that seem like someone might have predicted them? "The World's First Cybernetic Hate Crime Occurs at a McDonalds in France" seems awfully specific for a prediction.

Well no, nobody predicted it would be specifically about an ocular implant at a McDonalds in France, but the concept of cybernetic hate crimes have been generally predicted by various sci-fi writers for some time; I, Robot, The Matrix (in the backstory in the Animatrix at least) and Deus Ex spring to mind as several examples.

Re: Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012

#50

Post by mayneack »

pretoriusB wrote: post #11
shanelja wrote: post #2

I hadn't thought of these individual achievements as being that big until I saw them all together in one place and now I can say that this has truly been a breakthrough year all across the technology sector. Every year we seem to be accelerating our speed of development when it comes to technology, I'm only 19 and in my life I've seen us go from 56kb/s internet to 1gb/s internet, go from the rare NASA launch to regul…

> We live in the golden age of human history up to now and I would be willing to place a long bet that in 100 years, we will look back on the last 30 years as the dawn of the modern age. Well, we live in the golden age of human _technology_. But, I'd argue, far from the golden age of human history. And maybe closer than ever to the extinction of mankind, if that "let's fix the climate issue with even more technology…

Every moment is the closest moment to date to the extinction of mankind.
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