The range and depth of this essay is a delight. The ability to examine progress from so many perspectives makes any future discussion cleaner and sharper. Major bonus points for referencing *The Diamond Age* without referencing the Primer.
In particular, what struck me is how the enchantment / disenchantment with progress happens and how it manifests not just in our perspective on the items in our lives, but how it modifies our policy choices and built world. Few essays have so well captured how intentional we have to be about building a future we want and that progress is itself a thing we must nurture and craft.
I agree with literally every word of this brilliant post. I have nothing to critique! But I have something to add: The Triumph of Safety. Much like Tolkien's kings of Numenor, as our lifespan extends, we become more obsessed with extending it further. When smallpox or a house fire could strike at any time and end it all, why not roll the dice on a risky new invention? This has changed: if a rocket bound for Mars could rain down fiery debris on those below, let's not launch. (And maybe that's the right decision!) Look at the cars of Futurama: every one of them could be BUILT today, but not one of them could be SOLD. Inadequate seat belts. Elongated hoods with pointy protuburances violate most OECD pedestrian safety laws. Even hood ornaments... leaping jaguars and flying ladies... are gone. Tired of hulking SUVs? Want a small urban runabout car like the cute Topolinos of the past (but now electric): have you tried to fit a modern child car seat into one? I doubt fighter pilots of WWII were as well restrained as the toddlers of today. And I won't mention ALARA, a paragraph on which introduces your post. Safety is of course our friend... but it also undermines our drive to try something new.
Thanks for again laying out a positive vision of dynamism without cloaking it in illusion. One quibble: I think the trend is to prioritize process, and to accord it value as something humans do, without necessarily distinguishing it as physical activity. Just like the activity of blacksmithing is meaningful even if an industrial process could produce a functionally similar object, people make art, play chess (or games more generally), or translate books for fun even if AI does it faster and often with fewer flaws. Physicality is sometimes part of it but it doesn't have to be; being human is key.
The range and depth of this essay is a delight. The ability to examine progress from so many perspectives makes any future discussion cleaner and sharper. Major bonus points for referencing *The Diamond Age* without referencing the Primer.
In particular, what struck me is how the enchantment / disenchantment with progress happens and how it manifests not just in our perspective on the items in our lives, but how it modifies our policy choices and built world. Few essays have so well captured how intentional we have to be about building a future we want and that progress is itself a thing we must nurture and craft.
I agree with literally every word of this brilliant post. I have nothing to critique! But I have something to add: The Triumph of Safety. Much like Tolkien's kings of Numenor, as our lifespan extends, we become more obsessed with extending it further. When smallpox or a house fire could strike at any time and end it all, why not roll the dice on a risky new invention? This has changed: if a rocket bound for Mars could rain down fiery debris on those below, let's not launch. (And maybe that's the right decision!) Look at the cars of Futurama: every one of them could be BUILT today, but not one of them could be SOLD. Inadequate seat belts. Elongated hoods with pointy protuburances violate most OECD pedestrian safety laws. Even hood ornaments... leaping jaguars and flying ladies... are gone. Tired of hulking SUVs? Want a small urban runabout car like the cute Topolinos of the past (but now electric): have you tried to fit a modern child car seat into one? I doubt fighter pilots of WWII were as well restrained as the toddlers of today. And I won't mention ALARA, a paragraph on which introduces your post. Safety is of course our friend... but it also undermines our drive to try something new.
Thanks for again laying out a positive vision of dynamism without cloaking it in illusion. One quibble: I think the trend is to prioritize process, and to accord it value as something humans do, without necessarily distinguishing it as physical activity. Just like the activity of blacksmithing is meaningful even if an industrial process could produce a functionally similar object, people make art, play chess (or games more generally), or translate books for fun even if AI does it faster and often with fewer flaws. Physicality is sometimes part of it but it doesn't have to be; being human is key.