1st June 2011, 9:18 PM
Yeah they're talking about post scarcity, and it's probably feasible. Though, let's face it, those with lots of power thanks to cash won't get to that point quietly. If we actually are capable of achieving that level of technology, the only thing that could stop it, that WOULD stop it, would be the majority of people vilifying it as evil and corrupt.
That's not too far fetched. CNN has taken to reviving the long debunked fear of cell phones causing cancer. (To put it clearly, cell phones use microwaves, which are below the energy level needed to break apart the bonds of DNA. Breaking apart DNA is the only known mechanism for causing cancer with radiation. Visible light is more energetic than microwaves. The second claim, of "literally cooking" the brain, is simply false. That's not something that metasticizes over years, cooking takes place pretty much immediately. If that was happening, people would be dropping dead all over the place. Put a hot pocket next to your cell phone and leave it on over night, and a few feet away put a hot pocket without a phone. See if either one cooks. Fact is, working in the noon sun cooks your brain much more than the weak level of microwaves that a cell phone releases, and most brains seem to cope with that okay. It is downright stupid that people are panicking over this nonsense. If there is no possible mechanism, then there's no cause for believing it.)
That's not too far fetched. CNN has taken to reviving the long debunked fear of cell phones causing cancer. (To put it clearly, cell phones use microwaves, which are below the energy level needed to break apart the bonds of DNA. Breaking apart DNA is the only known mechanism for causing cancer with radiation. Visible light is more energetic than microwaves. The second claim, of "literally cooking" the brain, is simply false. That's not something that metasticizes over years, cooking takes place pretty much immediately. If that was happening, people would be dropping dead all over the place. Put a hot pocket next to your cell phone and leave it on over night, and a few feet away put a hot pocket without a phone. See if either one cooks. Fact is, working in the noon sun cooks your brain much more than the weak level of microwaves that a cell phone releases, and most brains seem to cope with that okay. It is downright stupid that people are panicking over this nonsense. If there is no possible mechanism, then there's no cause for believing it.)
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)