Random Thought #182

I have to admit that technology can be really exciting at times, especially when it solves major problems or leads us into exciting new frontiers but that doesn't seem to happen very often anymore. Back in the 60's, the whole country rallied behind the cause to go to the moon. It was unthinkable at the time but we did it and it was exhilarating. We've made some progress in genetics, robotics, A/I, etc but none of these have really solved any major issues. It seems that technology today is focused on delivering things like Facebook, Twitter, etc. We focus on areas that make us less productive and more lazy. Why? Because it can be capitalized on and monetized and that's what investors like. We've lost our sense of wonder and amazement and curiosity for the sake of money. This interesting TED talk provides a couple of reasons as to why we've had such a hard go of it lately. This hits close to home because it affects my job. We're more interested in developing mobile apps and keeping servers running than we are in solving some of the most exciting and challenging issues of our day.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_pontin_can_technology_solve_our_big_problems.html