Intro to “Where is My Flying Car?”
For this week’s lecture, we watched Dr. J Storrs Hall in explaining his book “Where is My Flying Car?”. In Dr. Hall’s lecture, he explained how the industrial revolution came to a screeching halt. This cut off of the industrial revolution, he explained, is a contributor to the reason we do not all have flying cars. His whole speech, in fact, wasn't really about flying cars, but instead about technological advancements, what’s stopping us from advancing, and the future. Hall basically explained to us the fact that we already have the technology for flying cars; I mean, if you think about it, helicopters are flying cars. Hall just believes that the lack of accessibility is due to the fact that the industrial revolution stopped. He explains that if the industrial revolution had continued, we would be able to purchase a flying car (or helicopter) for the same price as a car.
What Ended the Industrial Revolution?
So why did the industrial revolution end? Hall believes it ended for a few different reasons. First, because of regulations. Second, because of the shift in priorities from religion to environmentalism. And third, because men got weaker and more reliant on other things as opposed to themselves. I have issues with all of this, because it puts him in a position where he is against regulations, the environment, and is upholding toxic masculinity. Regulations were put in place during the industrial revolution for good reason… Children were working in the mines, people were working ridiculously long work days, and the conditions of workplaces were dangerous. If regulations hadn’t been put in place, I don't know what would have happened, but at least there were laws put in place to keep those things from continuing. Religion does not have to be the law that people live by. A shift from religion to environmentalism was probably a good thing. We need to care about the environment… unless Dr. Hall just doesn’t believe in climate change; and why does it matter that men are physically weaker and more reliant on other people and things? Men should not have to be held to those specific standards, and I’m not sure how those facts are applicable.
Machiavelli Effect
Hall also starts to tell us about the “people in power”. It’s unclear if he means the government or the rich (or both), but he does not like those people, whoever they are. The Machiavelli Effect is something he brought up as another reason that we haven't evolved technologically to the point we could be at right now. He explains that the effect became predominant in the 1960s, and it is basically when the people in power keep things from advancing, because they want to stay in power. Hall tells us that the Machiavelli Effect will come for those who find a better way to do most things. The “people in power”, of course, being the regulators, or the government. I don’t really know what to think of this proposed effect. I mean, it’s plausible that people would keep things quiet or hold things back to keep things as they are, but I’d hate to believe that. When it comes to big companies, like oil, I think I can understand where he’s coming from, because they make money by selling oil, so even if there’s a cleaner, cheaper way, they may not want that, because it’s competition. Again, I’m not so sure about this theory, though.
Solutions?
At this point, it’s obvious to me that Dr. Hall is all for less regulations, and he indeed said that less regulations would help us get to this imagined future of his. He explains that another way to get to that point is cheap energy, something I can get on board with… There’s no reason that energy should be expensive; it’s basically a human necessity at this point. He believes that all the science is there, and that if there weren’t any limiters, the sky would be the limit. He went into detail on nanotechnology and other scientific stuff that completely flew over my head, but from what I can tell, he’s done some research. How accurate it is… I'm not quite sure of. He makes it a big point to tell us that we’re terrible at social decision-making and that AI will help with that. I think that that mindset is inherently flawed, because everything that the AI would be learning from is humans.
Final Thoughts
The biggest claim Hall made is that if we don’t advance enough technologically, we’re basically just waiting for the next asteroid to hit us, and then humanity will have been for nothing. I really thought his claim was going somewhere, because it seemed like he was going to talk a little bit about environmentalism and fossil fuels, but nope. He just thinks that we’re destined for another asteroid, so we need to have societies in space? I don’t know. Maybe I completely misunderstood the lecture, but I’m not with him. I completely agree with cheap and clean energy, and I’m down for technological advancement. I’m just not all about how his approach to it is (less regulations, etc).