yeah good points, it seems like really big changes have been mostly constrained to software over the last couple decades though.
there’s a good book called the rise and fall of american growth which makes a case that a lot of the zero-to-one changes in america happened 50-100 years ago, and that recent paradigm-shifts have been much less frequent.
it covers things like:
  • cars
  • sewage systems
  • electric lighting
  • air travel
  • television
however, i think you’re right that we are on the cusp of a lot of new changes that will affect both our digital and physical worlds with AI, Bitcoin, 3D printing, biotech, etc…
100%.
My favourite quote from the diamond age novel is:
now nanotechnology has made nearly anything possible, and so the cultural role in deciding what should be done with it had become far more important than imagining what could be done with it.
We may be a little way off that right now, but an abundant future is not beyond us.
Think of all the product & engineering resource that has been wasted on changing button sizes, or text copy for a 7% conversion gain. Or to fund the advertising suction cup.
Imagine those gains being redirected to open-source propulsion systems or something of the like. How many work hours that would save for people worldwide. We’ve been sooo inefficient with our talents for the last 20 years. And so it certainly feels like an inflexion point.
All these rumours of being able to harness gravity, fusion power or weather. There’s untold potential on the other side of these changes.
I hope we as bitcoiners continue to be open to building on the cutting edge of other verticals also. I do see some disengaging and wishing certain shifts were not happening. But we need cutting edge hardware as well as software. Not just building novelty or nostalgic products. (As much as I value those).
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