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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:0D020B69-C8AE-4078-8C13-949977A4FEB3@gmail.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">I thought Merle was simply mirroring Eric's argument that a reliance on innovation is fragile. That point seems right to me.</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>Innovation is fragile *and* tech-optimism can be a runaway
cycle. I have not tried to do an analysis but my intuition
gestures in the direction that *most* if not all of our
technological innovations (i.e. "problem solving") are solving
problems introduced by some *last round* of technical
innovations. I have (surprise!) abundant anecdotes. <br>
</p>
<p>Pandora and Prometheus would seem to be the stars in our
TechnoUtopian present.<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:0D020B69-C8AE-4078-8C13-949977A4FEB3@gmail.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">To Gary's point about too many humans:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00305-6">https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00305-6</a>
It's difficult for me to imagine a future for intelligent life on the planet without transhumans, whether cyborg or chimera.</pre>
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<p>Margaret Atwood spins a chilling/thrilling cautionary tale in her
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oryx_and_Crake">Maddadam
trilogy</a> (Oryx&Crake - book1). I think we will see the
likes of Pigoons, Rakunks, and ChickeeNuggets before we start
seeing Crakers, but it does all seem too inevitable as we go
tumbling willy-nilly, like Pachinko Balls down the Dystopian
adjacent possible of a TechnoUtopian vision. Maybe COVID
foreshadows the release of BlyssPluss.<br>
</p>
<p>I suspect we are almost *all* TechnoFuturists and mostly
TechnoUtopians here. I was born (under the rising sign of
Sputnik) and raised in this mold, but began to see that there is a
need for some kind of tempering wisdom for us to NOT run off the
end of our resources, or destroy everything that was precious in
our pursuit of fantastical possibles. <br>
</p>
<p>Pieter's conviction that innovation will solve all resource
limitations (apparently including a functioning biosphere
habitable to humans) is, in my opinion a strong example of the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen%27s_race">Red
Queen problem</a> which we are all subject to in our
TechnoOptimism.<br>
</p>
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