What will the world be like when things stop changing?
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6rant6 (
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April 12th, 2011
A big part of the economy is things that go obsolete – like computers, TV shows and to a lesser extent, cars, kitchen appliances, and clothes.
There’s a buzz that Moore’s law is coming to an end (NOT what this question is about) which would mean that next year’s computer would be pretty much the same as last year’s. That is, that things would not inevitably get so much better that we would feel compelled to give away our old one so we can create the need for a new one.
So if you can, imagine a world where things change more slowly, where images of our lives from this year will look the same ten years from now. How are we then to satisfy ourselves? What will employment look like? Would you anticipate such a world with fear or with longing?
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8 Answers
Hookers, Drugs, Alcohol, Porn, Gambling, Movies, partying, Doorbell Ditching, Running away from the po po, flirting, street racing… you know, what we do know, except people would probably be more lenient to be doing the things that are more “morally” questionable to add a little more spice and excitement, the rest can get fat and suffer from the pranks the rest of us pull.
A burnt out cinder with no life.
as long as there is life, there will be change
We (the western world) may not change to the degree that we have over the last 20–30 years but the rest of the world will as they play catch up and wage war to grab their little piece of the modern pie.
Things will never stop changing. Change is essential to all natural processes. If things stopped changing, you couldn’t breathe.
And somebody will always think he has a better idea, and somebody will always want more than his share.
So it’s hard not to dispute your premise as written.
If the pace of change slowed drastically, as in some traditional societies where people have lived pretty much the same way from one century to the next, we might remember to savor things more, and we might find that we enjoyed and even treasured the sense of stability. But I can’t imagine creatures of the modern world, where anything from last year is “old” and anything from two years ago is obsolete, learning to appreciate that experience unless they were forced into it by some unthinkable global catastrophe.
Life would be inherently boring. You’d living in the rut you’re in now, except a lot longer. And I rather dislike my rut.
Aristotle believed that human beings had invented or discovered just about everything that was possible.
Every now and then, that strange idea is revisited.
Won’t happen.
Seriously, I am trying to imagine what the world would look like if we didn’t change the things that occupied us so much, and if the products we bought lasted decades instead of a year. It can happen. Our houses last that long.
Could we occupy ourselves in ways that don’t require us to be digging up materials and burning fuels? Could the economy be re-tooled to allow this?
For tens of thousands of years, change came at a pace where an individual could hardly notice it. If the things we pursued were more fulfilling than burgers and iPhones, might we be better off?
@6rant6 in that case, you’re completely correct, I think. Change is a good thing when it’s not overwhelming. However helpful it may be, adjusting to all these technological feats may pose a threat if we rely too much on them. Not only a threat to us, but everything.
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