Where do we go from here?
Paul Krugman and Charlie Stross had a conversation about the future at Anticipation World Con, every paragraph of which is worth reading.
Though a few exchanges caught my mind.
Paul Krugman on the acceleration of change:
(T)here hasn’t been that kind of dramatic change … If you walked into a kitchen from the 1950’s it would look a little pokey, but you’d know what to do. It wouldn’t be that difficult. If someone from the 1950’s walked into a kitchen from 1909 they’d be pretty unhappy – they might just be able to manage. If someone from 1909 went to one from 1859, you would actually be hopeless. The big change was really between 1840 and the 1920’s, in terms of what the physical nature of modern life is like. There’s been nothing like that since.