The Enhanced Human

Exoskeletons, bionic limbs/sight... The 'enhanced human' is nigh. Good graphic from @ft. https://t.co/shnMF1d5Ka pic.twitter.com/LXLu4d7D5m

— Subrahmanyam KVJ (@SuB8u) January 20, 2016

Bionic advances to defeat death

People have long dreamt of extending the human lifespan from the biblical “three score years and 10” (70) to reach Methuselah’s 969 and beyond. ....... In reality, average life expectancy in biblical times was not 70 but about 35 years. In Britain this rose to about 50 in 1900, 76 in 1990 and 82 today. ...... Ageing is such a complex biochemical process that there is no simple route to a healthy life lasting well past 100 years old. ...... Individual organs or parts of our body can also be enhanced or rejuvenated to counteract failures due to age or disease.

Reimagining Big Cities

The Ultimate Megacity: 100 Million People
A City In The Amazon
Cities Can Be Much Larger

"If we don’t get cities right, it’s hard to imagine a healthy future for humanity." https://t.co/cb0etM2wE1 pic.twitter.com/BgtjJ5vU1P

— Chris Dixon (@cdixon) January 5, 2016

So you turn Boston to DC into one megacity, connected by a bullet train, or even a hyperloop, such that it doesn't matter where you live. Chances are you are doing a lot of telecommuting. But when you do have to show up, it is no different from getting on the subway in NYC from one end to another. Sometimes it's 30 minutes, what if it is 60 minutes? It's not like you are driving. You are making yourself useful. Maybe you are meditating. Maybe you are reading. Maybe you are checking email.

When self driving cars and semis take over, and when we can grow 100 times more food with 10 times less land, we could afford to have an Amazon size forest in America. How would that be a bad thing? There would be the ultimate megacity in the northeast, and there would be other big cities. And they would all really be one big city, because hyperloop speeds are mind boggling. 760 miles per hour. Coast to coast travel would not be a major undertaking. You probably would not want to live on one coast and work on another, but what if you did not have to show up at the office every day? What if there was this one day when everybody showed up for in person meetings, but other four days they were telecommuting mostly?





5/8/23 Update: Goshen (NY) puts Third World corruption to shame, thanks to greedy, corrupt, unethical lawyers like Andra Dumais. ..... I toppled a Third World dictator and German Radio called me Robin Hood On The Internet. I am not going to get intimidated by some small-town racist. Andrea Dumais is a small-town racist. ....... You are treating me worse than the people 2,000 years ago.

How Do You Explain The Rejection Of Good Ideas?

Interesting CRISPR history https://t.co/HsVJrFd6Ud The seminal observations were rejected in every high-IF journal! pic.twitter.com/cnmT9zXAhT

— Victor de Lorenzo (@vdlorenzo_CNB) January 15, 2016

"It’s hard to recall a revolution that has swept biology more swiftly than CRISPR." https://t.co/bjzIYtcQZB pic.twitter.com/YjQnA1YRIE

— Chris Dixon (@cdixon) January 17, 2016

Great ideas, by definition, are not obvious. Precisely because most people can't think it, they are great.

Pinterest was rejected by pretty much everybody in the Valley. It had to become a hit in Iowa first, of all places.

"The history also illustrates the growing role in biology of discovery based on big data." https://t.co/bjzIYtcQZB pic.twitter.com/0SsnY1edX4

— Chris Dixon (@cdixon) January 17, 2016

BG = Before Google

Before Google. People would call librarians with stupid questions. Love these 4 from @nypl New York Public Library pic.twitter.com/n17OlnIoay

— Paul Kirby (@paul1kirby) January 15, 2016

Productivity And Political Innovation Going Hand In Hand

English: The Communist States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A lot of Silicon Valley types, when they talk about massive increases in productivity they see before their eyes coming in the near future, forget to realize that there will have to be accompanying political, social and policy innovation. There has to be. Imagine every part of your body grew, but not your thumb. Your thumb got stuck at age one. That won't be pretty.

If we could grow 100 times as much food, maybe it will make sense to give everyone food stamps. Everyone who wants them can have them. Why not? We can already give everyone free internet access. Nanotechnology should do the same to housing. It should become super cheap to build houses. You could be buying houses like you buy computers today. It is not a 30 year plan. It is one simple transaction.

Maybe we will end up communist. Like China, a communist country, has ended up being uber capitalist, or "socialism with Chinese characteristics." To each according to his/her need, at least for the basics of life, like internet access, food and shelter. Even a minimum basic income. If your accessing the internet is making people money, maybe you should get a cut. You should definitely get a cut for your personal contribution to Big Data. We as people are more indispensable to the Internet than computers and routers. The Internet is dead without us.

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