I’m glad we might see fission power plants in my lifetime (next 30-50 years). My father still finds it novel that he basically gets to wear Dick Tracy’s watch.
Yet I’m concerned that shortly thereafter, the giant robotic laser death spiders will destroy entire cities. This might also be be before we’ve built the arcologies to launch into outer space to escape the giant robot laser death spiders.
> My father still finds it novel that he basically gets to wear Dick Tracy’s watch.
Well, except for the front-facing camera, but that's trivial to add at this point. And as a 50 year old, I agree. I feel like being incarnated in '72 has gotten me ethereal tickets to the greatest technological expansion/brouhaha in all of human history, and I don't know what my soul did to deserve this pleasure. Everything I've been into as a kid "before it was cool" has absolutely exploded: Computers, electronic music, gaming, telecom, AI, green energy/electric cars... but also science, medicine, etc. are making tremendous progress (I'm down 35 lbs thanks to Mounjaro, a brand new drug). Hell, even that weird side interest in UFO's (one of the first sections of the library I discovered as a kid) has paid dividends with the USG finally admitting they're real. BRB, I have to pinch myself. Unironic "what a time to be alive"!
> giant robot laser death spiders
you should probably worry more about the silent airborne drone army suicide bombers first. (What was the movie that actually featured a scene with those, btw? I think it had Morgan Freeman? EDIT: Found it, thanks to those other technological wonders, Google and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40JFxhhJEYk)
There will always be dangers with progress. Two steps forward, one step back. But I leave you with this. I asked ChatGPT to summarize this article as a sarcastic poem https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/everything-sam-bankman-f... and here's what it gave me, and I'm still chuckling about how awesome this is:
The original Dick Tracy Watch introduced in 1946 didn't have a camera. A newer model featuring a camera came out in a 1964 comic.
I haven't read Dick Tracy in a long time, but if it's still being made I bet Tracy's watch has been upgraded with a bunch of new features the Apple Watch lacks.
Yet I’m concerned that shortly thereafter, the giant robotic laser death spiders will destroy entire cities. This might also be be before we’ve built the arcologies to launch into outer space to escape the giant robot laser death spiders.