Some of our greatest cultural and technological achievements took place between 1945 and 1971. Why has progress stalled?

Today, progress is defined almost entirely by consumer-driven, often banal improvements in information technology. The US economist Tyler Cowen, in his essay The Great Stagnation (2011), argues that, in the US at least, a technological plateau has been reached. Sure, our phones are great, but that’s not the same as being able to fly across the Atlantic in eight hours or eliminating smallpox. As the US technologist Peter Thiel once put it: ‘We wanted flying cars, we got 140 characters.’

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I was talking about this with some friends. I read an article about people who couldn't keep up with new technology and I couldn't think of any new technologies since like, idk, 2016. And they were naming inconsequential electronic toys.

    • Farman [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      i do hate celphones. Back when i was a kid the kind of pretencious asjole that had a celphone was very rare. Now everyone is that type of ashole. Even i have a celphone. And its hell. Any number of people can call me or send me a message at any time. But i have to put up with it because its now the norm. Does nobody have any sense of privacy or personal space any more.

      Not to mention they are filthy germ ridden things.

      • UlyssesT
        ·
        2 months ago

        deleted by creator

        • Farman [any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Hahaha. That reminds me of that mad-ox bit. http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=padhole

      • MerryChristmas [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Plus the whole addiction element. I like to think I'm not addicted but here I am posting from my phone during the workday.

    • ToastGhost [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      boomers think technological advancement is when an app changes their UI slightly