Artificial Intelligence and the Post Truth Era

I think this is a great example of how we fly along the path of innovation at breakneck speeds and worry about the consequences later. When plastic was invented, no one was thinking about microplastics accumulating in every living being on earth. But now, 100 years and countless technological breakthroughs, we must deal with the negative unforseen consequences.

A scary thought, but some day one of the unforseen consequences of an amazing technology could mean something far worse than even plastic accumulation or ozone deterioration. We could set ourselves on the path to total self destruction and plow ahead full steam and no one would bat an eye until it was too late in the name of innovation. 

 
RedDenver said:
I agree with everything you're saying except for assuming that plastics aren't a net negative. We're just starting to learn of the extent to which microplastics are being found in every organ in our bodies and those of many animals. Yes, the research needs to be done to determine the risks, but there's enough to be concerned. I'd say we don't need to wait to find out if it's bad for us to start out banning ridiculous uses of plastics like disposable packaging. If we find out there are plastics with minimal risk, then we can scale back or eliminate those regulations.
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Another thing we can both agree on. We had a 6th or 7th grade teacher do a small lesson on over-packaging, which has stuck with me my whole life. You are correct, there is a tone of waste in the way we package almost everything.

Believe it or not in automotive we do care about disposable/expendable packaging. It's a hassle for the plants to deal with disposal (and can lead to illegal dumping), it's a constant expense, it's typically not as robust in protecting parts, and the companies report on their environmental score cards, so it looks bad when you're generating extra waste and dedicating man hours to it.

 
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Nebfanatic said:
I think this is a great example of how we fly along the path of innovation at breakneck speeds and worry about the consequences later. When plastic was invented, no one was thinking about microplastics accumulating in every living being on earth. But now, 100 years and countless technological breakthroughs, we must deal with the negative unforseen consequences.

A scary thought, but some day one of the unforseen consequences of an amazing technology could mean something far worse than even plastic accumulation or ozone deterioration. We could set ourselves on the path to total self destruction and plow ahead full steam and no one would bat an eye until it was too late in the name of innovation. 
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I actually listened to a cool Radiolab episode about a similar concept, of the human population and finite resources. They called it the Malthusian Swerve, because every time human society appears to be coming to a tipping point of environmental or ecological catastrophe (Robert Malthus theory that population growth would outpace food production) we always seem to find a way around it with new or better technologies before it's too late. 

 
ZRod said:
Another thing we can both agree on. We had a 6th or 7th grade teacher do a small lesson on over-packaging, which has stuck with me my whole life. You are correct, there is a tone of waste in the way we package almost everything.

Believe it or not in automotive we do care about disposable/expendable packaging. It's a hassle for the plants to deal with disposal (and can lead to illegal dumping), it's a constant expense, it's typically not as robust in protecting parts, and the companies report on their environmental score cards, so it looks bad when you're generating extra waste and dedicating man hours to it.
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I wasn't even thinking about manufacturing packaging, just consumer packaging, that's a good point.

 
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