Imagine where humanity would be today if the ancient Greeks had continued on their path of enlightenment (from which Western Civilization had its start).

I suspect all intelligent civilizations had their ups and downs and rocky starts.

Aside from that, life requires at least a couple of generations of stars (from formation thru supernova) to create the right mix of heavy matter from which to develop. This narrows the window a bit.

Hello again,

Well strictly speaking, it is certainly clear we are not the dumbest. Smaller brain animals right here are Earth are considered dumber. That only leaves room for the smarter. When I say smarter, I mean more technologically advanced. Of course there are so many "gotchas" because of all the destructive mechanisms in the universe such as supernovae. If we don't get time to progress, our technological progress comes to a grinding halt.
This makes it incredibly hard to guess what the heck is out there, if anything. Maybe we assume "smarter" because we are not as interested in "dumber" because we have plenty of that right here. "Dumber" would still make a difference (first proof of alien life) but "smarter" could be an even more incredible discovery.

It seems we are always in the midst of finding something more incredible than what we have so far. Newton's apple to Einstein's train, and our Earth at the center to nobody's at the center.
It does seem though that the further we go the harder it is to make new improvements. It's only when somebody stumbles onto something really amazing that it changes everything.

 

It does seem though that the further we go the harder it is to make new improvements.

That's funny: I see improvements increasing exponentially.

 

That's funny: I see improvements increasing exponentially.

Oh maybe you are looking with respect to another axis.
When I look at everything all at once, I might be able to agree with that view. When I look at single things though I don't see anything that resembles an exponential improvement such as with QM. In fact, it seems almost random.

 

"QM" + "it seems almost random".

Ha ha. That's funny!

 

That's funny: I see improvements increasing exponentially.

I see proof of concepts (first 90%) increasing exponentially but practical improvement (last 10%) of base technology plodding along as usual.

The kids rode the 90% version in Vegas for free. They loved it
https://zoox.com/las-vegas

 

I see proof of concepts (first 90%) increasing exponentially but practical improvement (last 10%) of base technology plodding along as usual.

Today's "base" tech was proof of concept 10 years ago.

They can both increase exponentially, but with different exponents, or time shifts.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/m...leep-sparking-frantic-emergency-service-calls

Waking up in a Waymo comes as a shock.

Ditto Kasendar remembers soft music drifting from the robotaxi’s speakers as he rode home late at night from a friend’s birthday party in 2025. The next moment, Los Angeles firefighters were opening the door and asking if he was OK.

His six-minute trip had ended nearly an hour before. A remote Waymo assistant, dialling in through the car’s speakers, repeatedly tried to rouse him and finally called 911 when he wouldn’t stir.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what happened?’” said Kasendar, 30, an interior designer.

Kasendar’s robocab nap was, unfortunately, not an isolated incident.

As companies like Alphabet and Tesla bring self-driving taxis to more cities, the messier aspects of serving unpredictable humans are becoming harder to ignore. Passengers are falling asleep, spilling drinks, dropping food, vomiting, experiencing medical emergencies and, in at least two instances, giving birth in the cars. They stumble out of the vehicles and forget to close the doors, forcing the operators to pay nearby gig workers to do it.

These seemingly minor nuisances are becoming a drain on municipal resources and complicating the roll-out of robotaxi service.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/m...leep-sparking-frantic-emergency-service-calls

Waking up in a Waymo comes as a shock.

Ditto Kasendar remembers soft music drifting from the robotaxi’s speakers as he rode home late at night from a friend’s birthday party in 2025. The next moment, Los Angeles firefighters were opening the door and asking if he was OK.

His six-minute trip had ended nearly an hour before. A remote Waymo assistant, dialling in through the car’s speakers, repeatedly tried to rouse him and finally called 911 when he wouldn’t stir.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what happened?’” said Kasendar, 30, an interior designer.

Kasendar’s robocab nap was, unfortunately, not an isolated incident.

As companies like Alphabet and Tesla bring self-driving taxis to more cities, the messier aspects of serving unpredictable humans are becoming harder to ignore. Passengers are falling asleep, spilling drinks, dropping food, vomiting, experiencing medical emergencies and, in at least two instances, giving birth in the cars. They stumble out of the vehicles and forget to close the doors, forcing the operators to pay nearby gig workers to do it.

These seemingly minor nuisances are becoming a drain on municipal resources and complicating the roll-out of robotaxi service.

Solution: build robots that go out and get drunk so humans don't have to.

The "Electric Drunk" could be the counterpart to the "Electric Monk", the robot that believes things so that you don't have to. See Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

 

Solution: build robots that go out and get drunk so humans don't have to.

The "Electric Drunk" could be the counterpart to the "Electric Monk", the robot that believes things so that you don't have to. See Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

But they have to be taught to learn that money does not just automatically shoot out of their behinds.
As long as they are willing to *print* their own money I'm fine with it

 

https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-t...ivers-speeding-tickets-and-owners-arent-happy

'I wasn’t driving. I had Autopilot on': Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system is getting drivers speeding tickets, and owners aren’t happy

“Whether your vehicle has adaptive cruise control, lane centering or full self-driving, you are still legally responsible for operating your vehicle safely,” the response added.

 

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/investigation-tesla-cybercab-self-certification

 

 

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/investigation-tesla-cybercab-self-certification

Very strange stuff going on these days.