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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1823 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 13, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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I am thinking about the aesthetics of technology. Certain technologies seem deeply aesthetic to me and really appeal to my soul. So for instance, SpaceX capturing the booster, that really speaks to me, to be honest pretty much anything space related does. I would class this as 'real' engineering, as would I class building a bridge for instance, but that doesn't have the same frontier pushing edge. Whereas anything related to sensors and artificial intelligence, though can be cool, doesn't evoke the same feelings. I am trying to pin down why this is. I think maybe because I see the electrical technologies as more homogenizing, or more liable to the centralization of power and control? Mobile phones during COVID come to mind for instance. Does anyone else get where I am coming from?

Are you sure it just doesn't come down to physical size? Huge things are awe-inspiring. Humans put things in relation to their own body. And especially seeing something so large move so quickly and precisely triggers something in us. Maybe its an ancient fear response, a residual from a time where mammals where small and large things where dangerous.

I've worked with very impressive technology, arguably both more complex and a greater net positive for humanity (chip fab and MRI machines). But one produces things much smaller than a human, and the other only slightly larger than a human. So instead I dream about rockets, airships, space stations and aircraft carriers.

Oh, and I also worked with particle accelerators. Also way more awe-inspiring.

You don't see rocket advancements made by a glorified military contractor to be liable to the centralization of power and control?

Perhaps, depending on how the space capabilities are used. But space technology so far has given me very little to be suspicious. Spy satellites etc are of course a thing, but compared to the thing in your pocket, they almost seem like old technology. I fear more the cars of the glorified military contractor than I do his rockets right now.

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