Saturday, April 11, 2009

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

Comedian Louis CK talks about amazing technologies that we take for granted.
He is really funny and absolutely right. We don't get excited about electric lights or horseless carriages any more. Which is great news for inventors and innovators because new ideas cannot live among people who are still hyped up about past technologies.

On a somewhat related note, I am thinking about teaching a new 5-session class at Stanford CSP: The Greatest Inventions of All Times. Its purpose would be a) show how certain old, even ancient, technologies shaped our civilization; b) explore possible future directions for their evolution.

Here's my Top 5 topics so far:
1. Money and Markets.
2. Math and Computing.
3. Art and Information.
4. Home and Architecture.
5. Fire and Energy.

update: is Time an invention?

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