MarkI-ZeroPoint <zeropo...@charter.net> wrote:
> I couldn’t disagree more… seriously, hundreds or thousands of years? *** > * > > ** ** > > Once the scientific community (both academic and corporate) realizes that > a whole new field of science is being born, they will dive in to understand > it and engineer it in ways we can’t even imagine . . . > Probably they will, but people do not think or learn any faster today than they did in the past. The pace of progress is no faster than it ever was. It is still governed mainly by funerals. The serious study of chemistry began around 1650. It did not reach fruition with chemical engineering until the late 19th century. Transmutation with cold fusion is still at the stage chemistry was when Robert Boyle published a book saying there are more than four elements, "The Skeptical Chemist" (1661): http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22914/22914-h/22914-h.htm People nowadays have the notion that technology, society and the world in general are changing at a faster pace than ever before. People who believe this have not read enough history. They do not realize how quickly things changed in earlier eras such as: England after colonization in America began; England during the industrial revolution; The U.S. from 1850 to 1870; Japan during the Meiji era. People such as my parents or Julian Schwinger, who lived from around 1914 to around 2000, saw much more fundamental change than people born in the mid-20th century have seen. That is why they were more open minded and willing to believe in claims such as cold fusion. The present era is one of technical and scientific stagnation, not progress. Even popular culture such as fashion and music have stagnated. See: "You Say You Want a Devolution" (great title!): http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/01/prisoners-of-style-201201 - Jed
