Jed sez: > I have no doubt whatever that if the human race survives > another few thousand years this replicator will be made. > The trend is already as clear as anything can be in > technology. The whole point of technology is to achieve > something like this. From the first stone age tools we > have been progressing toward it.
While Jed seems convinced that it's just a matter of time before Star Trek's replicator machine are created I continue to reserve reservations as to how accurate individual replications might turn out to be. For example, it might turn out that, practically speaking, replicators can only replicate up to 95%, or 98% accuracy. Attempting a replication higher than 89% might turn out to be too exorbitant of a price to pay. For example, attempting to replicate any object that is bigger than a breadbox might turn out to be too difficult, i.e. there simply isn't a big enough quantum computer available that is capable of keeping tabs of all the fiddly bits. Perhaps we should ask Slardibartfast for his views on the matter. I want a fiord with a view please! ;) But perhaps I'm just nitpicking... For the sake of argument, let's say Star Trek's replicator will eventually be created in the not-too-distant future. Well... then what. Such predictions where everything can literally be created on a whim can be perceived as both intriguing and frightening depending on what we perceive as giving meaning to our lives. I suspect some, perhaps many, would end up encountering frightening conundrums, such as: Exactly what is it that makes me want to live on, to strive, when anything I desire can be gotten on a whim? I suspect these kinds of conundrums are likely to send many into bouts of deeply internalized self-reflection as they contemplate "spiritual values" in a way never been pondered before. Eventually choices will be made. Here are a few of my favorite predictions where I assume interstellar travel is a given: *) Some will long for the good-old-days. They will pack their bags, migrate to "primitive" planet and eventually destroy the space ship they arrived on, including all the toasters and dishwashers a few might have secretly squirreled away in the bulkheads. It's a clear indicator to off-worlders that visitors are not welcome. Eventually they go native. Perhaps we'll hear from them again, or more precisely from their progeny in another couple hundred thousand years. *) Some will desire to become something more than human. They will tinker with their genetic code. This might result in a few unexpected surprises. Hopefully, such "tinkering" will result in good surprises. What could go wrong!!!! *) Some may find meaning (immense satisfaction) in becoming advisors to other races. This could turn out to be a delicate operation, one fraught with deadly pitfalls because not everyone wishes to be advised, or perhaps the few who ask for "advise" would prefer the "knowledge" but not the wisdom that might go along with the "advice" being dispensed. *) Some may become farmers, crossing planetary systems "seeding" various worlds with genetic material, to see what might crop up in a few million years. *) Some will simply drink themselves in to a stupor each night while watching old reruns of He Haw. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
