How long will it take for humanity to surpass SW technology wise?
Population wise it would take a VERY long time, but overall tech wise how long will it be before humanity surpasses SW?
Assuming that:
Humanity survives for a VERY long time
Humanity is not sent back to the stone age via some nuclear war or something like that
Humanity is not taken over by machines/aliens/etc.
Humanity continues to advance and doesn't stagnate
Also, just because humanity might not be able to replicate some technologies after X years doesn't mean that they're behind if their other techs are developed far enough.
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1. It would not take that long for population. If anything that would be the easiest part. We added our latest billion people in only twelve years (from '86-98).
2. Overall tech will never "catch up" because the tech level shown is simply magic.
3. Forcefield against Arthur C. Clarke quotes.
4. If we go with interstellar travel then we'll have to wait for a major breakthrough in energy production (although I did see a cool idea about warping space to work around the c barrier) and then the whole propulsion deelie.
5. Robotics-wise, it is extremely possible that we could catch up- in some areas- with the more primitive droids they have by the end of [arbitrary number here]. Mostly we've gotta wait for the singularity.
6. Lightsabers are for pretend.
7. The pictured form of space combat is unlikely.
there's no way anyone anywhere would be able to harness the lightsaber...there's no way light can bend in the way it would for a lightsaber to work like it does in george lucas' envisioning.
"hyperspace travel" is only a theory, and there seems to be no evidence that it'll work anytime soon, seeing as theoretical physicists have worked out it would take the power of several thousand stars the size of ours to power such a mode of travel.
i don't think deep space travel as we imagine it would be possible. what people don't seem to take into account is in the depths of space there are particles and rocks that travel at the speed of light that would not only pierce the hull of whatever vehicle may be used to space travel, but it would also therefore likely kill the inhabitants of the vehicle.
there's no evidence to suggest that human kind will leave this solar system any time within the next several thousand years...
Just head to your corner drug store. Plutonium's been available for retail consumption since the early 80''s.
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Actually a lot of it is much more feasible than is typically thought. Lightsabers, for instance, could easily be magnetically confined plasma. The only thing holding us back from replicating that today is the insane energy densities needed to put that much energy in a handle.
Check out the book "The Science of Star Wars"
Still, its probably tens of thousands of years.
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The physical characteristics of a plasma blade are much different than a lightsaber, as well as its effect on anything it touches.
As to hyperspace travel, there have been some new theories introduced involving using some kind of ridiculous energy to create a black hole, but these are...Theories.
All in all, we're millions of years away from any kind of star wars technology, if possible at all.
people probably said that about robots at one point.
... and in-door plumbing.
point is, its pointless to say that something is impossible technology wise. nothing is possible. their can be a humugeous breakthrough tomorrow in some technology and we can all be traveling to moon and back in space corvettes by the end of 2010, or some new energy source can be discovered, or aliens could come... etc. etc. considering that our advancement rate of technology has like... tripled in the last hundred years, compared to the thousands we've been on this planet i think its futile to try to predict what science can and can not achieve in any sort of time frame.
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Last edited by AthenasTrgrFngr on Oct 13th, 2009 at 06:11 PM
A reasonably entertaining read. The part about the Force is pure BS though. Something to the effect of 'Luke couldn't have moved the X-Wing by himself but he could have an implant that sent the command to robots that did it for him.' Totally missed the point and ignored context.
THE FORCE could be described as a insainly powerful Magnetic Field that would allow a user to pick up objects but it would have to be a magnetic implant somewhere in the hands. also FORCE LIGHTNING could be done if there was a way to put a tesla coil into you without killing you lol.
anyway. THE FORCE as envisioned by LUCAS is B.S.
but anything else such as STAR DESTROYERS and stuff can be done in the next thousand or five hundred years I would say.
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Now THIS part is quite wrong. Think about how much we've improved in the last 100 years. Now think about how the technological advancement will most likely rise exponentially. Now take our 100 years of advancements, multiply it by 10,000, and then somehow include the exponential factor. Also take into account how far we've advanced in the past million years, and take into account the fact that we didn't advance at a very rapid rate for 99.99+% of those years. Now add in 1 million years where we advance at a rate = or > our current rate. How much we can accomplish if we survive for a million years is simply unimaginable.
Also, "any kind"? We're already equal on many, and close to equalling on others, such as lasers.
In terms of say, infantry/vehicle weapons/armor, we can probably surpass them within the century (although it may take longer to build an AT-AT's equivalent in power), as this is the area in which we are the closest to them.
Star Wars has really advanced medical technology, so it might take a few centuries to surpass.
FTL speed may very well be impossible, so if so then probably never, unless if we find a way to create wormholes/bend space and time. If it is possible, then it's actually possible that it would take a few thousand years to surpass.
Space ship technology can very well be passed within the millennium.
The Force is of course impossible, but it isn't technology.
Lightsabers could very well be possible in a century or two.
Oh, and @Red Nemesis, the population of Coruscant alone is over 1 trillion.
And also, even if humanity can't replicate all technologies (like FTL travel), if the other technologies have surpassed SW by a huge amount then you could conclude that overall humanity would have surpassed SW. The thread doesn't say "surpass in ALL areas".
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Last edited by Hewhoknowsall on Oct 13th, 2009 at 09:03 PM
There aren't any "rocks" or particles travelling at light speed. Where did you learn your science? Also, not leaving the solar system within the "next several thousand years" is a laughable statement.
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Theory of Relativity. Even if we had the capabilities to travel the speed of light, assuming we had a ridiculously large energy source, no human could survive the journey. Your body weight goes up exponentially with speed and at the speed of light, you'll blow up into pieces.
Lightsaber technology is impossible because light is constant. It doesn't randomly "bend", it goes on infinitely.
Unless ofcourse we come up with a method to reflect it back to its source and in a repeating cycle with a combination of mirrors. >_>
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They could very well figure out some sort of way to keep you front being torn apart, very much like they prevent fighter pilots from dying of suffocation/g force.
It doesn't have to be light just because it's called lightsaber. It could be superheated plasma or something. Also, maybe they can figure out a way to artificially bend light.
__________________ Introduce a little government. Upset the established gangs, and everything becomes order...
Democracy is the very definition of awesome.
Which is fine I suppose, if you're forgetting the properties of a lightsaber in regards to combat and how unlikely it is for light to do anything remotely similar.
Indeed. Though no i'm not forgetting, and I understand how light works. I just don't see how we have the technology to do this, yet, if ever. So i wandered into fiction.
__________________ Every time this fool be come along
He gots you noobs cryin' out fo' mom
Leave the scene lookin' like Vietnam
Might as well call him "Matt Atom Bomb"
Like his name suggests, he's quite atomic
And this fool - he likes DC Comics
Two energy swords make up his symbol
And trust me, dawg, this homie's nimble
The highlighted portion is where your confusion is. In the depths of space there are particles and rocks. People don't seem to take into account that travel at the speed of light would pierce the hull of whatever vehicle may be used to space travel with those particles and rocks. The sentence is clear but the only way your reading (that Cado thinks there are rocks going c) makes any sense is if we assume that he is dumb. Understanding is increased if we do not, so I will not.
Cade, you are quite right. Running into something while going c would be devastating; hence the deflector dish in Star Trek.
(please log in to view the image)
P = principal amount (initial investment)
r = annual nominal interest rate (as a decimal)
n = number of times the interest is compounded per year
t = number of years
A = amount after time t
If we use arbitrary units for advancement then you get an idea of how quickly this grows: (please log in to view the image)
Poor argument. The advancement of all but the last ten thousand years or so has been negligible. You are completely right, but discussing the largely stagnant (although extremely successful) lifestyles of tribal peoples is a waste of time in terms of technological achievement. Restrain yourself to the past 10,000 years and your point holds however (for now).
Except not. There are limits to the physical capabilities of technology. It is likely that the limits (of transistors, no matter how small, for example) will be reached long before we reach Star Wars levels, let alone Star Trek. It requires a paradigm shift that simply cannot be predicted to arise before we can match them. Although I suspect that such a shift is coming we cannot predict it based on past performance.
[b]
Elaborate. In which areas of laser application are we nearing equality?
You don't seem to understand the ridiculous levels of power in walker weaponry. Stardestroyer.net calls the energy output necessary to take out Alderann "522600 times the power output of Earth's sun!" TCW ICS puts the energy in 1 shot from a Republic gunship at 5x10^9 joules per shot. That is 112,500,000,000th of the yearly electricity production in the US as of 2005. Or 1/3000th of the total human energy consumption per second. That is fantastic.
Their weapons are incredibly powerful, many orders of magnitude greater than our own: that antipersonnel turret puts out 3521126 times more energy than an AK47 bullet.
We're screwed in that area.
Really? Cybernetics, prosthetics and an equivalent to bacta (the Vita-Chamber of Star Wars) are going to be equalled in the next few hundred years? Really? Hell, the US couldn't even do stem cell research for the past 8 years. You really think we're going to integrate organs and mechanics? Think of the protests! Think of the OUTRAGE! Think of the children!
I read something about finding low-energy pathways (regions of space where gravity is less due to conflicting pulls) with calculus, which would save on gas usage. Another idea was "bending space" in front of the ship while leaving it normal behind it, maintaining c internally but traveling faster relative to the outer universe. That would require wtfsad levels of power though, and as known now the speed limit is unbreakable in every circumstance.
Doubtful.
1. At present there is no incentive to do so.
2. The ships shown are dangerously fragile, it is unlikely we'll ever see a functional, utilized x-wing.
3. Energy production is a factor again.
4. Heat dispersal
K.
Nah. Sabers are totally broken. Plasma doesn't act like that, neither does light. Even if it did it wouldn't do the things asked of it. There is absolutely nothing real behind sabers.
Population growth is seemingly limitless, as disease and famine are nearly absent (in SW) and even Earth (in your setup) is freed from those restraints. From My Ishmael:
Bear in mind that each planet would carry 6 billion people.
It wouldn't take long at all, given that:
Humanity survives for a VERY long time
Humanity is not sent back to the stone age via some nuclear war or something like that
Humanity is not taken over by machines/aliens/etc.
Humanity continues to advance and doesn't stagnate
90% (at least) of humanity is involved in a culture that must expand its population in order to survive. Therefore these numbers actually apply instead of illustrate the ridiculousity (i know) of our patterns.
I'd say our best bet is in robotics (Data > C3PO) and medicine (we do have stem cells, after all). Space travel is beyond the pale and they simply use magic for power output.
Oct 12th, 2009 09:00 PM
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and there.
