The Art of War in the 21st Century

Humans are traditionally very bad at predicting the future. We can see the line of a series of innovations and how they might effect things but we always fail to see the innovations on the flank.

For instance, check out this great AT&T ad from 1993 about the future.

Specifically the part with video calling. In 1993 its very logical to look at phones and say “Hey, one day we can add video to this thing!” So they throw it in an advertisement cause it looks awesome. Their linear reasoning makes perfect sense except for one thing. In the future there would be no pay phones. The linear line of reasoning could not account for smartphones. It was just too out there.

Prepare to have sci-fi action forever ruined

Yesterday I wrote about how we will never fly around in space shooting lasers at each other because machines will be much better at it.

It gets worse.

All those movies where protagonists run around with guns shooting at each other? That won’t happen in the future either. It won’t happen because the technology we’re developing now will make it totally senseless.

Why would I sit around with a gun like a brute when I can just send a mind controlled mosquito to inject poison that will put you into a temporary coma?

You don’t think so? You can already buy a kit to mind control roaches as a hobby. No military industrial complex needed.

Sure, this is clunky and it couldn’t fit on a mosquito but those are details. Once something is within the realm of imagination it may as well be done.

In the future your best defense won’t be a shotgun, it’ll be a mosquito net.