Theoretically possible inventions you would like to see?

[Xanikk999]

What are some of the inventions that are theoretically possible to make (No time travel or teleportation for example) that you would like to see?

1. Virtual Reality sex.

Think of the implications.. this could be an incredibly huge industry if it could replicate the actual tactile sensations and everything involved. At the very least it would make prostitution a non issue.

Reminds me of a certain futurama episode I saw years ago i forget which one. I would give this another 50 years maybe..

2. Cloaking device.

Who wouldn't want to be able to be an invisible once in awhile? If such a device were invented I would guess it would not be commercially available.

3. Personal Spacecraft.

Before we get this we will need to make launching a spacecraft cost a lot less. This would require a huge breakthrough.

4. Fusion power.

We have nuclear power plants based on nuclear fission. I keep hearing about fusion power though and how it would be better. Is this a possibility? I do not know much about this to be honest.

5. Knowledge uploader.

Lets make studying and schooling obsolete by having a machine that can enter knowledge into our brain. I don't know if this is possible or not but it would require more advances in cyborg technology which to my knowledge is a fledgling field.

This has incredibly contraversial implications for public schools though. Basically the government would decide what the population would know. Very dangerous and easily abusable if possible.

6. True artificial consiousness.

What if we could invent a robot that had the same intellegence as an animal or even a human being and had free will? I would love to see this but again I don't know if this is possible or not. We can only hope.

 

[Ajidica]

On the subject of Virtual reality sex, that would be humanities last invention. A monkey with a button wired up to the 'orgasm' section of his brain will keep pressing the button until he dies. What makes you think a human would be any different if we were presented with free non-binding sex. I mean just think of all of the ladies you could bang in a single night. Marilyn Monroe, Claudia Black ten years ago, mmmmm.

 

[Lillefix]

And here I was going to make a joke answer about fusion power, but you have already...

I thought you meant things along the lines of better nutcrackers and christmas tree stands that actually work properly.

 

[Holycannoli]

A dream recorder. Theoretically it's possible since dreams are just electrical impulses and neurons firing in the brain.

 

[cardgame]

Ajidica, we're more than monkeys

Plus, you know, refractory period.

 

[Xanikk999]

On the subject of Virtual reality sex, that would be humanities last invention. A monkey with a button wired up to the 'orgasm' section of his brain will keep pressing the button until he dies. What makes you think a human would be any different if we were presented with free non-binding sex. I mean just think of all of the ladies you could bang in a single night. Marilyn Monroe, Claudia Black ten years ago, mmmmm.

You know you are right.

We would be nothing more than animals using instinct to go for the most satisfying result.

If there was no repercussions to that button everyone would keep it in their pocket and keep pressing it.

Orgasms are inherently hard wired into our genes to be very satisfying. I don't think we could rationally stop pressing the button or get tired of it except under extreme circumstances.

It might be a terrible invention. Just like the guy who invented the terminators in the terminator movies.

It could spell our DOOM!

 

[PeteAtoms]

The Matrix

 

[Xanikk999]

Does anyone think #5 is possible?

It would turn humans into a superhuman species capable of knowing everything. Technology and progress would advance at an incredibly rapid pace.

It would change mankind forever... might be a bad thing though.

 

[Dachs]

What are some of the inventions that are theoretically possible to make (No time travel or teleportation for example) that you would like to see?

So, time travel and teleportation are prohibited, but cloaking devices (active camo?), a "knowledge uploader", and strong AI aren't?

Because honestly, as a historyfag, time travel is easily number one on any list I might make.

 

[cardgame]

#5 definitely could be a bad thing, because it would probably be possible to 'upload' "knowledge" into the brain which isn't factual. For example, politics & religion.

 

[PeteAtoms]

Does anyone think #5 is possible?

It would turn humans into a superhuman species capable of knowing everything. Technology and progress would advance at an incredibly rapid pace.

It would change mankind forever... might be a bad thing though.

I don't think so. There might be ways to speed up the process of learning based on the biological processes with the brain, but nothing instantaneous.

 

[Zelig]

BFG 9000


Link to video.

 

[Xanikk999]

I don't think so. There might be ways to speed up the process of learning based on the biological processes with the brain, but nothing instantaneous.

What if it was possible to create a digital brain with the same power as a human brain? If the human brain could be understood 100% would it not be possible to create a computerized version?

The fact that the human brain exists proves that it can be artifically created I assume.

 

[bernie14]

You know you are right.

We would be nothing more than animals using instinct to go for the most satisfying result.

If there was no repercussions to that button everyone would keep it in their pocket and keep pressing it.

Orgasms are inherently hard wired into our genes to be very satisfying. I don't think we could rationally stop pressing the button or get tired of it except under extreme circumstances.

It might be a terrible invention. Just like the guy who invented the terminators in the terminator movies.

It could spell our DOOM!

about 8 years ago, my oldest daughter's (now x) boyfreind had to write a paper on the "meaning of life" which i half jokingly explained to him was "an orgasm".....he wrote the paper and got suspended (he attended a catholic HS)

i'll be happy with a practical renewable energy source

 

[Lillefix]

The fact that the human brain exists proves that it can be artifically created I assume.

Can't fault your logic there.

 

[Xanikk999]

In fact I am reading that a project called Blue Brain Project exists. It seems there goal is to actually understand human consciousness in the hopes that we may recreate it.
I am not going to say such a thing is possible or impossible considering I know next to nothing about this research. I wouldn't be surprised though if strong ai exists in 50 years.

 

[G-Max]

Sorry, but my vote goes to time-travel. I'd go back to Sumer 6,000 years ago, set myself up as a god-king by impressing the natives with some basic science tricks, teach them Lojban, and unify the culture under a constitution based on that of the United States, but with the constituent elements of the federation being cities, not states. I would rapidly advance the progress of science and technology in the new nation based on what I already know, and we'd beat those damn dirty Akkadians and Persians. Knowing that my rule would not last forever, I would also create a document explaining why certain policies are good or bad, so that the nation would not suffer the same fate as so many others that destroyed themselves.

BFG 9000


Link to video.

BFG 9000 is crap compared to the shotgun:


Link to video.

 

[PeteAtoms]

What if it was possible to create a digital brain with the same power as a human brain? If the human brain could be understood 100% would it not be possible to create a computerized version?

The fact that the human brain exists proves that it can be artifically created I assume.

Ok, so a digital mind might be able to compile knowledge at the speed of light. But I meant biological brains.

Hint: In the OP you said "our brain." So unless you're a machine, I responded accordingly.

PS: Congrats, you pass the Turing test.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

A device that would allow you to talk perfectly just by thinking. This would be especially good for me cos its hard to understand my speech. Or maybe something that types out your thoughts.

 

[The_J]

So, time travel and teleportation are prohibited, but cloaking devices (active camo?), a "knowledge uploader", and strong AI aren't?

Oh, cloaking devices are nearer than you might think.
The US military (...i think) has made some good progress with material which bends the light around it's body, so that it is infact somehow invisible.
Still not perfect...but...well...

Someone might to want to look in here:

Physicists have cloaked a macroscopic object for the first time. And they've done it using conventional materials and techniques

Does anyone think #5 is possible?

It would turn humans into a superhuman species capable of knowing everything. Technology and progress would advance at an incredibly rapid pace.

It would change mankind forever... might be a bad thing though.

Not in the near future (or a bit wider, not in the next 200 years), because the brain is just to complex atm, and you can't put stuff into something if you don't know where and how to put it. Might probably happen somewhen.