@BigD

Agreed, regardless of inherent capabilities, the average schmuck will squander these resources and do something as stupid as the previous suggestion that we should misuse this power in order to crawl up own own collective asses and live in virtual reality.

To all those dumb enough to think that that is a worthwhile path...goodbye, your presence in the real world will not be missed.

@JimIgou

In keeping with the conversation vis-a-vis super-computing, so as not to venture any farther from the original post, the greater concern lies not in the pursuits of the 'average schmuck', but rather those of the policy makers.

I have a good friend who insists that human beings are violent creatures in need of strict and firm governance. There is *some* truth to this. As such, however, technology becomes a force multiplier to effect the will of the few at the expense of the many. Little is novel in this regard except the scope and scale of it all, for example:

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2016/12/17/china-invents-the-digital-totalitarian-state

Of course, it's not just China.

In my experience, we are far too ready to conceptualize and personify some 'average' citizen and heap contempt upon them - but one cannot reasonably blame society's ills on the powerless and disenfranchised. It would be like blaming a crime on the victim - though none are blameless, either.

Lastly, the anecdote about Ladas in Australia is priceless, by the way - I only employed the analogy with tongue-in-cheek because my wife drove one before I met her.

She has a saying, "There are no good guys." A better argument for sovereignty I've not heard.

Cheers.

@Snorg

Not sure where that divides our arguments, but I always rather liked Ladas.

And I'm not fond of authoritarians.

That being said, the future looks grim regardless of available technology, when juvenile minds decide that the best use of supercomputer level power is playing advanced video games.

@Barana

Quote:

the Lada niva had a reputation for pulling 2.2ton Toyota landcrusiers and Nissan patrols out of bogs.

The Lada Niva is also a vehicle of choice in high terrain, such as in the Himalayas, they keep running where other jeep-like vehicles choke due to thin air, and they are not so picky about the fuel. And easy to fix.

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