Flying Cars
Dr. Storrs Hall Begins off his video by explaining the concept of flying cars, and how that it was a reasonable assumption that we would have them within our lifetime. When comparing the looks of planes from when they were first built to now, the differences are very clear to see. We went from small planes being able to carry very few people, to the planes we see today carrying hundreds of people. Or even the planes we see used in war, which utilize extremely advanced technology and missiles. So, when a show like The Jetsons first aired in the 1960’s, and they pictured flying cars in their setting of 2060 it makes sense to people that this was a reasonable assumption to make. Now that it’s currently 2023 and we don’t have any flying cars, people may start to question why. I used to watch The Jetsons as a kid, and with the technology I have I bet it’s possible but is it feasible? Is it safe for society as a whole? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves.
Within a span of fifty years, people went from no electricity to electricity. No one had cars to everyone had cars and America went from no skyscrapers to cities popping up all over the place. People were even beginning to invent prototypes of flying cars, assuming that it would be the next big thing to hit the market and take over the world.
However, when going back and rewatching runs of The Jetsons you will notice that every family in the show has a flying car, not just the rich. It was supposed to be more of a commodity, but realistically the fuel and gas needed to power a flying automobile is much more than that of a car, especially now with people being able to charge cars like the Tesla instead of having to pump gas. Dr. Storrs Hall goes on to say how this isn’t really an innovative issue but an economic issue.
This goes back to a common theme that I’ve seen throughout this class. So much of this class discusses how much entrepreneurship is affected by the economy. Looking throughout history it’s so very easy to see. The point when energy was most likely at its cheapest was the industrial revolution. So much was done in such a short amount of time, and a common saying goes that time is money and money is power. So by being able to shorten the amount of time it takes to make or complete something it can be bought for cheaper. However, it’s not just the creation of the flying car that’s the issue but the upkeep. Also, there’s the question of how it would be regulated. Dr. Storrs Hall bought a small plane to see if flying it is something the average person could do, which he thought it was but let’s look at it logistically. How many more fatalities would occur in an accident? How would they regulate it? Would they have to create laws regarding rules of the air just like they do for rules of the road? This idea is no simple feat.
But while we don’t have flying cars yet, if we could find resources that are cheaper to create and maintain the cars than I truly do think that flying cars could be a very real possibility. Dr. Storrs Hall is optimistic about how technology is growing and how it will continue to improve in the future. I think rules and regulations can be figured out over time, but it would take a while.
New Views and AI
Moving along, the thing that shocked me the most about this lecture video was his slide and discussion on ergophobia. The quote that stuck out to me the most was said by Amory Lovins and he goes, “It would be little short of disastrous for us to discover a source of clean, cheap, abundant energy.” I think the reason this stood out to me so fiercely, is due to the fact that ever since I could remember it’s been drilled into me that our current way of life is a short term solution due to us utilizing non-renewable resources. While Dr. Storrs Hall does disagree with this viewpoint, I just felt like I needed to point it out due to how shocked I was that some people had this view at all.
When looking at where we currently are in terms of artificial intelligence, we have certainly seen a spike in it these past few years. AI has improved immensely, however as of now it is mostly limited to words. Even on the app SnapChat, there’s a new AI feature allowing you to ask it questions. I’m still very unsure of AI as a whole to be quite honest, but would be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.
Overall, I’m excited to see how technology will grow and where it will take us. I bet fifty years from now, there will be a new, must-have item that will be out that I can’t even fathom yet.
