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Apparently not Min. Apparently a reduction in sperm numbers, which would appear to support the environmental view.
Perhaps all races eventually fade away with time. Certainly history suggests that everything passes.
Some time ago a chat show host was forced to resign for pointing out that Arabia had produced nothing new in the last thousand years, the fact that he was correct was apparently of no import.
On a technological level advances seem to have been made first in India then in China then Arabia, after that it was western Europe, but it is worth noting that nothing fundamentally new has originated here for over half a century.

Roy.

Digit wrote:Apparently not Min. Apparently a reduction in sperm numbers, which would appear to support the environmental view.
Perhaps all races eventually fade away with time. Certainly history suggests that everything passes.
Some time ago a chat show host was forced to resign for pointing out that Arabia had produced nothing new in the last thousand years, the fact that he was correct was apparently of no import.
On a technological level advances seem to have been made first in India then in China then Arabia, after that it was western Europe, but it is worth noting that nothing fundamentally new has originated here for over half a century.

Roy.

The technological arc moves west.

nothing fundamentally new has originated here for over half a century.

Computers. Television. The cell phone?

Fraid not Min, they are all developments of existing technology.
The last fundamental breakthroughs were the MASER and the Three Terminal Semiconductor, the transistor.

Roy.

I regard it as something akin to magic that we can chat, instantly, over a 10,000 mile distance so, I am easily impressed.

We've undoubtedly made great progress on many fronts Min, but the fact that the well spring of originality seems to be running dry is rather worrying.
I didn't mention DNA either as that is biology, but that seems likely to be the subject that creates the next big step I think.

Roy.

What are there? Seven basic machines or something? In that sense every technological advancement is an extension of one of those 7 but consider the difference between an atlatl dart and a cruise missile.

Technology gives us the ability to sit hundreds of miles away and hit the wrong target.

We just couldn't do that before!

Maybe an extension Min but not necessarily similar technology.
Take a modern TV, I Pod, computer, cell phone, they are all developments of the transistor. There have been no fundamental new discoveries in electronics since the transistor, just improvements of the basics.
Maybe there can be no new discoveries in some fields, maybe we have already found out all that there is to know about some things.

Roy.

Well...all I know is I whined about magic and the board was out for a couple of hours.

Not good to piss off the magician.

So it was your fault was it Min?

Roy.

Always.

At least that seems to be the wife's opinion.

"'maybe we have already found out all that there is to know about some things."
That's just blasphemy! That's club thinking! Shame on you!

Sowwy!!!

Roy.

Just watching a re-run of Neanderthal Code and the argument of did we pass the Fox2 gene to them or did they pass it to us.

Funny how no one takes the obvious answer that both groups inherited it from Homo Erectus!

Funny how no one takes the obvious answer that both groups inherited it from Homo Erectus!

I agree Min, it is puzzling as it seems the most logical idea.

Roy.