Moore’s Law Isn’t Just About Computer Chips — It’s Also About How Humanity Evolves
It’s not that we don’t have the solutions, it’s where we put our focus
I’ve ridden unicycles off and on throughout my life. It’s not like riding a bicycle where once you learn you never forget. It’s more like a craft. You have to keep at it to develop the muscle memory. Riding a giraffe unicycle, which is a tall unicycle, is even more difficult, as the taller they are the harder they are to balance. Now add to that, those who ride these crazy tall unicycles while juggling or spinning plates. The complexity of such a combination of tasks is insanely difficult.
Many years ago, I had the great privilege of watching a performance of the Chinese Acrobats and was completely blown away. The finale was a man on a giraffe unicycle spinning plates with both hands while balancing more plates on one foot, and more on his nose, while idling in place with one foot. The whole thing was incredibly mesmerizing and entertaining. But even more incredible than watching the crazy things humans can do, is to consider why.
It means a person must dedicate their life to it. It means they’ve made a conscious decision to revolve their life around learning a craft that has but one purpose — to entertain. So, I ask myself: Do they enjoy spinning plates while idling on a giraffe unicycle? Do they wake up in the morning and look forward to another ten hours of practice? How many plates have they broken over the years? How many times have they fallen from their tall unicycle? How many bones have they broken to learn the craft? Any concussions or back injuries? And what else in their lives excites them? I’m thinking not much — this must be their whole life.
Moore’s Law
The point is focus. Moore’s Law is not a scientific or legal law, but rather an observation based on empirical evidence. It began in the 1960s when the density of transistors on a computer chip was doubling every year. Then every two years, which held steady for decades. It’s like a law merely because the density consistently doubles every year. And the reason is simple: focus.
“Focus and simplicity . . . once you get there, you can move mountains.” — Steve Jobs
For a chip manufacture to double computing power makes them a lot of money and gives them a stronger position in the market. Computer manufactures benefit hugely from it. Software designers can create more robust software given the greater capacity, and the end users benefit from all the added bells and whistles, increased efficiency, and convenience.
Presently, Moore’s Law is reaching a point of molecular limitation in which very soon the only appreciable increase will come from quantum computing. Once quantum computing has become commercially viable the Moore’s Law cycle of exponential growth in computing power will likely begin again.
Alternative energy opponents have derided the viability of battery technology, windmill and solar panel efficiency, and so on, without taking Moore’s Law into account. Given the high demand for alternative energy and electric vehicles the technology is advancing at a breakneck speed. A 100-watt solar panel that used to cost $1,000 is now less than $80. Windmill tech and other renewables have advanced to a stage where it is more financially efficient than extracting coal from the ground and burning it. And advancing battery technology is hard to keep up with.
It's About Where We Place Our Focus
It’s not so much about environmental imperatives or the need to end war and starvation. It’s simply what we have decided is important to us.
Which means Moore’s Law can be applied to literally anything we choose. Anything we decide is important we will find a way to exponentially advance it. Even spiritually. Even human consciousness. Even fixing environmental problems. Even global warming.
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle
The naysayers are those who resist change. They are also the ones who can’t visualize what we are capable of when we set our collective mind to something. When we as a culture decide that we want to end all war we can do it. Starvation? No problem. Even global warming. The most abundant greenhouse gas is not carbon, it’s water vapor. But the EPA dismisses it by saying, “Human activities have only a small direct influence on atmospheric concentrations of water vapor.” So, while we spend all our energy talking about CO2 we’re missing the number one cause of global warming, because the scientific community has no idea what to do about it. A small shift in consciousness could result in a shift toward a focus on water vapor and we’ll have our solution. Hint: we’ve already solved this one, but few are presently listening.
But I digress. The point is focus. What we focus on is what we improve.
What Are the Possibilities?
So, what if we decide to focus on spirituality? Imagine that. If a critical mass of humanity valued spirituality above all else, imagine how the Moore’s Law effect could catapult humanity into a utopian state of existence. Nuance would be commonplace. Depth would be everywhere. Compassion and humility would rule out over control and manipulation.
Just one little itty-bitty change in human values and PRESTO! we’ve ended world hunger, misogyny, racism, war, genocide, and even global warming.
“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” — George Lucas
Economics? No problem. There is already a better system sitting on a shelf ready for us to pluck down and put to use. It’s called Ubuntu Contributionism.
Our problems, our upside-down-ness, is not that we don’t have the solutions, it’s merely our focus. Moore’s Law proves that.
If this woman can flip five bowls from her foot to the top of her head while idling on a 10-foot giraffe unicycle surly we can advance human consciousness one small step at a time, and as a result, all our most difficult problems will solve themselves over time.
Wonderful topic! Good information! What we focus on expands. On the positive side, we tend to focus on the things and people we love—and love grows. On the negative side, focusing on breakdowns and what doesn't work makes more of those so we can learn. So, actually, there is no negative side. The great thing about art or any creative activity is that it requires us to focus, to pay attention, and in the process something new—an advancement in consciousness—is born. I love your conclusion: we have the solutions, we just need to focus on them.