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- KreegsMcSteves, on 04/25/2009, -1/+47What a dumb question.. there will ALWAYS be something the human race doesn't know.
- felman87, on 04/25/2009, -1/+43Of course there's still stuff left to discover. The whole point is to find out things we DON'T know.
- JekJob, on 04/25/2009, -0/+38"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -- Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981.
For some reason, we aren't very good at looking into the future when it comes to discovery or invention. We've made some of the most exciting, world-changing discoveries in the past 50 or 60 years. If anything, I'd say major scientific discoveries will come MORE often and have a greater impact. - inactive, on 04/25/2009, -0/+13That's because there are known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. We have a tendency to use the number of things that we know we don't know as a judgment of how many things left there are to discover. However, it fails to take into account questions we haven't even though to ask, because we have no idea they even exist. Like, before Einstein's theory of relativity, scientists thought they had a basic grasp on things with physics, and only minor details needed to be worked out. Then Einstein comes along and points out that it's not the minor details, our fundamental understanding of things is wrong and we had no idea.
- WalkerTXclocker, on 04/25/2009, -0/+11No. Hell No! Absolutely.
*fixed it for you. - alsazen, on 04/25/2009, -2/+12For a start: "Have all the big theories been formulated and important discoveries made—leaving future scientists nothing but fine tuning?" - this is a stupid statement, theories are not a great deal of use without any actual applications to use them, until we have faster than light travel (warp, hyperspace or whatever), a civilization spanning many solar systems (or even just a better understanding of our own planet!) then science has a long way to go until all the good discoveries are done.
Aside from that, it's completely absurd to make any claim that everything has been done/theorised. All through history mankind has thought they knew it all, then some discovery was made that changed everything... the solar system, gravity, the atom... if any scientist actually thinks that we've discovered everything there is, then they need to hang up their white coat and go home, they have obviously forgotten what being a scientist is all about. - umdk1d3, on 04/25/2009, -0/+7WTF? this article is from april 2000, almost a decade ago. "This site is designed for Netscape and Internet Explorer 4.0 and higher browsers" LUL
- falstaff, on 04/25/2009, -0/+7The more we know, the more we realize how much we don't know.
- inactive, on 04/25/2009, -2/+8Nah.... We know it all, except what kind of idiots keep Time in business.
- Aleman360, on 04/25/2009, -1/+5"Or is the real fun about to begin?"
This is and always will be the correct answer and is just as true today as it was when man first evolved. - TheCash, on 04/25/2009, -0/+4Seeing how we have yet to venture into space beyond our own gravity well, yeah Time, I think there are is a *****-ton more for mankind to discover.
What kind of a moron asks a retarded question like that? - Wargasmic, on 04/25/2009, -0/+3Time does, lol.
- AFHeretic, on 04/25/2009, -1/+4Give me FTL, Antigravity, Reversal of Aging, Cure for Cancer, Cure for Aids, cure for cystic fibrosis,The answer to Dark Matter, Dark Energy and a solution to the economy to name a few.
In fact throw in a Brain Case ala. Ghost in the Shell while you are at it.
There you go science, something to do. - ericthesalmon, on 04/25/2009, -0/+3Why the hell do these TIME stories from 1999 keep showing up on digg?
It confuses me. - JekJob, on 04/25/2009, -0/+2Actually, both quotes might be inaccurate. But I included them because they proved my point, which was that it's nearly impossible to imagine what we'll be doing scientifically 50 years from now, just like nobody could have imagined using an ipod in 1950.
- Khast, on 04/25/2009, -0/+2While we may hit the singularity of this technological era, it doesn't mean there wouldn't be anything else to discover. Think of it this way, the Bronze Age ushered in the Iron Age....at the end of the Bronze age, they came to a singularity, at the end of the Iron Age, they came to a singularity.. I would expect no different in this current era.
What we can expect in the next technological era, I can't say...but I think it may have to do with space travel.. - Wargasmic, on 04/25/2009, -1/+3This is ***** stupid. Please bury this *****.
- MrInfallible, on 04/25/2009, -0/+2No one has discovered the quijeezawoz yet, When that happens then there will be nothing left to discover.
- Physicalia, on 04/25/2009, -2/+3there's always the brain to figure out...
- Omegashadow, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1This is stupid. Because its exactly what scientists said just before quantum physics was discovered.
- Junkyarddawg, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2Famous last words.
That said, there may be some truth in it in so far that basic research, where any truly "new" and ground-breaking will be made, is out of favor with funding agencies all over the world. Instead applied science, which indeed is all about incremental improvement to existing knowledge and products, is favored because it generates revenue and jobs faster. - Tanktunker, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2With the price of lawyers these days will most certainly aren't free.
- Tanktunker, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1As far as we know FTL is impossible, and while it might be fun to imagine disappearing and reappearing on some distant planet, as far as our understanding of physics go there's no point even looking in that direction, so it's stupid to ask that.
That goes for on-demand exotic matter, reverse entropy and so on as well. - pacokorn77, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2"known unknowns, and unknown unknowns"
Boondocks! - StueyPidass, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2"Have all the big theories been formulated and important discoveries made—leaving future scientists nothing but fine tuning" - What a stupid arrogant statement.
- MatzahMan, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2Yah thats what scientists said back in 1900. We will always discover new things in science no matter how unlikely it may seem
- TheBlueVulcan, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1FTA: "The science editor of the Economist once pointed out to me that if science does end, we will still have sex and beer."
Well, maybe he will. I will have to make do with only beer. - ZincSaucier, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2theres still the whole life on another planet thing
- TheSwashbuckler, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1I was just looking up that Duell quote...
- adamwho, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1Technology is different from science. Yes there will be all sorts of new things to build but that is not the point of the article... Yes there will be new things to discover but this isn't the point either.
The point is that we have already discovered the basic framework of how the universe operates over the last 100 years and what is left is on the difficult fringes and areas between theories. Not only will new discoveries be extremely difficult to make they will also have diminishing value. What is discovered in the future, no matter how exotic and mind-blowing, it will only be at most an approximation to our well-settled theories describing the physical laws of the universe. The big things are done.... the implications for this are astounding... and have serious implications.
For a similar opinion, see Asimov: Relativity of Wrong - pixelpimp, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2This is a stupid article. We can't even manage our own, waste, energy, education, or any number of other problems.
- DirtyBinLV, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1I dugg you up when I saw the "everything has been invented" quote which was the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline. People have been saying similar things consistently for hundreds of years.
I had to undigg you when I saw the second quote. I like how the "1981" is supposed to add credibility to an entirely apocryphal quote.
http://everything2.com/title/640K%2520ought%2520to ...
To anyone saying "of course Bill Gates is going to deny saying something stupid"- Who did Gates say it to and where was he when he said it? - liquidhalcyon, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1FTL is only impossible when you use the old speed of light. The new speed of light allows all kinds of things!
- bkraj, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1Yeah I guess you're right, I just remembered Samuel L. more than anything.
- GrooTheWanderer, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2According to this guy, we haven't even begun discovering and inventing things:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/woody_norris_in ... - MikeyTwit, on 04/25/2009, -1/+2Time magazine. What do you expect?
- Polycarp87, on 04/26/2009, -0/+1I have lost a lot of respect for the editors of Time.com for publishing such a ridiculous debate. There are so many mysteries yet unsolved, it is simply foolish to even give a platform to such an assertion when every bit of evidence we have points to the contrary. I should know, I conduct scientific research. Anyone who believes otherwise is simply unaware or uninvolved in the process of science.
Also, Horgan's entire argument is predicated on the fallicy of a finite amount of information in the universe. The universe is infinite, and so therefore is the amount of information it can contain. Secondly, as evolving beings, each new step we take is itself a new piece of information which may be studied. So not only is there an infinite amount of things to know, by our very existence we create yet more things which can be studied and learned. - Rocco03, on 04/25/2009, -0/+1I propose you this:
If you're old enough, compare society lifestyle in 1990 to the same in 2000.
Now compare the lifestyle in 2000 to 2009
What changes in your way of life do you foresee for 2020? - lcrocker, on 04/26/2009, -0/+0Every generation for the past 2000 years, some philosopher says that we've reached the end of scientific discovery, and each one has been proven more spectacularly wrong than the last, and always will be.
- jkendal4, on 04/25/2009, -1/+1"well, we'll still have sex and beer"
- PleasantKiller, on 04/25/2009, -1/+1***** please
- horseradish2, on 04/25/2009, -1/+1“Far too many keep on living; they hang on their branches much too long. May a storm soon come to shake all this rotten and worm-eaten fruit from the tree!”
-Nietzche
Isnt it more cruel to let the sick or disabled live rather than kill them? Just because you can quote it doesn't mean you understand it. I know everyone on digg loves to show they know a quote from Zarathustra or Gay science but wouldn't the world be better if you took the time to engage all spectrums of philosophical work so you had a better framework to operate and understand ideas rather than looking for a quick witty internet post? - davethebard, on 04/25/2009, -3/+3Over immense periods of time the intellect produced nothing but errors. A few of these proved to be useful and helped to preserve the species: those who hit upon or inherited these had better luck in their struggle for themselves and their progeny. Such erroneous articles of faith... include the following: that there are things, substances, bodies; that a thing is what it appears to be; that our will is free; that what is good for me is also good in itself.
--Nietzsche - Orochiyagami, on 04/25/2009, -0/+0There will always be something new and possible that used to be impossible!
Making the Impossible possible requires preconceived notions be discarded,
to quote a famous line from the movie wanted
"It's not a question of how. It's a question of what. If no one told you that bullets flew straight, and I gave you a gun and told you to hit the target, what would you do? Let your instincts guide you."-sloan - newtondave, on 04/25/2009, -0/+0Uh... yeah, 'cuz we've nailed those consciousness and universe things.
- dijkstra22, on 04/25/2009, -0/+0Eh, kind of. I do condensed matter physics research, and the way that we get funding is to note possible future applications. The group I'm on isn't interesting in developing a quantum computing system, we're interested in how electronic phase shifts occur etc, but we know the money likes quantum computing. I feel like this is basically the technique used to get money for basic research is similar in other fields as well.
- Polycarp87, on 04/25/2009, -1/+1Thanks to this article, we have finally discovered the answer to the question, "How stupid are the editors of Time magazine?"
Really stupid, apparently. - inactive, on 04/25/2009, -1/+1Actually, 'we' have finally discovered that morons like you never RTFA.
ever. -
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