Right? Star Trek promised replicators that can make anything on demand only a few hundred years in the future. I sure hope we don't still have commercial farms in 250 million years.

[–] Willy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm just wondering what you would farm when everything dies off. maybe something would evolve that could handle it but even with our help it doesn't sound promising to anything using the natural processes life uses now.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Underground hydroponics operation?

[–] Willy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

mushrooms!

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Even in the star trek universe, didn't most of humanity live planetside? We can't all be space communists.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yes, but they had replicators too.

The idea of communism doesn't really mean much in a world that anything can be produced on demand. There is nothing to share out as anyone can have as much as they like. No need for money means people work because they want to, no one has to work. No way to accumulate wealth as wealth no longer means anything in a post-scarcity world.

The series The Orville (which is hard to explain other than calling it what it is: a star trek-like series made by Seth McFarlane) discusses at times that reputation is the currency of the future once money became obsolete.

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've often thought of the Transporter/replicator combo and what it would do to humanity if those were invented by someone.

You'd need to basically announce the technology live in front of Millions of people somehow. Otherwise, you'd seriously be at risk of assassination. So many mega wealthy people and organizations would not want this technology in the hands of the masses.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 1 points 11 months ago

Not just announce it, you'd need to get instructions on building them to as many places capable of creating them as possible.

You'd probably want to get a torrent with the plans started, and distribute the plans with the replicator (say, by programming in the option to replicate the plans).

Then build a big replicator to use to replicate millions of standard sized ones and just start shipping them all over the world.

If you had trasnsporter technology as well, you could just beam replicators all over earth while trying to avoid anyone knowing who was doing it.

I guess though you'd also need a breakthrough in power technology, those replicators and transporters are surely power hungry.