[ExI] Is future progress moving to virtual reality?

[BillK]

We have discussed a few times whether scientific progress is slowing
down. Comparing the huge leap in inventions between 1940 and 1980 with
the Facebook and iPhone inventions of 1980 to 2013.

I have just come across another data point. And this is a real-life
commercial decision. Disney's Tomorrowland. This show was created in
1955 and regularly updated. But in 1998 renovation changed. The
Mission to Mars ride was replaced with a pizza parlour. The 'progress'
features are moving to movies, like Buzz Lightyear, Finding Nemo and
Wall-E.

Quote from the article:
Disney’s pessimistic attitude towards the rate of current advancement
comes from a place of truth. New, revolutionary ideas were coming out
on a consistent basis in the mid 1900s during Walt Disney’s
generation, but near the late 1900s progress as a whole slowed down.
Rather than innovating new and fresh ideas, the current generation
fine-tunes the revolutionary ideas of their predecessors.
It’s only a matter of time until the whole Tomorrowland sector becomes
a Disney themed montage. If technological development continues at
this rate, Tomorrowland may as well combine with Fantasyland as a
childish delusion from the past. As displayed by the modern
developments of both Disney movies and Disneyland, the once
flourishing future that Disney envisioned for the world is coming to a
rapid halt.
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<http://www.newgeography.com/content/003484-disney-stops-thinking-about-tomorrow>


BillK