This week, we were assigned to read about 4 authors and their theories about technology and knowledge. In my reaction to these theories, I was to follow a guideline, so I included it for easier following. 

• A brief biography of each author

• Description of each theory in your own words

• Similarities and differences between the theories

• Aspects of these theories you found surprising and/or interesting

The first author I read about was Gordon Moore. As the co-founder of Intel Corporation, an American multinational technology company, Moore has built his career on his knowledge of computers and how they work. This knowledge he had would lead him to predict how computer speed and efficiency would advance in the future, which would later become “Moore’s Law”. His prediction that computer speed would increase at the same time as the relative cost would decrease, is still being discussed and debated 50 years later. There have been arguments against Moore’s Law, claiming that his theory has no more credibility in today’s age, due to the fact that computer size and functionality cannot grow forever. However, Moore’s initial prediction has paved the way for many advancements in the technology world. 

Second, I read about Richard Buckminster Fuller, an American architect who wanted to improve society as much as possible with inventions that were cheap and easy to mass produce that would limit negative impacts on the environment. Similar to Moore’s idea that computer processing would exponentially grow with time, Fuller had the same thoughts, but with human knowledge. Known as the Knowledge Doubling Curve, Fuller first noticed that by 1900, knowledge had doubled every 100 years. By the 1940’s he observed that it was doubling at the speed of every 25 years. As of today, with the research done by Fuller, it is predicted that with the assistance of the internet, the doubling of knowledge could happen every 12 hours.

 Ray Kurzweil is an American inventor, responsible for innovative technologies such as text-to-speech synthesis, voice recognition software and electronic keyboard instruments.  Kurzweil believes well into the idea that technology is forever changing. Kurzweil’s “Law of Accelerating Returns” which is based on how much change in different systems is increasing at an exponential rate. In 2001, Kurzweil wrote something along the lines of the amount of change the world will see in the 21^st century. Unlike 100 years of progress previously seen, this century will likely see 20,000 years of progress. The predictions made by Kurzweil using his law, speaks loudly to the impact technology has on the progress of the world and how fast humans as a species are evolving using such technology.

Lastly, I read about Peter Theil, a billionaire who co-founded PayPal and is a board member on the popular social media Facebook. On the opposite end of what Moore and Fuller believed, Theil’s “The End of the Future” theory revolves around how technology innovation is now slowing, and people are spending their time and money in the wrong areas and should be working on solving “more important issues”. In doing so, he believes this will continue the technological growth that has recently stopped.

   I think the main component that ties these four authors together, is their outlooks on the advancement and growth of technology and knowledge. Each theorist had a belief of what the possibility of technology could be in the future. However, apart from the others, Theil’s look on the subject wasn’t exactly in the same place, where he thinks work needs to be done to continue an increase in the power of tech.

Throughout my time reading about these theories, it really made me think just how much technology has grown from the first printing press that changed the world forever. In such little time, we have gone from phones the size of one’s head, to phones that can fit your back pocket. I think the work Gordon Moore has done for the future of computing is extremely compelling, and never hearing about him and what he accomplished, really makes me admire all of the work these intelligent people have done for the future of our society.