Max More says:
> One useful factoid in this department: The *weight* of the USA GDP today is
> about the same as it was in 1900, despite a massive increase in value.
>
> A concrete illustration of this trend: Remember the old soda cans? In Jaws
> (from the 1970s) there was a scene when the sailor (I forget the actor's
> name) shows off to Richard Dreyfuss his strength by crushing a beer can.
> Today, a four year old can do the same, since cans use 80% less aluminum.
>
> We don't have to say "with nano, we will recycle superefficiently and so
> can produce more with less" -- that's true but it's already happening.
...
R. Buckminster Fuller noticed this trend when he was the science or
technology editor for a U.S. business magazine (Fortune?), back in the
1920's I think. He called it "ephemeralization".
I find his coinage delightful to this day.
Regards,
James Wetterau
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