17 thoughts on “The Future Of Violence”

  1. Technology can be used for both good and evil.
    I await news of the first robot robbery… Things like jewelry stores coin shops etc… are set up to keep a human sized thief out…. A robot that could crawl between bars could easily steal gold, diamonds, or high end watches…

  2. Deadly weapons in individual hands are as old as history. Deadly weapons that can be wielded untraceably from a safe distance would be a game changer.

  3. I expect a lot more “people control.”

    Let’s posit there are four kinds of violence we need to be worried about: Terrorism, Crazy-Person Mass Shootings, Inter-Criminal Conflict, and Vanilla Domestic Crime & Violence.

    None of these categories respond well to gun control. When even better weapons are even more easily available, attempts as weapon control will work even less well. Home-printed drones will be available to those who want them. The fact that such drones are undetectable will make Inter-Criminal Crime and Vanilla Violence more likely, but have no effect probably on Crazies or Terrorists.

    But no man is an island, and the thing with terrorists, professional criminal gangs, and crazy nutjobs is that they all leave a trail of information that gives away their status. They can’t develop the weapons or even thought patterns necessary to commit these crimes entirely alone. Social networks, emails, telephone calls, comments made to relatives or spouted off at work. It can all be seen beforehand, even if (currently) no one has the big picture or the ability to act on it.

    The future of crime prevention is the Department of Pre-Crime, like in Minority Report. They will have the big picture, and the ability to act on it. People who frequent particular forums (in cyberspace or meatspace) will be selected for higher scrutiny, and anyone who shows violent tendencies will get even more scrutiny. Depending on the nature of the threats you can conceivably make on short notice, you might even be pre-emptively put on probation. Big Brother will be watching.

    Think this is unrealistic? I don’t. The American politic can’t even summon up the collective will to abolish the TSA, even though it accomplishes nothing. Imagine a security agency that actually accomplishes stuff. They’ll be politically untouchable. It will be the NSA+FBI+CIA in one big data haven, watching the whole world for threats. And people will sleep better at night knowing they’re there, standing their post.

    The real test of our time will be making sure the information gathered isn’t used for any purpose other than the prevention of physical harm to others. No politician or non-law-enforcement agency should ever have access to those records. But the temptation will be great.

  4. While everyone and his brother is getting into the drone making business, I’m developing the first commercial surface-to-air anti-drone missile.

    Whose going to get more business?

  6. I’ve been working on a short story about the use of mini drones to preserve life. It is only possible if the government doesn’t prevent their use. Even though many lives could be saved, I think there will be too many government imposed barriers until we are at the point where anyone can manufacture one in their garage.

  8. MEMS devices or “nanobots” are clearly the direction that military technology is going. Currently, MEMS devices are made by the same kind of vacuum process technology as semiconductors, which makes for multi-million dollar capital investment for manufacturing capability. Of course, we want the capability to make them cheap and on the fly, which requires micro-scale (or even molecular scale) 3D printer technology. This is already being developed by process industry. Thus, in 2030, I not only have my nano-spiders. I’ve got the fab in my house where I can make them by the millions.

    At least it makes for a cheap and effective defense capability for the ocean city-state I want to fabricate sometime in the 30’s. The city-state itself can be made by a combination of robotics and 3D print fabrication as well, which keeps the capital costs down. Unlike Peter Thiel, I don’t have a lot of money to finance my dreams. So, I’ve got to do it on the cheap.

    I like the idea of becoming a hyper-empowered individual. The notion of me myself and I taking on an entire nation-state has a certain appeal to me.

  9. If you want to know what my real dream is (the same one I’ve had since 1986), its to create the kind of society depicted in Hogan’s “Voyage from Yesteryear”. Hence my interest in seasteading (followed by space colonization, of course). And, yes, in the last couple of years I’ve become increasingly convinced that it will be possible in the next 2-3 decades.

    BTW, LENR is looking increasing real, as well as the Woodward-Mach stuff.

    Some say the technology revolution is largely over and the “low hanging fruit” has already been picked (Tyler Cowen’s “Great Stagnation”). I say the technology revolution has barely begun.

    Need I say that radical life extension is coming down the pike as well? Of course, this is what makes it all worth while.

  10. I have a home. Consider it a personal environment. I should be able to monitor my personal environment in order to detect intruders. I can see surrounding one’s personal environment with what amounts to a Faraday cage such that devices that provide detectable electronic signatures that have not been previously approved to operate in my environment are prevented from operating. Either by passively blocking them from communicating or by actively frying their little electronic @$$e$, aka, my property, my rules. (Double for detected devices that I have no knowledge of, automatic scragging is in order)

    On the seasteading thing, I emailed his eminence, Norm Nixon, of FreedomShip (in)fam(y)e back in the day asking how I apply to be a burger flipper on his ship and where might I expect my family and I to be housed. Strangely enough, I have received no response, to date, although Discovery Channel still occasionally runs that particular show. And the last time I looked his website was still jerking itself off over deckplans.

    I’mna willing to be the very first minimum wage burger monkey on Ceres Station. Just tell me where to apply. Folks gonna need their Wattaburgers wherever they are.

    1. What a relief. Itsy could’ve been a Saberhagen Berzerker.

      Is your home still your castle? Self protection is more and more being identified as homeland terrorism. The government already is working out how to protect itself from a group of tea party grannies.

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