i wouldn't say that the america of 1781-the early 1900's or so was an especially great power by western standards.

nonetheless, i suspect our preeminence will not last until 2120 or whatever a 200-year cycle would predict.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048958)

Surpassed by China by say 2050.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048964)

but I tend to use the term (yes, faggots, it's not the technical definition, but it works and is now commonly used this way) as a more general encapsulation of technological takeover in all areas of life: synthetic biology and direct genetic manipulation pre-birth, completely autonomous transportation, personal robots, augmented reality fully integrated into contact lenses and eventually the eyes and brain itself, etc. Will lead to a wholesale, involuntary, probably painful restructuring of everything we now think of as "society" (e.g. permanent unemployment >50%)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049000)

Foxconn just announced it will be replacing a fucking shitton of employees with robots: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-07/30/c_131018764.htm

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049027)

it will show up in small ways, in many places, over time.

barring a truly exogenous jolt like a caldera eruption, i wouldn't expect a quick dissolution or collapse. i think modern technology and control systems have made it easier for the central state to avert something like a USSR-style dissolution, and one of the interesting trends of the future will be the implementation of subtler forms of control.

so for instance, old-style control would involve active policing, human informants, jails and interrogations, and paramilitary force to suppress protests.

technologized systems of control could take many forms, but something as simple as a network of biometric cameras/drones with the right algorithms could probably make passive predictions about things like the likelihood of crime or unrest in a given area based on subtle aspects of human behavior and motion and interaction, allowing even an absentee state to shuffle its resources around MUCH more quickly and effectively than an older-style regime.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048978)

self-driving cars is an easy one. Easily tracked, easily controlled by an outside third party (e.g. you're wanted for murder, car involuntarily pulls the fuck over and pwns you)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048989)

tell me more about the drones angle

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048998)

combine this with the fact that walls really don't shield a lot of retrievable "information" (heat and various electromagnetic spectrum frequencies) from passive scanners with the right gear, and you can see how drones make a lot of information visible to central authorities.

and we're only at the cusp of the age of true data analysis. we don't actually KNOW yet how much information about things like future human behavior can be determined from all the information we can currently gather with drones and other devices.

in the olden days, you didn't know if a riot or something similar would happen unless you had specific intelligence on people planning such a thing, or until it began to happen.

but for all we know, there are informational precursors that become apparent even days before a riot would normally take place.

this kind of forecasting allows for targeted disruption.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049007)

data analysis is key. You hear a lot of buzz about "big data," but we've barely scratched the surface of being able to amass enormous amounts of minute data, compile it effectively, and algorithmically interpret it in a way that's actionable. The "internet of things" will play a big role here.

Eagle Eye was a really shitty movie and Shia Lebeouf is a faggot, but the concept itself is much more real than many people want to believe

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049012)

OH WHAT A SCHOLAR

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049017)

Start the clock at the end of WWII, when we were cemented as the undisputed hegemon.

MAYBE we'll make it to 2140. Maybe. Doubt it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22048963)

lol Europe

lol Murica

West is fuarked

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#22049495)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#46940788)

LMAOlympics

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2114584&forum_id=2#47620504)