There are two possibilities: either an infinite number of novel technologies exist, or the day will come at some point when every possible technology has been discovered.
When this day comes, the job of being someone who discovers new technologies will cease to exist entirely.
So what then? Personally I think that the inevitability of this outcome means it ought to be embraced rather than feared. I look forward to the day when there will never be another Albert Einstein, because that will be the day when we have access to the full palette of possibilities to paint our stories across the world.
Not only this, but whenever this world comes about, our priorities will dramatically shift.
I remember visiting the State Capital in Austin Texas recently. I looked up at the portraits of all of the governors and was informed that enough space yet remained in the rotunda for dozens more.
But it occurred to me to wonder what would happen after that?
Unless one plans on bringing about human extinction on a relatively short timeframe, conservative estimates place the lifetime of our planet at around 3 billion years. I don’t want to imagine how large a rotunda would be needed to display portraits corresponding to three billion years’ worth of governors.
The same concern arises when considering burial plots. While I have enjoyed firsthand the benefits of creating a peaceful location to connect with one’s dearly departed, I suspect that three billion years’ worth of permanent individual burial plots might wind up covering all landmasses with cemetaries. And this would not leave any room for the people still living.
Whenever the day comes that we have finished filling out the tech-tree of inventions that can exist both in the real world and in the imagination, I believe that we will cease thinking about honoring the importance of people responsible for uncovering each node and racing to be among those people, and instead focus on making the best possible use of all of those things we have Edison and Newton and Darwin to thank for.
It will be a horrifying nightmare for all of the world’s narcissists - and I can’t wait to live in it.