I was watching an interview with Palmer Luckey where he discussed why he became interested in virtual reality. He had spent a lot of time and money building elaborate computer setups because he played video games. Eventually he tried to imagine what the ultimate gaming setup would be. He noticed that better graphics cards and more monitors were for greater immersion. He concluded that virtual reality was what people were truly aiming for.

I have also seen this kind of thinking applied to medicine. If medical research continues to be successful, then there will be two possible end states: all diseases will be cured, or, it is impossible to cure certain diseases. If all diseases are cured, then people will live forever, and thus the medical field is a quest for eternal life.^[1] Most people do not think of medicine this way. An interesting speculation is that the goal of the quest hints at its solution: aging is associated with many diseases, so a method of slowing down or preventing aging may prevent those illnesses.

Christianity has a similar line of thinking. The New Testament authors attempt to imagine some of the final properties of humanity – armageddon or the kingdom of heaven on earth. These seem like diverging directions but they are actually on the same path. This is because powerful new technologies improve human ability and people can both build and destroy.

To illustrate this idea, consider nuclear power, which is the most prominent example of knowledge of both good and evil. It is the first weapons technology that is capable of destroying humanity, but nuclear power is high energy density, effective in all climates, and produces low amounts of pollution. These traits make nuclear power the only current viable candidate for the large-scale replacement of fossil fuels.

We may consider giving up on technological progress because it is so dangerous. The issue with stagnating or regressing is that people with superior technology will dominate with better weapons, higher output, and a better quality of life. Thus, we can't look back, we must look towards eternity.