| Shmoo Technology | 2004-04-28 09:27 4 comments |
 by Flemming FunchOne of the features in the Li'l Abner cartoon from the 1940s was the strange and lovable Shmoo creatures: The Shmoo first appeared in the strip in August 1948. According to Shmoo legend, the lovable creature laid eggs, gave milk and died of sheer esctasy when looked at with hunger. The Shmoo loved to be eaten and tasted like any food desired. Anything that delighted people delighted a Shmoo. Fry a Shmoo and it came out chicken. Broil it and it came out steak. Shmoo eyes made terrific suspender buttons. The hide of the Shmoo if cut thin made fine leather and if cut thick made the best lumber. Shmoo whiskers made splendid toothpicks. The Shmoo satisfied all the world's wants. You could never run out of Shmoon (plural of Shmoo) because they multiplied at such an incredible rate. The Shmoo believed that the only way to happiness was to bring happiness to others. Li'l Abner discovered Shmoos when he ventured into the forbidden Valley of the Shmoon, against the frantic protestations of Ol' Man Mose. "Shmoos," he warned, "is the greatest menace to hoomanity th' world has evah known." "Thass becuz they is so bad, huh?" asked Li'l Abner. "No, stupid," answered Mose, hurling one of life's profoundest paradoxes at Li'l Abner. "It's because they're so good!"Now, there are several advanced technologies on the horizon that might end up looking like the shmoos. Nanotech, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, robots. What happens if there's an infinite supply of everything we need, and we succeed in constructing new life-forms, of silicon or DNA, to help serve our needs? Will these new intelligent structures be as cooperative and accommodating as the shmoos? And how would we adjust to having all of our material needs being fulfilled? We'll have to develop some new ways of finding meaning in life, of course. We can no longer measure ourselves by how good we are at making a living. I think we can manage that. There are many other good things to do in life than just barely surviving or pursuing a bigger car. But some structures will have to be transformed greatly along the way. Not much need for an economic system if we can easily get everything we want. No chance that we can close down any avenue of technological research, just because the outcome would be "too good" or "too powerful" for us to handle. If it is there to discover, somebody will discover it. We'll just have to evolve our own maturity at the same time, in order to be able to deal with the changed possibilities. |