Let's have some cable, Mabel! (Blast from the past)

The story of FLAG made for an interesting read. The complexity and massivity of the engineering needed to create the global telecommunications system weren't really new to me, although I didn't know about FLAG specifically. This is an example of how hugely complex one simple aspect of the digital revolution is; and when you look at the world deeply enough, this level of complexity and massive engineering is everywhere. (The interstate highway system is a good example, but there are many others.) The industrial revolution made the world an order of magnitude more complex, the WWII era increase in industry made it another order of magnitude, and the digital era is doing the same thing again. As the world's superstructure becomes increasingly complex, it's morphing. It's already at the point where it can't be managed without the aid of computers, or at least, not managed as well as we've gotten used to; how long will it be before it's so complex that AI's, or quasi-AI's, are necessary? And in that world, what will humans do? The old story of humans losing jobs to machines has played out for the last 40 years, it certainly won't stop as computers get more and more advanced.