Intelligizing Atoms With Knowledge

Six generations of music listening platforms illustrate the intelligizing of atoms.

In the last 50 years we’ve gone through six technologies for listening to music: vinyl records, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, MP3 files, and now streaming. We moved from the world of molecules to the world of bits, from matter to information. At each level the cost of listening to music has fallen. Now you can listen to almost any song, anywhere, at anytime, for next to free. As James Maxwell predicted with his equations, the range of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum is infinite. The human voice covers the frequencies from 300 to 3000 Hz. We digitize this analog signal and then use other ranges in the spectrum to transmit the digital version. The digital signal is then converted back to analog for our listening enjoyment. Thousands of complex patents cover this process that seems simple to our ears.

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. This device was magical. For the first time people could listen to another person’s voice or music without being present. As a continuous seeker of new knowledge, Edison would be pleased with Spotify and Apple Music and the millions of songs and billions of wireless devices that can stream these creations.

Innovation is the discovery of valuable new knowledge. Since there are no bounds on knowledge, our ability to innovate is infinite. Atoms without knowledge have no economic value. We transform atoms into resources when we add knowledge. This is why we can say that we live on an infinitely bountiful planet.

We describe the process of transforming scarcities into abundances in our new book, Superabundance, available at Amazon. You can read more at superabundance.com. There has never been a better time to create more life.

Gale Pooley is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute and a board member at Human Progress.