Absolutely, where it takes a leap of faith, Jim. I think I may still have that book. It's certainly worth re-reading. But predicting full highway automation is not a leap of faith, it's a gullible willingness to mistake a possibility imagined for a reality actually built.
Clarke was disappointed in the lack of - practically the absence of - progress in space exploration after the initial Cold War push petered out. It's not enough to start - you have to do the very hard work of following through. Similarly, you can introduce a few low-lying features of automobile automation, like front-end collision avoidance and computerized braking systems, but from there to fully automating highway travel is a long, hard slog filled with enormous obstacles. You have to imagine and start, of course, but then you have to have the patience and commitment to stay the course, through much discouragement and hoards of competing priorities.
Certainly, there will be little victories, like the backup and lane-watch sensors that have already made my driving easier and more pleasant, but from there to fully automating all highway travel is like the distance from Cape Canaveral to interstellar travel.
And I believe those highways will be safer than the ones that we currently have. Self driving cars nowhere other self driving cars are without looking or being tired or being distracted. To say the least.
KLMI have a wonderful deal for you in an historic bridge in Brooklyn, New York, Kris. Write me privately :o)
Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future.An early chapter, entitled "The Failure of Nerve"…
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Posted by: David Smith <david.smith.14916@gmail.com>
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