Without context, useful information is immediately lost which often leads to logical fallacies. Here’s one of the most succinct examples I’m aware of, provided by the Fallacy article on Wikipedia:

Argument: Cutting people is a crime. Surgeons cut people. Therefore, surgeons are criminals.

Problem: Cutting people is only sometimes a crime.

Without context, poor conclusions result. Consider the following example which photographers will immediately relate to how one exposes a photo.

Imagine a piece of paper divided in half. One half is stark white and the other is pitch black.

Now shine a light on that piece of paper.

A dim light will ensure that black is indeed black—but now the white side appears gray.

A bright light will ensure that white is indeed white—but now the black side appears gray.

The light is context. Vary the brightness of the light and you’ll get different outcomes. Without light we are lost in the darkness, able only to interpret situations with simplified thought experiments held in isolation. Always consider the light.

In the near term, if the promise of synthetic organisms which turn carbon dioxide into octane and coal into methane comes to pass, we may have solved most of our energy problems. This one move forward will eventually come to be known as a baby step in the field of synthetic biology. But it could take a major cut out of the cost of energy at the same time as providing a way to offset the emissions produced in the burning of the fuels. Lower cost of energy results in lower cost of manufacturing which translates into lower cost of goods (or higher profit margins! *bah dum, chhh*).

And not to mention, as we move toward a society even more permeated by electronics, we’ll need fewer and fewer physical goods. While it has been a long time coming, eventually there will be a technology which properly replaces paper. A big portion of the pulp product industry could literally go down the…well you know. And these electronics are sipping fewer and fewer watts each day. That’s a huge contributor to lowering costs—simple energy conservation.

But further out—fifty, a hundred or more years down the line—what happens as technological advances in all fields bring us closer to dropping the cost of energy close to zero? Solar, tidal, wind, bio…fuel.  Energy, energy everywhere. Now combine that with manufacturing techniques which could literally pull much of the material necessary for producing goods straight out of thin air—that’s right, carbon dioxide to use in the production of carbon polymers. Graphene for our electronics, nanotubes for durable structures…

As I’ve said, these technologies won’t come to their full potential for many decades, potentially centuries, but their implications could be huge. The future could bring us a world where it costs nothing to make anything. Realistically, we’ve got the same constraints we’ve always had. We’re still limited by what energy and raw materials we can pull from our environment. But the solar system has this wonderful nuclear oven called the sun that puts out massive amounts of energy. And if we run out of materials here on Earth, there’s always the asteroid belt.

So thinking way out—way, way out—into the future, assuming the technology comes to pass, my questions are… What are the implications of being able to manufacturing anything at no cost? How does the economy change? Does our entire economy become based on intellectual property? Will the open source and collaborative communities provide a truly free world in all senses of the word?

I have my own thoughts on how to begin answering these questions, but, of course, they’re only beginnings. Only time will tell and we have a lot left to learn in the mean time. But I am interested in what you come up with in answer to these questions. Leave a comment and let me know!

Does this mean you shouldn’t donate money? That depends on the recipient. Simply be sure to do your own due diligence to determine if your donation will be used wisely or squandered away. Do not donate blindly.

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

Donate cash and a man may eat for a day. Donate your knowledge and a man can find his way so long as he is willing.