This Is The Kind Of Technological Change That Is Frightening, And Exciting, At The Same Time

On the one hand, being able to print things in ever more completeness, ever more quickly and efficiently (assuming you had the proper flow of source materials and energy), might give a world without Capitalism the ability to start achieving entirely within the bounds of finding the will, coordinating with others, and using the basic resources you already have over and over again; even as, in that coordination with others, you step up to the larger frame of reference that is our solar system, and the galaxy it travels in.

The ultimate "more" that we will need as a species (especially one that needs to build, and explore, and to continually know more) is of course, out there in that larger frame of reference. And this sort of technology could really help that.

On the other hand, what this could do for warfare really scares the piss out of me. You only need read the books of Daniel Suarez (most especially "Kill Decision") to see some really scary speculation on where easy to make kill bots, using new ant behavioral algorithms as controlling software, could put warfighting into another kind of reality, all its own. One where a lot of what is conventional doctrine, as well as big, expensive hardware, now would become absurd overnight.

And of course it doesn't help at all that, because a lot of money stands to be made, this technology will be pushed out just as fast as it can be. To be used in as many applications as it can be. Because that's all part of making money. Unfortunately, it is when the bill for the cleanup comes due that we realize that, perhaps, some sober reflection should have been instigated first? Unless there's either no one left who can afford to pay for the cleanup, or there's simply no one left at all.

THE US NAVY 3D PRINTED A CONCEPT SUBMERSIBLE IN FOUR WEEKS || WARTHOG 2017