Extropy +19: Canadian Polymer Bank Notes

Nov 23rd, 2011 by adminadam in home, videos

Even in this Apple-esque, highly-dramatic presentation of Canada’s new anti-counterfeiting technology can we see the unfolding of the evolution of technology, what I like to call extropy: It is seen in the accumulation of techniques and tools used to create novel products and services, to build something new and improved.

Even in these plastic bills can we see the increasing complexity of technological life, greater levels of complexity and information density. How many different safeguards do these new bills include? How many times is the number 100 written, in how many different fonts and directions?

I am not one to say what the future holds, but could future versions be made of carbon nanotubes, indestructible, spliced with some wild combination of maple-leaf DNA to lend it a deeper, more natural red color, or maybe a unique new leafy texture? Who knows? The specifics are yet to be determined, but the point is that the driving force for change and innovation is there, now built into our society. As an example, compare this new bill with Canada’s first few iterations to taste the unrelenting push of progress, the inertia of extropy (after the jump)…