What if QuantumComputing "pollutes" something or does some other kind of not yet foreseen damage?
Well, in StarTrek they discovered that WarpDrive was destroying the universe. But that didn't stop 'em from using it...
In the early years of radiation and atomic research, frightening risks were often taken because nobody really understood the dangers they presented back then. Similar problems were encountered with chemicals. We may be doing the same thing with quantum computing.
Although it may be hard to forecast the dangers, it could take the form of consuming or contaminating alternate universes and/or timelines. For all we know, we may be decreasing the chances of fellow nerds getting dates in this or other universes. :-)
Now that would be a tragedy. On the other hand, we might increase their chances - in which case, they might worship us as benevolent gods!
Don't worry - if it backfires, we'll never know.
Reminds me of the saying, "supernovas are actually the ultimate DarwinAward for civilizations playing with technology they don't understand". But on a smaller scale, maybe hurricanes and W are punishment for problems we are about to cause.
Ideas for science fiction short stories:
- A FasterThanLightDrive? that consumes reality. It lets you travel faster than light, but every time you use it, something somewhere in the universe ceases to exist. Clearly, given the amount of stuff in the universe, this probably wouldn't keep some people up at night, and yet..... Sort of like the old short story/TwilightZone ep. called (IIRC) The Button.
- My missing socks really do disappear then, eh? But the age old question that still baffles physicists is, why do these forces mostly target just socks? Does finding one make the matching sock of the pair disappear, even if they are separated by large distances? Fortunately, experts are hard at work on these questions (http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/majors/funfacts.asp?MajorID=27)
- In the StarTrek universe, they eventually discover that using warp drive does cause permanent damage to the fabric of reality - resulting in "bad lands" of space with constantly discharging energy bolts.
- I recall reading a book (I think it was Douglas Adams, but not part of Hitchhiker�s guide) where faster than light travel drains the life force of intelligent suns in another dimension. Everyone knew this, but everyone kept doing it, as everyone else (other races) was doing it so all the suns in the other universe were going to be destroyed anyway.
- W's presidency was actually caused by an alternate reality as an attack, in a quantum cold war between them and us, played out by manipulating probabilities in each other's realities.
- +5, Funny
- The reality where WMD and AlQaeda are swarming in Iraq.
- If they weren't before de-saddamation, they are now.
Quantum Pollution