We have always pushed the limits of technology. Throughout history, people have been able to achieve advances that seemed impossible at the time. We now take these older technological advances for granted as we constantly move forward. Will there ever be a point where we cannot advance further?
Two scales have been created to measure the potential progress the world can make over time. The first was by Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, who developed a scale with which to measure progress, even if he didn't know how far it could go. He classified potential civilizations based on levels of energy consumption and how we are able to harness ever growing sources of energy such as the sun.
The second was by cosmologist John Barrow, whose thought process went in the opposite direction. Instead of thinking big, Barrow asked how far we can go atomically. We are already learning to harness energy such as nuclear fusion, but how much smaller can we go? Based on both theories, it seems we actually have a long way to go before we are even close to reaching a potential limit to advancement.
