How long can a nation maintain a technological edge over the rest of the world? Announcing the...

Is there a way to fake a method response using Mock or Stubs?

Like totally amazing interchangeable sister outfit accessory swapping or whatever

All ASCII characters with a given bit count

What does the black goddess statue do and what is it?

Is it OK if I do not take the receipt in Germany?

How to begin with a paragraph in latex

Deciphering death certificate writing

Why do people think Winterfell crypts is the safest place for women, children & old people?

/bin/ls sorts differently than just ls

Could typically electronic sounds be generated mechanically?

Does using the Inspiration rules for character defects encourage My Guy Syndrome?

Will I have to go through TSA security when I return to the US after preclearance?

Are there existing rules/lore for MTG planeswalkers?

Is it appropriate to mention a relatable company blog post when you're asked about the company?

What is the definining line between a helicopter and a drone a person can ride in?

Married in secret, can marital status in passport be changed at a later date?

What's the difference between using dependency injection with a container and using a service locator?

What were wait-states, and why was it only an issue for PCs?

Show two Lagrangians are equivalent

How to keep bees out of canned beverages?

Protagonist's race is hidden - should I reveal it?

Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?

Variable does not exist: sObjectType (Task.sObjectType)

Feather, the Redeemed and Dire Fleet Daredevil



How long can a nation maintain a technological edge over the rest of the world?



Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)
New blog post: When Gods FearCrash-landed aliens - political repercussions?Sapient Ant Colony Rivaling Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthal?How fast can a society be 'upgraded'?How would a vagrant civilization evolve?Hurdles an alien civilization would encounter evolving next to a giant impenetrable wallUnplanned Colony: what industrial level could be recreated in the short-term?Why Colonize a Planet Without the Continued Benefit of Modern Technology?Does this apocalypse and the following events make sense?How can I slow technological advancement?Could a (strong) confederation of countries take over the world?Crash-landed aliens - political repercussions?












3












$begingroup$


My question was raised by this post.




Aliens crash-land at the Boston Airport (ie, in the United States). [...] The potential benefits of being able to reverse-engineer their tech alone is enough to propel the US to a new level of technology.




This happened in the early 21st century. After some years, the US have extracted enough knowledge from the spaceship and its passengers to create a huge technological gap between them and the rest of the world. Assume (if that makes any sense) that this gap is similar to the difference between WW2 and 2000's techs.



I guess that all this knowledge will leak at some point (intelligence services, private companies, bribes, retro-engineering of latest American devices...). So the question is,



How long before all other (developed) countries get to the same level of technology?



If you have to address the resulting political transformations too much, then this question may be too broad...










share|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
    $endgroup$
    – Alexander
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
    $endgroup$
    – Alex
    2 hours ago
















3












$begingroup$


My question was raised by this post.




Aliens crash-land at the Boston Airport (ie, in the United States). [...] The potential benefits of being able to reverse-engineer their tech alone is enough to propel the US to a new level of technology.




This happened in the early 21st century. After some years, the US have extracted enough knowledge from the spaceship and its passengers to create a huge technological gap between them and the rest of the world. Assume (if that makes any sense) that this gap is similar to the difference between WW2 and 2000's techs.



I guess that all this knowledge will leak at some point (intelligence services, private companies, bribes, retro-engineering of latest American devices...). So the question is,



How long before all other (developed) countries get to the same level of technology?



If you have to address the resulting political transformations too much, then this question may be too broad...










share|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
    $endgroup$
    – Alexander
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
    $endgroup$
    – Alex
    2 hours ago














3












3








3





$begingroup$


My question was raised by this post.




Aliens crash-land at the Boston Airport (ie, in the United States). [...] The potential benefits of being able to reverse-engineer their tech alone is enough to propel the US to a new level of technology.




This happened in the early 21st century. After some years, the US have extracted enough knowledge from the spaceship and its passengers to create a huge technological gap between them and the rest of the world. Assume (if that makes any sense) that this gap is similar to the difference between WW2 and 2000's techs.



I guess that all this knowledge will leak at some point (intelligence services, private companies, bribes, retro-engineering of latest American devices...). So the question is,



How long before all other (developed) countries get to the same level of technology?



If you have to address the resulting political transformations too much, then this question may be too broad...










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




My question was raised by this post.




Aliens crash-land at the Boston Airport (ie, in the United States). [...] The potential benefits of being able to reverse-engineer their tech alone is enough to propel the US to a new level of technology.




This happened in the early 21st century. After some years, the US have extracted enough knowledge from the spaceship and its passengers to create a huge technological gap between them and the rest of the world. Assume (if that makes any sense) that this gap is similar to the difference between WW2 and 2000's techs.



I guess that all this knowledge will leak at some point (intelligence services, private companies, bribes, retro-engineering of latest American devices...). So the question is,



How long before all other (developed) countries get to the same level of technology?



If you have to address the resulting political transformations too much, then this question may be too broad...







technological-development geopolitics






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 1 hour ago









Cyn

12.3k12758




12.3k12758










asked 3 hours ago









ArgemioneArgemione

1367




1367








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
    $endgroup$
    – Alexander
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
    $endgroup$
    – Alex
    2 hours ago














  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
    $endgroup$
    – Alexander
    3 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
    $endgroup$
    – Alex
    2 hours ago








1




1




$begingroup$
Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
$endgroup$
– Alexander
3 hours ago




$begingroup$
Are those technologies going to be fully classified and available only to the military, or available to the general public?
$endgroup$
– Alexander
3 hours ago












$begingroup$
I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
$endgroup$
– Alex
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
I think a big issue with the question is the state of the world when this happens. From what I understand the US already has Military Tech that far surpasses what anyone else has on the planet, and we are pretty good at keeping all that under wraps. Maybe the US would end up doing what we have done in the past (give military technology to a developing country who will fight our enemies for us), and then end up with those weapons pointed towards us.
$endgroup$
– Alex
2 hours ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

Skipping a bunch of me complaining about the complexities behind this, the answer is something in the frame of "they can keep their edge almost indefinitely if it gives them enough of an economic advantage". Short version if it costs too much to retool for the new technology it won't be adopted if the US is far enough ahead that other nations can't afford it. Look at the gap that developed between the US and USSR after the space race. It wasn't until relatively recently that Russia was able to catch up in the computer sciences through access to cheap components produced by outsourced offshore vendors in sympathetic countries.



This does assume an initial manufacturing monopoly, if they outsource production they'll lose almost immediately.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
    $endgroup$
    – Nosajimiki
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
    $endgroup$
    – Ash
    2 hours ago



















3












$begingroup$

I think the best way to look at this is by seeing how long it took China to catch up to the USA's technology. 20 years ago, the average level of technology in China was 50-100 years outdated by Western Standards, now they have pretty comparable technologies in most areas of life; so, if you are beginning your narrative from any time period before 2000, that would be a reasonable time frame.



That said, we live in an age of hacking and surveillance where national secretes are much harder to keep than they once were. It only takes one researcher opening a bad email for someone else to gain access to an entire office building worth of research. I would not be surprised if half a dozen countries had at least some of what the USA discovered from the wreck, before they are even ready to go into production with it.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$





















    2












    $begingroup$

    I don't think there will be any appreciable delay at all.
    There are to many variables at play to answer precisely (and I assume the question will be marked as opinion based soon). But my overall line of reasoning goes like this - in this scenario the US doesn't have much head start over other nations, they do not have the infrastructure in place to produce alien technology devices at once. In short, the more secrecy there is around the alien technology, the slower the rate of adoption in the US itself, so the nation gets less benefit from it's new technology. The less secrecy, the faster it spreads.
    The best use of this technological superiority, IMO, would be not trying to conceal it, but to patent it - but then you will have it produced in China and used globally the next morning (although US would profit economically the most, I guess).



    UPD: the main point I see here is that initially US itself is in the petition of a developing nation - they gave reverse engineered alien blueprints and no manufacturing base to produce them. To use this technology US would need to invest into overhauling its manufacturing base first. So, using this alien technology will get expensive before it gets profitable. And in order for it to get profitable you need to actually sell it, and other countries to buy it. So in this 'peaceful' scenario the whole world gets technology, though US profits.



    If the technologies are going to be used only for military, US is going to have problems with its NATO allies unless it shares. I do not think there are many pieces of technology your would want to go to war with the whole world, for example. And barring some comic-book superweapon, most military technologies take decades to integrate and implement.



    The only way some alien technology can assure swift and decisive technological and military dominance is the case where it is its own manufacturing base - something like self-replicating nano-robots. And that is not 50 years worth of technological difference, it's magical philosophers stone for all intents and purposes.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$













    • $begingroup$
      If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
      $endgroup$
      – Alex
      1 hour ago










    • $begingroup$
      @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
      $endgroup$
      – Cumehtar
      1 hour ago












    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "579"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f144626%2fhow-long-can-a-nation-maintain-a-technological-edge-over-the-rest-of-the-world%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes








    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    3












    $begingroup$

    Skipping a bunch of me complaining about the complexities behind this, the answer is something in the frame of "they can keep their edge almost indefinitely if it gives them enough of an economic advantage". Short version if it costs too much to retool for the new technology it won't be adopted if the US is far enough ahead that other nations can't afford it. Look at the gap that developed between the US and USSR after the space race. It wasn't until relatively recently that Russia was able to catch up in the computer sciences through access to cheap components produced by outsourced offshore vendors in sympathetic countries.



    This does assume an initial manufacturing monopoly, if they outsource production they'll lose almost immediately.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$









    • 1




      $begingroup$
      Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
      $endgroup$
      – Nosajimiki
      2 hours ago










    • $begingroup$
      @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
      $endgroup$
      – Ash
      2 hours ago
















    3












    $begingroup$

    Skipping a bunch of me complaining about the complexities behind this, the answer is something in the frame of "they can keep their edge almost indefinitely if it gives them enough of an economic advantage". Short version if it costs too much to retool for the new technology it won't be adopted if the US is far enough ahead that other nations can't afford it. Look at the gap that developed between the US and USSR after the space race. It wasn't until relatively recently that Russia was able to catch up in the computer sciences through access to cheap components produced by outsourced offshore vendors in sympathetic countries.



    This does assume an initial manufacturing monopoly, if they outsource production they'll lose almost immediately.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$









    • 1




      $begingroup$
      Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
      $endgroup$
      – Nosajimiki
      2 hours ago










    • $begingroup$
      @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
      $endgroup$
      – Ash
      2 hours ago














    3












    3








    3





    $begingroup$

    Skipping a bunch of me complaining about the complexities behind this, the answer is something in the frame of "they can keep their edge almost indefinitely if it gives them enough of an economic advantage". Short version if it costs too much to retool for the new technology it won't be adopted if the US is far enough ahead that other nations can't afford it. Look at the gap that developed between the US and USSR after the space race. It wasn't until relatively recently that Russia was able to catch up in the computer sciences through access to cheap components produced by outsourced offshore vendors in sympathetic countries.



    This does assume an initial manufacturing monopoly, if they outsource production they'll lose almost immediately.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$



    Skipping a bunch of me complaining about the complexities behind this, the answer is something in the frame of "they can keep their edge almost indefinitely if it gives them enough of an economic advantage". Short version if it costs too much to retool for the new technology it won't be adopted if the US is far enough ahead that other nations can't afford it. Look at the gap that developed between the US and USSR after the space race. It wasn't until relatively recently that Russia was able to catch up in the computer sciences through access to cheap components produced by outsourced offshore vendors in sympathetic countries.



    This does assume an initial manufacturing monopoly, if they outsource production they'll lose almost immediately.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 2 hours ago

























    answered 2 hours ago









    AshAsh

    26.7k466150




    26.7k466150








    • 1




      $begingroup$
      Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
      $endgroup$
      – Nosajimiki
      2 hours ago










    • $begingroup$
      @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
      $endgroup$
      – Ash
      2 hours ago














    • 1




      $begingroup$
      Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
      $endgroup$
      – Nosajimiki
      2 hours ago










    • $begingroup$
      @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
      $endgroup$
      – Ash
      2 hours ago








    1




    1




    $begingroup$
    Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
    $endgroup$
    – Nosajimiki
    2 hours ago




    $begingroup$
    Russia was delayed as you say because their nation fell into anarchy and economic ruin, but this question is about other developed countries. In this same time frame, other economically healthy countries such as England, Japan, etc. didn't particularly fall behind.
    $endgroup$
    – Nosajimiki
    2 hours ago












    $begingroup$
    @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
    $endgroup$
    – Ash
    2 hours ago




    $begingroup$
    @Nosajimiki No because they benefited from in the case of Britain and the European nations information sharing agreements and in the case of Japan early production outsourcing.
    $endgroup$
    – Ash
    2 hours ago











    3












    $begingroup$

    I think the best way to look at this is by seeing how long it took China to catch up to the USA's technology. 20 years ago, the average level of technology in China was 50-100 years outdated by Western Standards, now they have pretty comparable technologies in most areas of life; so, if you are beginning your narrative from any time period before 2000, that would be a reasonable time frame.



    That said, we live in an age of hacking and surveillance where national secretes are much harder to keep than they once were. It only takes one researcher opening a bad email for someone else to gain access to an entire office building worth of research. I would not be surprised if half a dozen countries had at least some of what the USA discovered from the wreck, before they are even ready to go into production with it.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$


















      3












      $begingroup$

      I think the best way to look at this is by seeing how long it took China to catch up to the USA's technology. 20 years ago, the average level of technology in China was 50-100 years outdated by Western Standards, now they have pretty comparable technologies in most areas of life; so, if you are beginning your narrative from any time period before 2000, that would be a reasonable time frame.



      That said, we live in an age of hacking and surveillance where national secretes are much harder to keep than they once were. It only takes one researcher opening a bad email for someone else to gain access to an entire office building worth of research. I would not be surprised if half a dozen countries had at least some of what the USA discovered from the wreck, before they are even ready to go into production with it.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$
















        3












        3








        3





        $begingroup$

        I think the best way to look at this is by seeing how long it took China to catch up to the USA's technology. 20 years ago, the average level of technology in China was 50-100 years outdated by Western Standards, now they have pretty comparable technologies in most areas of life; so, if you are beginning your narrative from any time period before 2000, that would be a reasonable time frame.



        That said, we live in an age of hacking and surveillance where national secretes are much harder to keep than they once were. It only takes one researcher opening a bad email for someone else to gain access to an entire office building worth of research. I would not be surprised if half a dozen countries had at least some of what the USA discovered from the wreck, before they are even ready to go into production with it.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        I think the best way to look at this is by seeing how long it took China to catch up to the USA's technology. 20 years ago, the average level of technology in China was 50-100 years outdated by Western Standards, now they have pretty comparable technologies in most areas of life; so, if you are beginning your narrative from any time period before 2000, that would be a reasonable time frame.



        That said, we live in an age of hacking and surveillance where national secretes are much harder to keep than they once were. It only takes one researcher opening a bad email for someone else to gain access to an entire office building worth of research. I would not be surprised if half a dozen countries had at least some of what the USA discovered from the wreck, before they are even ready to go into production with it.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 1 hour ago

























        answered 2 hours ago









        NosajimikiNosajimiki

        2,872120




        2,872120























            2












            $begingroup$

            I don't think there will be any appreciable delay at all.
            There are to many variables at play to answer precisely (and I assume the question will be marked as opinion based soon). But my overall line of reasoning goes like this - in this scenario the US doesn't have much head start over other nations, they do not have the infrastructure in place to produce alien technology devices at once. In short, the more secrecy there is around the alien technology, the slower the rate of adoption in the US itself, so the nation gets less benefit from it's new technology. The less secrecy, the faster it spreads.
            The best use of this technological superiority, IMO, would be not trying to conceal it, but to patent it - but then you will have it produced in China and used globally the next morning (although US would profit economically the most, I guess).



            UPD: the main point I see here is that initially US itself is in the petition of a developing nation - they gave reverse engineered alien blueprints and no manufacturing base to produce them. To use this technology US would need to invest into overhauling its manufacturing base first. So, using this alien technology will get expensive before it gets profitable. And in order for it to get profitable you need to actually sell it, and other countries to buy it. So in this 'peaceful' scenario the whole world gets technology, though US profits.



            If the technologies are going to be used only for military, US is going to have problems with its NATO allies unless it shares. I do not think there are many pieces of technology your would want to go to war with the whole world, for example. And barring some comic-book superweapon, most military technologies take decades to integrate and implement.



            The only way some alien technology can assure swift and decisive technological and military dominance is the case where it is its own manufacturing base - something like self-replicating nano-robots. And that is not 50 years worth of technological difference, it's magical philosophers stone for all intents and purposes.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
              $endgroup$
              – Alex
              1 hour ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
              $endgroup$
              – Cumehtar
              1 hour ago
















            2












            $begingroup$

            I don't think there will be any appreciable delay at all.
            There are to many variables at play to answer precisely (and I assume the question will be marked as opinion based soon). But my overall line of reasoning goes like this - in this scenario the US doesn't have much head start over other nations, they do not have the infrastructure in place to produce alien technology devices at once. In short, the more secrecy there is around the alien technology, the slower the rate of adoption in the US itself, so the nation gets less benefit from it's new technology. The less secrecy, the faster it spreads.
            The best use of this technological superiority, IMO, would be not trying to conceal it, but to patent it - but then you will have it produced in China and used globally the next morning (although US would profit economically the most, I guess).



            UPD: the main point I see here is that initially US itself is in the petition of a developing nation - they gave reverse engineered alien blueprints and no manufacturing base to produce them. To use this technology US would need to invest into overhauling its manufacturing base first. So, using this alien technology will get expensive before it gets profitable. And in order for it to get profitable you need to actually sell it, and other countries to buy it. So in this 'peaceful' scenario the whole world gets technology, though US profits.



            If the technologies are going to be used only for military, US is going to have problems with its NATO allies unless it shares. I do not think there are many pieces of technology your would want to go to war with the whole world, for example. And barring some comic-book superweapon, most military technologies take decades to integrate and implement.



            The only way some alien technology can assure swift and decisive technological and military dominance is the case where it is its own manufacturing base - something like self-replicating nano-robots. And that is not 50 years worth of technological difference, it's magical philosophers stone for all intents and purposes.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
              $endgroup$
              – Alex
              1 hour ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
              $endgroup$
              – Cumehtar
              1 hour ago














            2












            2








            2





            $begingroup$

            I don't think there will be any appreciable delay at all.
            There are to many variables at play to answer precisely (and I assume the question will be marked as opinion based soon). But my overall line of reasoning goes like this - in this scenario the US doesn't have much head start over other nations, they do not have the infrastructure in place to produce alien technology devices at once. In short, the more secrecy there is around the alien technology, the slower the rate of adoption in the US itself, so the nation gets less benefit from it's new technology. The less secrecy, the faster it spreads.
            The best use of this technological superiority, IMO, would be not trying to conceal it, but to patent it - but then you will have it produced in China and used globally the next morning (although US would profit economically the most, I guess).



            UPD: the main point I see here is that initially US itself is in the petition of a developing nation - they gave reverse engineered alien blueprints and no manufacturing base to produce them. To use this technology US would need to invest into overhauling its manufacturing base first. So, using this alien technology will get expensive before it gets profitable. And in order for it to get profitable you need to actually sell it, and other countries to buy it. So in this 'peaceful' scenario the whole world gets technology, though US profits.



            If the technologies are going to be used only for military, US is going to have problems with its NATO allies unless it shares. I do not think there are many pieces of technology your would want to go to war with the whole world, for example. And barring some comic-book superweapon, most military technologies take decades to integrate and implement.



            The only way some alien technology can assure swift and decisive technological and military dominance is the case where it is its own manufacturing base - something like self-replicating nano-robots. And that is not 50 years worth of technological difference, it's magical philosophers stone for all intents and purposes.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$



            I don't think there will be any appreciable delay at all.
            There are to many variables at play to answer precisely (and I assume the question will be marked as opinion based soon). But my overall line of reasoning goes like this - in this scenario the US doesn't have much head start over other nations, they do not have the infrastructure in place to produce alien technology devices at once. In short, the more secrecy there is around the alien technology, the slower the rate of adoption in the US itself, so the nation gets less benefit from it's new technology. The less secrecy, the faster it spreads.
            The best use of this technological superiority, IMO, would be not trying to conceal it, but to patent it - but then you will have it produced in China and used globally the next morning (although US would profit economically the most, I guess).



            UPD: the main point I see here is that initially US itself is in the petition of a developing nation - they gave reverse engineered alien blueprints and no manufacturing base to produce them. To use this technology US would need to invest into overhauling its manufacturing base first. So, using this alien technology will get expensive before it gets profitable. And in order for it to get profitable you need to actually sell it, and other countries to buy it. So in this 'peaceful' scenario the whole world gets technology, though US profits.



            If the technologies are going to be used only for military, US is going to have problems with its NATO allies unless it shares. I do not think there are many pieces of technology your would want to go to war with the whole world, for example. And barring some comic-book superweapon, most military technologies take decades to integrate and implement.



            The only way some alien technology can assure swift and decisive technological and military dominance is the case where it is its own manufacturing base - something like self-replicating nano-robots. And that is not 50 years worth of technological difference, it's magical philosophers stone for all intents and purposes.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 1 hour ago

























            answered 3 hours ago









            CumehtarCumehtar

            1644




            1644












            • $begingroup$
              If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
              $endgroup$
              – Alex
              1 hour ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
              $endgroup$
              – Cumehtar
              1 hour ago


















            • $begingroup$
              If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
              $endgroup$
              – Alex
              1 hour ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
              $endgroup$
              – Cumehtar
              1 hour ago
















            $begingroup$
            If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
            $endgroup$
            – Alex
            1 hour ago




            $begingroup$
            If you compare the Alien tech to that of nuclear warheads in the cold war, there would be a substantial delay. The US and Russia at the time were the only countries with the resources to develop and experiment with those weapons and the world watched as we almost killed each other. Today more countries have nuclear weapons, but majority still have none.
            $endgroup$
            – Alex
            1 hour ago












            $begingroup$
            @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
            $endgroup$
            – Cumehtar
            1 hour ago




            $begingroup$
            @Alex just possessing an alien nuke doesn't give you 'technological edge' over all other countries. Especially if you had usual human nukes to begin with. It's a deterrent and scare weapon, not a backbone of industry.
            $endgroup$
            – Cumehtar
            1 hour ago


















            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Worldbuilding Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f144626%2fhow-long-can-a-nation-maintain-a-technological-edge-over-the-rest-of-the-world%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            迭戈·戈丁...

            A phrase ”follow into" in a context The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are...

            1960s short story making fun of James Bond-style spy fiction The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer...