From the tunnel the terrain appeared to be of moderate gradient.
But on emerging we find a precipitous cliff right next to us




This pattern is common in engineering situations, biological population growth
and many other natural processes.

It is certainly the pattern we ought to be aware of
with regard to the growth of technology.

Unlike the mathematical abstraction,
real life exponential  growth does not go on for ever.

Systems can become saturated, run out of steam and so forth.

So somewhere up that precipitous cliff there might be a plateau.
But we have, at present, no indication of how far up that may be! 

CONTINUE