Jed, such opinions depend on the time scale you wish to use. If you
are concerned about what will happen to your children, your optimism
should be low. if you are talking about your great-grand children, you
should be a bit more optimistic. If you are talking about what happens
1000 years from now, you can be sure society will have no relationship
to what we presently experience and the world will contain many fewer
people. Unless you plan to be reborn then, I'm not sure why you care.
Ed
On Nov 17, 2013, at 9:58 AM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
It is widely believed that population growth is out of control, the
gap between the Third World and the First World is unbridgeable, and
-- in short -- the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Yes,
things are bad in many ways, but people should realize there has
been tremendous progress in these areas over the last 50 years. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwII-dwh-bk
If we can deal with problems like this, we may also manage to push
through cold fusion, end the energy crisis, and stop global warming.
When I look at the progress in history and the opposition that
people in the past overcame, I am optimistic.
The panglossian view is unrealistic and unbecoming of an adult, but
so is one-sided pessimism that ignores history.
- Jed
