4 ms·

Demand Nothing Less Than a Visionary Future

27 points by benryon 6y ago

throwawaysea 6y ago
The HN title piqued my interest, but this article seems like a vague and impulsive take: > Each time we face a systems level event is a time for rethinking and envisioning something new, and a better way. Why does it have to be a fundamental re-envisioning? Why not just incremental patching or modifications? Is there even a major problem right now? All things said, we're weathering this pandemic pretty well and I don't see any strong evidence or need for major change.
- bransonf 6y ago
  If there are any systems that I think will change most, that would be online education and online work. Simultaneously, I think we're realizing the benefits and inadequacies of both, which mean that they'll improve, and become further adopted.
- crawfordcomeaux 6y ago
  I'm a recovering information addict. I've been reading about how everyone's on their screens. This is a big issue, as screens disconnect us from our bodies. I also hear about parents who are scheduling zoom chats with their friends, but not making sure their kids are able to sustain the same level of (superficial) connection with their friends. This is a situation experts are already saying will traumatize many children. We don't have (in the USA) the mental healthcare infrastructure or culture of healing needed to address addiction as it stood before the virus. This is a major problem and it's traceable to the cultural foundation of our country - The Declaration Independence: We are a world of interdependent nations, not independent ones. There. One fundamental misalignment with reality. You can find reasons for fundamental change if you want to. You don't have to, but it's damned useful to do so.
  - dr_dshiv 6y ago
    Here is the text of the declaration. It seems to be focused on separating from great Britain, not from the world. https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ Independent nations may be better able to create interdependence. It is like that with people; differentiation can create more robust and meaningful collectives.
- michaelchisari 6y ago
  >> Is there even a major problem right now? There isn't one major problem right now, there are many.
- seltzered_ 6y ago
  The best way to think about this is the classic Buckminster Fuller quote "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." Spend some time watching Tainter's speech on complexity and collapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0R09YzyuCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0R09YzyuCI . Particularly the adult conversations we need to have at the end of the talk. Also try Kate Raworth's explanation of the 'three horizons' framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5KfRQJqpPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5KfRQJqpPU
  - causality0 6y ago
    An excellent example of walking the walk not necessarily following talking the talk. It's very uplifting to talk of grand revolutions but just like Fuller's philosophical musings it's much more significant on paper than it is in the real world. Geodesics didn't amount to much besides survival shelters and exhibition halls, essentially glorified statuary. The grand result of the tensegrity revolution is one bridge in Australia and a couple of sports stadiums. Fuller's persistent belief in technological deus ex machina served and still serves largely as an argument to not face difficult global problems that will require planning and hard work to solve.
AtlasBarfed 6y ago
There is an extreme right-wing president in power, and the best America will do is elect a corporate-friendly right-center president. Thankfully the economics of solar and wind are taking care of coal and hopefully soon they will pass natural gas for at least new powerplant decisions, batteries/grid storage are rising, electric vehicles are rising. Existing battery tech in transportation should be directed towards 100 mile plug in hybrids for bang-for-the-buck reduction of ICE emissions for the available lithium/cobalt/etc supply. We need a 5,000$ tax surcharge on all non-hybrid non-commercial vehicles that are not 100 mile (EPA rated) plugin hybrids. We need to double down on both grid solar/wind and home solar incentives. We need a $10,000 tax credit for EVs that decreases $1,000 per year (so it phases out in 10 years) regardless of EV volume produced.

27 points by benryon 6y ago

The HN title piqued my interest, but this article seems like a vague and impulsive take: > Each time we face a systems level event is a time for rethinking and envisioning something new, and a better way. Why does it have to be a fundamental re-envisioning? Why not just incremental patching or modifications? Is there even a major problem right now? All things said, we're weathering this pandemic pretty well and I don't see any strong evidence or need for major change.

bransonf 6y ago
If there are any systems that I think will change most, that would be online education and online work. Simultaneously, I think we're realizing the benefits and inadequacies of both, which mean that they'll improve, and become further adopted.
crawfordcomeaux 6y ago
I'm a recovering information addict. I've been reading about how everyone's on their screens. This is a big issue, as screens disconnect us from our bodies. I also hear about parents who are scheduling zoom chats with their friends, but not making sure their kids are able to sustain the same level of (superficial) connection with their friends. This is a situation experts are already saying will traumatize many children. We don't have (in the USA) the mental healthcare infrastructure or culture of healing needed to address addiction as it stood before the virus. This is a major problem and it's traceable to the cultural foundation of our country - The Declaration Independence: We are a world of interdependent nations, not independent ones. There. One fundamental misalignment with reality. You can find reasons for fundamental change if you want to. You don't have to, but it's damned useful to do so.
- dr_dshiv 6y ago
  Here is the text of the declaration. It seems to be focused on separating from great Britain, not from the world. https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ Independent nations may be better able to create interdependence. It is like that with people; differentiation can create more robust and meaningful collectives.
michaelchisari 6y ago
>> Is there even a major problem right now? There isn't one major problem right now, there are many.
seltzered_ 6y ago
The best way to think about this is the classic Buckminster Fuller quote "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." Spend some time watching Tainter's speech on complexity and collapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0R09YzyuCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0R09YzyuCI . Particularly the adult conversations we need to have at the end of the talk. Also try Kate Raworth's explanation of the 'three horizons' framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5KfRQJqpPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5KfRQJqpPU
- causality0 6y ago
  An excellent example of walking the walk not necessarily following talking the talk. It's very uplifting to talk of grand revolutions but just like Fuller's philosophical musings it's much more significant on paper than it is in the real world. Geodesics didn't amount to much besides survival shelters and exhibition halls, essentially glorified statuary. The grand result of the tensegrity revolution is one bridge in Australia and a couple of sports stadiums. Fuller's persistent belief in technological deus ex machina served and still serves largely as an argument to not face difficult global problems that will require planning and hard work to solve.

AtlasBarfed 6y ago

There is an extreme right-wing president in power, and the best America will do is elect a corporate-friendly right-center president. Thankfully the economics of solar and wind are taking care of coal and hopefully soon they will pass natural gas for at least new powerplant decisions, batteries/grid storage are rising, electric vehicles are rising. Existing battery tech in transportation should be directed towards 100 mile plug in hybrids for bang-for-the-buck reduction of ICE emissions for the available lithium/cobalt/etc supply. We need a 5,000$ tax surcharge on all non-hybrid non-commercial vehicles that are not 100 mile (EPA rated) plugin hybrids. We need to double down on both grid solar/wind and home solar incentives. We need a $10,000 tax credit for EVs that decreases $1,000 per year (so it phases out in 10 years) regardless of EV volume produced.