5 ms·

What If the 21st Century Begins in 2014?

15 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

The8thDwarf 13y ago
Sorry, the 21st Century began on September 11, 2001, when my wife ran into our bedroom and shouted "now you have to wake up! They flew a plane into the other tower!!"
- elwell 13y ago
  He addresses that idea in the article.
- ximeng 13y ago
  "First, let’s dismiss one parochial notion -- that the terrorist attacks of September 2001 were the major break point between centuries. Nonsense. We were engaged in the same struggle before and after. The U.S. shrugged off more damage during any month of World War II. Indeed, nothing could be more “twen-cen” or 20th century than the overwrought focus that some (not all) Americans apply to Sept. 11. Much of the world assigns no particular relevance to that date."
elwell 13y ago
That link goes to mobile version. Here is print version which is probably ideal: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-the-21st-century-begins-in-2014-.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-the-2...
rralian 13y ago
This was a very uplifting article, as lately I've been somewhat preoccupied by the demons of Orwellian surveillance and propaganda, growing class inequities, overpopulation, pollution, mass extinction, the eroding usefulness of antibiotics, and the march of technology putting greater and greater destructive power at the hands of the desperate. I suppose my money is still on terribleness, but hope is at least a useful thought experiment.
- codex 13y ago
  In other words, you're underemployed and don't have small children--prime circumstances to foster Internet anxiety addiction.
  - rralian 13y ago
    Quite the opposite actually. Just being honest about what I've been pondering lately.
- wyager 13y ago
  Directly counteracted by amazing new crypto technologies, a rising standard of living for everyone, better farming and sustenance techniques, a (successful) push for more efficient technology in general, the fact that there actually really isn't much mass extinction going around (not sure what you're referring to here), rapid development in fields like nanomachinery and nanomedicine, and the fact that technological equalization of destructive power could very easily be seen as a good thing.
  - ximeng 13y ago
    For extinction, presumably refers to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction "Peter Raven, past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), states in the foreword to their publication AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment:[17] "We have driven the rate of biological extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century."
    - wyager 13y ago
      >the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century. And yet, humans are going to be fine. If worst comes to worst, we can whip up some sweet GM algae that will take care of pretty much every conceivable need we have for other macroorganisms.
CWuestefeld 13y ago
This feels like a lot of post hoc rationalization to me.

15 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

Sorry, the 21st Century began on September 11, 2001, when my wife ran into our bedroom and shouted "now you have to wake up! They flew a plane into the other tower!!"

elwell 13y ago
He addresses that idea in the article.
ximeng 13y ago
"First, let’s dismiss one parochial notion -- that the terrorist attacks of September 2001 were the major break point between centuries. Nonsense. We were engaged in the same struggle before and after. The U.S. shrugged off more damage during any month of World War II. Indeed, nothing could be more “twen-cen” or 20th century than the overwrought focus that some (not all) Americans apply to Sept. 11. Much of the world assigns no particular relevance to that date."

elwell 13y ago

That link goes to mobile version. Here is print version which is probably ideal: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-the-21st-century-begins-in-2014-.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-the-2...

rralian 13y ago

This was a very uplifting article, as lately I've been somewhat preoccupied by the demons of Orwellian surveillance and propaganda, growing class inequities, overpopulation, pollution, mass extinction, the eroding usefulness of antibiotics, and the march of technology putting greater and greater destructive power at the hands of the desperate. I suppose my money is still on terribleness, but hope is at least a useful thought experiment.

codex 13y ago
In other words, you're underemployed and don't have small children--prime circumstances to foster Internet anxiety addiction.
- rralian 13y ago
  Quite the opposite actually. Just being honest about what I've been pondering lately.
wyager 13y ago
Directly counteracted by amazing new crypto technologies, a rising standard of living for everyone, better farming and sustenance techniques, a (successful) push for more efficient technology in general, the fact that there actually really isn't much mass extinction going around (not sure what you're referring to here), rapid development in fields like nanomachinery and nanomedicine, and the fact that technological equalization of destructive power could very easily be seen as a good thing.
- ximeng 13y ago
  For extinction, presumably refers to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction "Peter Raven, past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), states in the foreword to their publication AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment:[17] "We have driven the rate of biological extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century."
  - wyager 13y ago
    >the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century. And yet, humans are going to be fine. If worst comes to worst, we can whip up some sweet GM algae that will take care of pretty much every conceivable need we have for other macroorganisms.

CWuestefeld 13y ago

This feels like a lot of post hoc rationalization to me.