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If we really are making statements predicting how future generations will remember a current figure: "History will remember Obama for being the First African A

If we really are making statements predicting how future generations will remember a current figure: "History will remember Obama for being the First African American President of the United States", will supersede any other statement in the long run (50-100+ years).

jerf 13y ago
Even that assumes the perpetuation of certain modern attitudes that I don't feel comfortable confidently asserting into the future. Perhaps race won't matter in 100 years, and people will hardly think to notice. Perhaps after the first AI President of the United States, the mere question of race won't be seen as worth mentioning, next to the more pressing question of species... the future is a foreign country, more foreign than anything currently in the world.
- shasta 13y ago
  So we're going to be enlightened enough to elect an AI president, but we're going to be stuck with our current model of government?
  - jerf 13y ago
    It has been observed that the United States will always have a "President"... even if through the vicissitudes of history the President becomes a de facto King, or becomes de facto as powerful as the UK's royalty. The future is really hard to predict, and the one thing we know is that the social attitudes of 100 years from now will not match today's. Even the most "enlightened" of people 100 years ago (... whichever ones you think they are, which may well not be what people 100 years from now think....) were not precise matches to anyone today, and no matter how much you think you've got it completely nailed now, you do not have any of the attitudes of people from 100 years from now. That's my real point here.
    - shasta 13y ago
      > It has been observed that the United States will always have a "President"... even if through the vicissitudes of history the President becomes a de facto King, or becomes de facto as powerful as the UK's royalty. So we'll always have a president as this is a grand American tradition, even if the role is eventually reduced in power to that of a royal. But we'll fill that spot with an AI. Got it. ;)
- Pxtl 13y ago
  Even if race doesn't matter in 100 years, historians will still mark its importance in the development of the United States (and every other country in the world). Even with a post-racial future, Obama's most significant feature will be that he represented a tremendous milestone in America's racial issues.
  - ronaldx 13y ago
    I find this doubtful. Up to now, Margaret Thatcher is not primarily remembered for being female, a comparable and unmatched milestone. She is remembered more for what she achieved in office (for good or for bad). The changes that allowed America to have its first black president did not happen on the day of the election in 2008, nor during Obama's time in office. To suggest that he will be remembered for this is to suggest that he has done nothing of historical note.
    - Retric 13y ago
      Ask most people what did Gerald Ford do? How about Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor? Heck ask most people was Zachary Taylor a US President and I doubt most people would get that right. Sure, they all dealt with political issues but for most people in the long term presedents are generally forgettable. Long term, George Washington = First, Abraham Lincoln = civil war/emancipation, Franklin D. Roosevelt = new deal, and without a major issue or accomplishment Obama = first black president or just nothing.
    - gambiting 13y ago
      We are used to seeing females as leaders though - as with your example, UK has a QUEEN, so having a female PM while unprecedented, is not that surprising. And we've had queens leading entire countries centuries before. However, a black person chosen as president in a country which just 40 years earlier had racial segregation? That's really surprising and a massive development.
      - ronaldx 13y ago
        Two words: Nelson Mandela.
- sanderjd 13y ago
  100 years isn't all that long. If race doesn't matter, we'll still be thinking and writing about the slow march toward that state, and I suspect the election of a black president will show up in that story.
- josh-wrale 13y ago
  > the first AI President of the United States A: John Henry Eden
jusben1369 13y ago
Really, why is this the top link on this story. What value if any does it add to this article? Especially a topic change like this that's so thoroughly covered in a multitude of places. Hint: President's can be remembered for having an impact on more than one single thing.
- not_paul_graham 13y ago
  I know that my comment not completely relevant to the article posted, and I didn't intend for it to become the top link. Unfortunately the second & third top link on this story also don't add any value to the posted article. With that said, what value does the article's author add by creating content with such link-bait-y headlines? Surely he must know that even Obamacare might be more relevant in remembering Obama vs. whatever he is doing to combat patent trolls. Infact s/he says so in the first line of the article. Given all that does the headline really add value? Will history remember Obama as the Slayer of Patent Trolls?

jerf 13y ago

Even that assumes the perpetuation of certain modern attitudes that I don't feel comfortable confidently asserting into the future. Perhaps race won't matter in 100 years, and people will hardly think to notice. Perhaps after the first AI President of the United States, the mere question of race won't be seen as worth mentioning, next to the more pressing question of species... the future is a foreign country, more foreign than anything currently in the world.

shasta 13y ago
So we're going to be enlightened enough to elect an AI president, but we're going to be stuck with our current model of government?
- jerf 13y ago
  It has been observed that the United States will always have a "President"... even if through the vicissitudes of history the President becomes a de facto King, or becomes de facto as powerful as the UK's royalty. The future is really hard to predict, and the one thing we know is that the social attitudes of 100 years from now will not match today's. Even the most "enlightened" of people 100 years ago (... whichever ones you think they are, which may well not be what people 100 years from now think....) were not precise matches to anyone today, and no matter how much you think you've got it completely nailed now, you do not have any of the attitudes of people from 100 years from now. That's my real point here.
  - shasta 13y ago
    > It has been observed that the United States will always have a "President"... even if through the vicissitudes of history the President becomes a de facto King, or becomes de facto as powerful as the UK's royalty. So we'll always have a president as this is a grand American tradition, even if the role is eventually reduced in power to that of a royal. But we'll fill that spot with an AI. Got it. ;)
Pxtl 13y ago
Even if race doesn't matter in 100 years, historians will still mark its importance in the development of the United States (and every other country in the world). Even with a post-racial future, Obama's most significant feature will be that he represented a tremendous milestone in America's racial issues.
- ronaldx 13y ago
  I find this doubtful. Up to now, Margaret Thatcher is not primarily remembered for being female, a comparable and unmatched milestone. She is remembered more for what she achieved in office (for good or for bad). The changes that allowed America to have its first black president did not happen on the day of the election in 2008, nor during Obama's time in office. To suggest that he will be remembered for this is to suggest that he has done nothing of historical note.
  - Retric 13y ago
    Ask most people what did Gerald Ford do? How about Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor? Heck ask most people was Zachary Taylor a US President and I doubt most people would get that right. Sure, they all dealt with political issues but for most people in the long term presedents are generally forgettable. Long term, George Washington = First, Abraham Lincoln = civil war/emancipation, Franklin D. Roosevelt = new deal, and without a major issue or accomplishment Obama = first black president or just nothing.
  - gambiting 13y ago
    We are used to seeing females as leaders though - as with your example, UK has a QUEEN, so having a female PM while unprecedented, is not that surprising. And we've had queens leading entire countries centuries before. However, a black person chosen as president in a country which just 40 years earlier had racial segregation? That's really surprising and a massive development.
    - ronaldx 13y ago
      Two words: Nelson Mandela.
sanderjd 13y ago
100 years isn't all that long. If race doesn't matter, we'll still be thinking and writing about the slow march toward that state, and I suspect the election of a black president will show up in that story.
josh-wrale 13y ago
> the first AI President of the United States A: John Henry Eden

jusben1369 13y ago

Really, why is this the top link on this story. What value if any does it add to this article? Especially a topic change like this that's so thoroughly covered in a multitude of places. Hint: President's can be remembered for having an impact on more than one single thing.

not_paul_graham 13y ago
I know that my comment not completely relevant to the article posted, and I didn't intend for it to become the top link. Unfortunately the second & third top link on this story also don't add any value to the posted article. With that said, what value does the article's author add by creating content with such link-bait-y headlines? Surely he must know that even Obamacare might be more relevant in remembering Obama vs. whatever he is doing to combat patent trolls. Infact s/he says so in the first line of the article. Given all that does the headline really add value? Will history remember Obama as the Slayer of Patent Trolls?