The Long Now Foundation Podcast

[Captain3D]

I am enjoying this podcast that is a lecture comparing the collapse of the USSR and current day America. Its main thrust so far is that America is doing a lot of what lead to the USSR collapse (surprise) but that Americans culturally are much less prepared to deal with hardship than the people of Russia during their collapse.

Thought some of you would enjoy its dark humor...

Dmitry Orlov - Social Collapse Best Practices

link to podcast page

cheers...phil

[petertribo]

Re: The Long Now Foundation Podcast

Phil,

I listened to Orlov, very good and quite humorous.

The Taleb talk,The Future Has Always Been Crazier Than We Thought, is also very good. At one point, he says, to paraphrase, that Negative information is more valuable than positive information. Our society certainly doesn't work that way. Folks always apologize for delivering bad news. Well, bad news may be really good for you if you properly act on it.

From the same site, I also listened to Suarez, Bot Mediated Reality, which will really get folks thinking about the long term and whether Technology will do us in. Also in listening to this, one should ask: what role has computer technology played in the current Financial Meltdown? I haven't heard any prominent Analysts address this issue. Seems to me obvious that someone should be examining the issue.

In this vein, folks might also want to read Bill Joy, cofounder and Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems, on the future perils of Technology:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

I read his essay and even looked up material in the footnotes and it makes the Financial Meltdown look like a picnic.

Peter

[goadam1]

Re: The Long Now Foundation Podcast

nothing will really change until we stop calling people consumers and start calling each other citizens. Meanwhile, I am working on my essay, "To Serve Man: you're going to taste pretty good to someone in 50 years."