What Are You Optimistic About? 146
vix86 writes "Last year's "World Question" from The Edge was "What is your Dangerous Idea?" So to kick off the off the new year: As an activity, as a state of mind, science is fundamentally optimistic. Science figures out how things work and thus can make them work better. Much of the news is either good news or news that can be made good, thanks to ever deepening knowledge and ever more efficient and powerful tools and techniques. Science, on its frontiers, poses more and ever better questions, ever better put.
What are you optimistic about? Why? Surprise us!
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That Vista will be a huge success (Score:1, Interesting)
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But, personally, I'd have to say that I'm at least hoping Vista will go somewhere. In fact, I'm quite optimistic about many aspects of Microsoft; I have faith that at least some of the company has learned its lesson from past mistakes.
Last Year's (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Last Year's (Score:5, Interesting)
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Unsurprisingly (Score:4, Funny)
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Energy (Score:5, Interesting)
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Anthropogenic Global Warming (Score:3, Informative)
I'm optimistic that in 2007, the majority of AGW skeptics will finally be convinced that the problem is real. (Or at least convinced to a reasonable level of certainty.) In 2006, we saw Bill O'Reilly accept it as reality, as well as the Bush Administration (although they had tacitly accepted it as reality as early as 2001, their support of the science behind AGW was strengthened in '06). Even ExxonMobil has begun changing their tune.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards fixing the problem
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at the price point where renewable energy is competative. So, I'm optimistic that
we'll see rapid growth in this sector. There is a technological limit in that sporadic
renewable sources of energy can't provide more than about 20% of electicity use
without some kind of effectively huge capacitor. I'm hopeful that a cheap and efficient
battery technology that can hold tens of days of the nations electrical needs can
be found or demon
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Until it solves the inner problems, solving the outer problems will continue to be like a clothes change: looks good, still needs a bath.
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More still: it's not a fix that we need at all; but simply to appreciate better what already exists. In that sense, Pescovitz' comments on "wunderkammmer" are brilliant.
The defeat of the Neo-Cons (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The defeat of the Neo-Cons (Score:5, Insightful)
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USA politics (Score:2)
I am optimistic that we will end 2007 with method(s) of electronic voting that pass critical scrutiny. I am optimistic that many of the USA elections of 2008 will be perceived as being at least as honest as the elections of the 1960s.
I am less optimistic that Diebold executives will get through 2007 without facing Federal criminal investigations.
I am very optimistic that Condoleeza Rice will continue to displace 129,000 tons of salty brine as she moves Middle East oil to the refineries of the USA (under
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Does she have 6000 hulls?
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Does she have 6000 hulls?
No, as anyone can plainly see, she is double-hulled. She is also very wide, very stubborn and slow in responding to the helm, but very powerful.
Uh, we are talking about the boat, right?
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We may even exceed the honesty of the 1960 elections if we can figure out a way around the absentee vote verification problem.
Re:The defeat of the Neo-Cons (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sorry, but how is it possible that someone smart enough to post on
And the loser is always the same (us peons, aka citizens, aka disposable interchangeable taxpayers).
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No, they're not. That's just something people say when they don't really know what's going on but don't want to sound ignorant. Go watch C-SPAN, hell watch CNN--do you think we would be in Iraq if the Democrats had won the presidency in 2000? There are hundreds of thousands of deaths that probably wouldn't have happened, including thousands of US citizens--go t
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But you must agree that Clinton presided over 1.2Million Iraqi deaths. He could have stopped it at any point, but didnt.
The bloke running Iraq could have stopped it as well, resulting in something significantly closer to a win-win scenario. Why aren't you putting the blame where it belongs ? Why are you assuming if the sactions hadn't have existed, those same Iraqis would have survived ?
The difference between killing 1.2Million Iraqi's via sanctions or killing iraqi via an invasion and inevitable civi
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No, they're not. That's just something people say when they don't really know what's going on but don't want to sound ignorant. Go watch C-SPAN, hell watch CNN--do you think we would be in Iraq if the Democrats had won the presidency in 2000? There are hundreds of thousands of deaths that probably wouldn't have happened, including thousands of US citizens--go tell their families that the parties are the same.
But would the body count be lower in the end? The Republicans strike me as more responsive to t
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The Republicans strike me as more responsive to terrorism and such things than the Democrats.
It could seem that way, but zoom in closer on Afghanistan:
1. The US Army had their chance to get Osama at Tora Bora yet fumbled the ball, at the administration's behest to use afghan troops in the caves.
2. Precious resources were diverted to invade Iraq, and as a result
3. The Taliban is back again in f
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While Iraq is a mess, you exaggerate the problems in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The Taliban isn't at "full strength" and Al Qaeda is just as badly off. And while I disapprove of the post-war lack of planning and the general insincerity of the Bush administration when it comes to the things that they supposedly are concerned about (like terrorism, national security, etc), the invasion of Iraq still seems necessary to me. I think it's a big mistake to discount Iraq's nuclear ambitions and nuclear proliferatio
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if i win the lottery (Score:1)
until that happens i will keep working my loser deadend job to keep from being homeless & starving
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Is science that optimistic? (Score:5, Insightful)
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That we need to correct problems our ancestors didn't foresee becau
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Right. The eradication of smallpox, polio and other little beasties; the improvements in energy; diagnosis of genetically caused problems and mapping the human genome; astrophysical, geological, chemical, and other hard scientific advancements... Well, you get the picture. Only someone with long-term memory problems (or, maybe, a political agenda) would make a statement such as "The major drive of science in the last century was war".
Well ignoring the fact that the scientific methods behind vaccination that allowed diseases, smallpox in particular, to be eradicated were developed in the 18th century, not the 20th. And also overlooking that polio in fact has not been eradicated yet, allow me to make myself clear since clearly at least one person couldn't understand my point: I can't speak for others but the things that make me optimistic are the things that will have an effect on my life and the lives of my children. While medicine may
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What I'm always optimistic about! (Score:3, Funny)
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I wish you luck and suggest you start by not hanging around here.
I'm Optimistic the Edge will spell check in '07! (Score:3, Insightful)
I am pleased to present the 2007 Edge Question:
What Are Yot Optimistic About? Why?
All kidding aside, it is interesting to see that the "world's greatest minds" are optimistic, when reportedly so many other people are already down on 2007. [yahoo.com]
Re:I'm Optimistic the Edge will spell check in '07 (Score:1)
Re:I'm Optimistic the Edge will spell check in '07 (Score:2, Interesting)
Stem cells to cure baldness. (Score:1)
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well.... (Score:3, Funny)
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Space (Score:3, Interesting)
Bigelow (Score:3, Interesting)
Metting Scarlet Johanson on Slashdot... (Score:1)
On violent criminals (Score:2)
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Oh, wait. Damn you science, you provide answers to our questions, but we have to actually implement the solutions? And we have to restrain our primitive urges for revenge and hate to do so? Rationality hurts.
Uh, yeah... (Score:3, Funny)
Somehow, I'm thinking the person who wrote this doesn't actually work as a scientist...
And for those of you who do -- get back in the lab! Wasn't taking a day off for Christmas enough for you? You can watch football while your gel runs.
I'm optimistic about... (Score:1)
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Good point. I realized I forgot the ladies after I posted. So let's not forget the robot husbands.
Glowing penguins. (Score:1)
long term... (Score:1)
Two things (Score:2)
2) Slashdot editors
(sorry, had to)
bullshit (Score:3, Interesting)
Vacuum cleaning robots (Score:2)
Hoover or some other real vacuum cleaner company will come out with one which actually cleans well, and a damp mop clean technique version will emerge. Roomba will add native spacial intelligence on the bots it makes, meaning actual mapping of spaces.
Ok, mid 2008.
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I was pretty skeptical when I got one but Roomba does an amazing job of covering space without resorting to mapping. Also, it only costs about as much as a normal upright (though you might want to get a few if you've got very much square footage).
My only real complaint is having to manually empty it and clean the filter every time it runs (if iRobot could just automate that, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone).
Sure, it's not great for heavy duty clea
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You might want several if you have more footage. (Mapping solves this. The device needs to navigate better, and not repeat the same areas over and over. With that, you'd only need one.)
Sure, it's not great for heavy duty cleaning (Right... Why accept a need for a manua
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Well crap, because I followed your link and Yeah, that's the puppy. That does most of what's needed. I think the choice of battery instead of capaciters is a problem (since it can go ba
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Your money back advice is excellent.
My wife is Korean and she insists on vacuuming every other day or so in a house where we have no dog or cat and leave our shoes at the door. On one hand, it's nice to know you can ALWAYS eat off th
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Actually, nothing (Score:2)
I certainly won't go as far as saying that technology itself is evil. Far from it. But today, it seems new technology serves only one purpose, to keep those in power where they are. New entertainment media more often than not offer more DRM than actual value. The same holds true for n
Free Software Crossing Boundaries (Score:1)
I am optimistic about free(libre) software crossing every state line and bringing people from the whole world together. There are many large factors merging cultures, but trade, as they argue, may unite us more than anything. Whether or not this is true, the exchange of ideas and knowledge is definitely good for all cultures and uniting us into one. And Libre [wikipedia.org] Software does exactly this.
The human race starts to decline (Score:3, Insightful)
Our species is turning into a major problem for itself. It is subject to all kinds of ecological problems caused by population pressure exacerbated by the growing food and energy footprints of part of the world. What we actually need is to start to decline in numbers as a species, and fast.
We, as a species, will lose nothing by it. As Stephen Gould has pointed out, human beings of 30 000 years ago (when the population was tiny) were just as intelligent as those of today, they just lacked the means of recording and developing information that allow cultural development. If our population could somehow be knocked back to, say, a hundred million tomorrow, the survivors would be all the better for it.
Global warming would not be an issue; the population could relocate to environmentally benign areas without displacing others. No Middle East problem; there would be enough land for all in Palestine (you can view the entire Middle East conflict as ultimately being a war for land and hydrology.)
Of course, if I was one of the human beings who died for this to happen, I would not be very happy about it, at least at the time.
So this is my strange, twisted ground for optimism; we look ever closer to a plague or other factors which will reduce our population, and paradoxically this will best ensure the long term survival of human beings as a species - assuming this to be a good thing.
Note for Creationists - I know you don't believe that there were human beings 30 000 years ago, and personally I don't give a shit what you think.
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We've already killed off most of the large animals, deforested most of the planet, and yet somehow, we're thriving. If the world is warming, we'll find solutions. Cheap electronic Hebrew-Arabic translators and desalination might stop the Palestini
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And what keeps the population down? Periodic pointless diebacks each time the population gets too big. Under such circumstances, the fast breeders will triumph since their progeny will be more numerous and hence, more will survive.
We need a plan B here.
My take is that global population will decline for a period of time, perhaps 50-100 years starting sometime after 2050. A decent window of opportunity for a sane population management policy.Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Higher population drives technology. Technology empowers humanity as a whole. That's a good thing.
Also, your idea is not going to happen. Evolution states that every gene does whatever it can to make more copies of itself. Your idea goes against the fundamental principles of LIFE. You lose. Game over.
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That planet was Solaria and the novel was "The Naked Sun", the second Elijah Bailey / R Daneel Olivaw detective story. The premise in quite intriguing. A man is found murdered in his plantation.
It couldn't have been a human, since there is no contact between people, as the population is reproduced in vitro and every person is raised
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If you look at the developed nations you will se that the population is barely increasing or even stagnating. Population growth is not a problem as long as we can bring the technological blessings to the third world.
Environment Recovering (Score:1)
A Choice (Score:3, Insightful)
1) DRM to be ruled illegal
2) The RIAA and MPAA to explode
I'll take either, both would be icing
OK... (Score:1)
The Computer Industry (Score:2)
A couple years ago I was getting pretty fed up by the entropy of the computer industry. Then I discovered GNU/Linux and the other people who just want to get things done and right.
Truly a breath of fresh air, instead of so much corprate marketing BS. The PR/marketing bull is still there, but now there is a bar of quality and responsibility to measure against - instead who can can blow the most hot air or try to "lock-in" the most marketshare.
Regardless of whether GNU/Linux, FOSS reaches the common person
Resistance is non-existent (Score:1)
It's the easiest way to a more efficient use of energy. So many things in our lives depend on electricity (understatement indended) that it only makes sense to bring this tech to it's fruition.
I really hope to see superconductivity come into our daily lives soon.
American voters will become as mad as hell (Score:1)
The poor and declining middle class will redistribute the excessive wealth of the wealthy.
Our country will stop the import of foreign oil by switching to alcohol for all internal combustion engines.
Our foreign police will become "Leave us alone and we will leave you alone." All US troops will come home, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, a
The Earth (Score:2)
Don't anthropomorphize Science. (Score:2)
Science doesn't know anything. It doesn't feel anything. It doesn't predict anything. It is only a method. I dislike it when people attribute human emotions to it.
TLF
Vista and Office 2007, baby! (Score:2)
The Ojay's said it best: "Money, money, money, money,..............MONAY!"
optimistic about oil prices (Score:1)
More Breasteses.... (Score:1)
What I am optomistic about ? (Score:1)
Optimistic? No. (Score:1)
Zero human population growth is going to happen.
What I'm not optimistic about are the prospects of its happening soon enough or in ways that are not extremely painful for all of us.
My pessimism on this score arises from consideration of the following issues:
1) World overpopulation and its current growth rate
2) Climate change
3) Imminence of peak oil and peak natural gas (or to state it another way, the end of cheap energy supplies)
4) Global economic structural imbala
Optimistic (Score:1)
What am I optimistic about? (Score:1)
I am optimistic about... (Score:3, Interesting)
1. The ever increasing number of people who are converting to the latest generation solar energy to heat their homes. The trendsetter in the United States is California, where these homes are not only self sufficient, but feed their excess production of electricity to the grid, thereby receiving a check from the energy companies. As more people convert, three things will go down: equipment costs, energy costs and environmental impact.
2. People like Richard Dawkins fighting to stem the tide of fundamentalism, finding that everywhere they go, there are many who were previously cowed into silence and are now ready to stand and speak up, even in the so-called bible belt.
3. The clear and shining example, or should I say beacon, set by a country like Ireland, who turned their country around in ten years and made it the most prosperous nation in Europe, a process that included implementing free education at all levels to its' citizens.
4. The swift kick in the pants to the complacent and increasingly irrelevant United States mass media, supplied by the new independent journalism of the blogosphere. The media should be about keeping transparency going, and now they are under a scrutiny they have only been used to applying and not receiving.
And finally:
5. The ever increasing cross-disciplinary dialogue in science, as exemplified by the fruits of NASA's Origins program, which is helping to create a coherent map of knowledge while not getting in the way of specialization in research.
January 20, 2009 (Score:2)