Comments on: Cassandra’s Reflection

By: bright strangely

bright strangely — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:29:21 +0000

larry is right. actually, larry was right, and that’s why people have tended toward cynicism as they age. the world used to be very hard on the optimists.

we have science to thank for changing that. it’s the most successful meme since religion, because it encourages you to look at the world instead of hiding from it and hoping it doesn’t hurt you too badly. all we need is a few more generations where improvement is the norm, and the paradigm will shift.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:22:50 +0000

I think the pessimism is due to the human psychological constant that fear of loss is move potent than hope of gain.

Changing that is not about reconstructing media or better exploiting the blogosphere.

By: Matt Duing

Matt Duing — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:08:51 +0000

I also wanted to say that I’m not sure that the pessimism memeplex is based on the assumed inevitability of catastrophic failures in many cases. When this is so, it’s possible to frame the discussion in a way that the doom arguments can be directly refuted for those who are really listening. I think the negative reaction to good news is often based in pessimism about the status quo, the belief that problems that have existed since someone has been born will never be solved. I think that such people would be less likely to believe genuine doomsday scenarios, and be less responsive to the kinds of arguments presented at sources like the Speculist, because different assumptions are at work.

By: Matt Duing

Matt Duing — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:49:37 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with Stephen’s point that fatalism is easy, and passive pollyannaism is the flip side of the same mistake. I question how important it is to convince people that in general the world is getting better is relative to other concerns, however. The unwillingness of many people to believe it doesn’t seem to be stopping these improvements from happening.

By: Phil Bowermaster

Phil Bowermaster — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:51:40 +0000

Studying those two, I see them consistently marginalized by the predominant memeplex. That’s really the point of this piece.

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:26:17 +0000

The Singularity and SENS are just what you’re looking for. If you want to learn how to do it, study those two.

By: Stephen Gordon

Stephen Gordon — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:31:46 +0000

Fatalism is easy. It doesn’t demand anything – effort, accountability, or hope.

As long as they buy into it, nothing that can cheer these people up. Good news is unwelcome.

By: ShrinkWrapped

ShrinkWrapped — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:09:20 +0000

You can only understand the different approaches to Ehrlich vs Simon by understanding the psychology of the elite/MSM commentariat. There is a tremendous core of mild to moderate pathological narcissism in our elites. The narcissist does not (can not) distinguish his own desires, impulses, and gratifications from the desires, impulses and gratifications of others. For the narcissist, especially the atheist narcissist, the world is always going to end in disaster because they are going to die and leave it. For a narcissist, after the first death, their own, there is no other (with apologies to Dylan Thomas.) Once a younger generation of narcissistic elites begins to incorporate the longevity meme into their world view, perpetual progress will become a psychologically necessary point of view.