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2007-10-05 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

The world is getting better, though no one likes to hear it.

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Posted by Mike 2007-10-05 06:27|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 "People around the world are becoming healthier, wealthier, better educated, more peaceful, more connected, and they are living longer."

But, you don't understand. That doesn't sell print or airtime. We have to have a never ending stream of 'crisis' to keep the ~~news~~ entertainment industry in business. ~~Hacks~~ Producers and writers can't sell good copy ~~cause it's beyond their mediocre means to tell a story~~.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-10-05 08:43|| 2007-10-05 08:43|| Front Page Top

#2 Ironically, one of the few futurists who did get a lot of what he predicted correct was Alvin Toffler, whose Future Shock and The Third Wave have been tremendously influential, if no longer given much attention by the public.

Starting out as an associate editor of Fortune magazine, his focus was on the social changes, reorganization and evolution of social patterns based on technology.

He and his wife, who write together, have actually been given credit for some innovative philosophical underpinnings in the West, Russia *and* China.

They not only were understood by a lot of people, but they coined new words and expressions that even if you didn't get the whole idea, conveyed a lot of it, so you could get the gist of what they were saying.

After looking a long time, I managed to get a copy of the short documentary "Future Shock", narrated by Orson Welles, that was almost required viewing for high school students in the US. It is still a fun movie, even if the actors are wearing futuristic versions of 1970s clothing.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-10-05 10:16|| 2007-10-05 10:16|| Front Page Top

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