My philosophical view, as projected in my book “Future of Man – Extinction or Glory?” is long term. In that timeframe, the events of today are like the brief engine roar and rush of wind from a car speeding past on an Interstate highway, leaving only a swirl of dust to mark its passing. But… Read more Trump and the future (if any)…
A recent article in The Economist chronicled the downturn in the popularity and standing of democracy over the last fifty years. In the first half of the twentieth century democracy (“government by the people”) was the gold standard, and was riding a wave of adoption worldwide. Democracy, national pride and economic success appeared to go… Read more I want what he’s having… Trump’s envy of Putin’s large(r) hands?
As the TV show Cosmos makes clear (whether it is the Carl Sagan version of the 1970s or the newly released Neil Tyson version) we have learned a great deal about our universe over the last four hundred years. But there is still a lot we don’t know… And one of the biggest mysteries is… Read more The Cosmos TV show – there is a God!
From the time humankind first realized the immensity of our universe, scientists have been wondering why we have not yet found any evidence of intelligent life somewhere out there. As our telescopes and related technology have improved, the mystery has deepened, because the odds against our being alone keep growing. The current estimate of total… Read more The Big Intelligence Test – nanobots coming soon…
Each of the species of life on our planet has been given a special advantage that has helped it survive. The chameleon has its camouflage, the turtle its shell, the bird its wings, the rose its thorns. The lion has a whole array of advantages—speed, strength, teeth and claws, that place it near the top… Read more Our intelligence will decide our future
Imagine you are seventy years old and showing (and feeling) your age. The year is 2017. You have money and/or friends in high places, so you get an appointment at the Return-to-Youth Clinic. After a brief stay in the waiting room, you are taken to the preparation room to lie on a hospital bed. An… Read more Nanobots—Good or Evil?
About a million years ago, our pre-human ancestors used their fledgling intelligence to conclude that all life, including their own, must eventually face death – and that the world would continue after their lives ended. So far as we know we are the only creatures on earth that have faced this sobering fact. I sometimes… Read more On our planet we own the future. We could even achieve time travel – or not…
We think of ourselves as civilized – but what does that mean? The Romans who entertained themselves by watching Christians being thrown to lions thought that they were civilized. So did the English colonialists who kidnapped Africans to sell as slaves. And are the practitioners of female genital mutilation (partial or total removal of the clitoris… Read more Future Man – and Civilization