From: Barbara Lamar (altamiratexas@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Jul 20 2001 - 18:44:40 MDT
Samantha Atkins wrote:
<These discussions are far to simplistic. They discuss
capitalism and economics in terms of the way the world was at
the time of Atlas Shrugged.>
Good point, Samantha. In order to significantly influence the nature of the
environment we'll inhabit in ten years' time I'd think we'd want to do the
following:
First, define, to the best of our ability, the effect new technologies will
have on human behavior. The one thing we're sure of is that there will be
rapid change, so at the very least we might want to see how people behaved
during historical periods when drastic changes occurred. Although there has
never been a singularity such as we face now, there have been a number of
times when cultural evolution was discontinuous, at least locally. One of
the most valuable characteristics a person can have in such times is
flexibility, which would include a wide breadth of knowledge, and the
ability to think on one's feet and make decisions under conditions of
uncertainty. During singularities of the past, flexibility has generally
been far more valuable than a store of material possessions. In fact,
possessions can work against a person if she uses too much of her energy
protecting them or fails to make an advantageous move for fear of losing
them.
For the most part, schools are not teaching students how to be flexible.
One danger I see in this is that many of these people won't be able to cope
with the changes ahead. People who can't cope become frightened and are ripe
for falling under the spell of unpleasant sorts of leaders.
I have to leave for a while and don't have time to finish what I was
planning to write. However, I'll send this bit off and see if anyone's
interested in pursuing this line of thought.
Barbara
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