From: Robin Hanson (hanson@hss.caltech.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 05 1997 - 17:14:26 MST
In Oct. '95 I posted to Extropians in praise of
Strauss & Howe's '91 book "Generations" saying:
>I found this to be the most striking book about the future I've read
>since Engines of Creation. The data presented in favor of their model
>seems substantial, though it is not quantitiative. If correct, the
>future of society is much more predictable than I ever thought possible.
(I was then told Tim Starr had posted about it 6 months earlier.)
This year Strauss & Howe came out with a sequel, "The Fourth Turning",
endorsed by both Gore & Gingrich. (See: http://www.fourthturning.com)
A good detailed review is: http://pages.prodigy.com/VBDS39A/tft.htm
But let me quickly echo my earlier comments. I consider myself to be
a grump with high standards: most outrageous ideas are junk, and I
hope that by being very selective in endorsing very few ideas, the few
endorsements I make (such as pro-cryonics) will be taken seriously.
So please listen when I say (and note how unusual this statement is):
STRAUSS & HOWE ARE RADICAL, IMPORTANT, AND PROBABLY MOSTLY RIGHT!
They give crucial insights into the next thirty years, crucial to
determining whether extropian-types will become scapegoats and
lightning rods in a new age of repression, or will become a core of
a new culture of freedom and possibilities.
Also, amazingly enough Strauss & Howe & the most of the people
attracted to them seem like relatively reasonable people; there are
few ideologues or demogogues among them.
Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/
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