Search Results for: "case for optimism"
The case for optimism, cont’d: Even today
Trying really hard to make that case today. Josh Marshall tries too: There is a lot of fear. I know. I feel it. At such a moment I come back to a thought I’ve told family members at times of … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “The right balance of critical thinking and hope”
Maria Popova of Brain Pickings beautifully expresses what I’ve been trying to get at in all my posts on the subject: Critical thinking without hope is cynicism. Hope without critical thinking is naïveté. Finding fault and feeling hopeless about improving … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “The future is never the way you can imagine”
Jo Walton sums up a science fiction panel she participated in, and offers thoughts on “The Future”: There are ways in which this future, the one we’re living in, is a whole lot better than what we imagined. It has … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: Towards a literature of hope in the “age of man”
I like how David Biello thinks: We move more earth and stone than all the world’s rivers. We are changing the chemistry of the atmosphere all life breathes. We are on pace to eat to death half of the other … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “You can’t change the world if you don’t believe it’s changeable”
Sam Harris interviews Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler, authors of Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, as they make the case for optimism (much as Hans Rosling does). Read the interview for all the details of their … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: The need for vision, and letting visionaries soar
Echoing Philip Reeve, Neal Stephenson calls on science fiction writers to once again imagine a bold future — “an over-arching narrative” that provides “a shared vision” — that can inspire scientists to make it real: Good SF supplies a plausible, … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “A forward movement we can’t easily see”
I’ve been rereading Doris Lessing’s Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, a small collection of essays adapted from her lectures; some excerpts below. Inspiring humanism and amazing prescience. Highly recommended. Sometimes it is hard to see anything good and hopeful … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “Peace is increasing”
Is the world a more violent place than it used to be? Are war, chaos, and brutality against civilians on the rise? In his new book Winning the War on War (another one for my reading list), Joshua Goldstein begs … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: “A blaze of color, a stylized lightning bolt, a burning heart”
I’ve just finished Supergods, Grant Morrison’s meditation on the history and meaning of comic book superheroes (and his own not-insignificant role in shaping it), and it’s quite a read: at times off-puttingly self-regarding, occasionally full of shit, but very often … Continue reading
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The case for optimism, cont’d: On dystopian YA fiction and our missing utopian futures
Though his very excellent Mortal Engines series (drop everything and go read it now; you’re welcome) itself has strongly dystopian elements, Philip Reeve nevertheless criticizes the pervasiveness and unrelenting grimness of dystopian YA fiction today: Half of the science-fiction stories … Continue reading
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bluejay's way 