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San Francisco, 11:01 PM
Tue Dec 15
25 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Chip Overclock Chip Overclock
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    IMO:

    "futurism" is "this might happen".

    "science fiction" is "if this happens, this will be the consequences".

    "fantasy" is "this will never happen, but what fun anyway".

    None of them are "this will happen", and any attempt to do so even in the short term pretty much sucks at it.
     Reply
    Chip Overclock was starred Chip Overclock was unstarred
    Image of Klebert L. Hall Klebert L. Hall
    12/12/09

    @Chip Overclock:
    '' 'futurism' is 'this might happen.' "

    Nah.
    Futurism is "This might happen, and you should pay me huge money to tell you that, because I'm a giant con-man. If you aren't looking for a con-man, that guy at the bus stop can make stuff up just as well as me, for free."

    Science fiction and fantasy are sold as entertainment, and thus have a vastly more ethical business model.
    -Kle.
     Reply
    Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred
    Image of Chip Overclock Chip Overclock
    12/12/09

    @Klebert L. Hall: :-) Yeah, I totally get that.
     Reply
    Chip Overclock was starred Chip Overclock was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    I thought the point of futurism was to publish a lot of books.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of betty.black betty.black
    12/11/09

    @Bill-Lee: Wait, I thought the point of futurism was to glorify war, ride fast cars, smash museums, make loud noises, and rape women.
     Reply
    Edited by betty.black at 12/11/09 1:14 PM betty.black was starred betty.black was unstarred
    Image of Klebert L. Hall Klebert L. Hall
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    It's truly spin mastery when you can say that your job is worthless navel-gazing, and still get paid.
    -Kle.
     Reply
    Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred
    Image of JimBonJovi JimBonJovi
    12/11/09

    @Klebert L. Hall: He obviously does more with his life than navel-gaze. If that's all it takes to get paid, then I would be a billionaire godking by now.

    So basically you are saying that it's a waste of time to try and imagine how things could be, where things might be heading? Why are you here?
     Reply
    Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment JimBonJovi was starred JimBonJovi was unstarred
    Image of Klebert L. Hall Klebert L. Hall
    12/12/09

    @JimBonJovi:
    Nope, I'm saying that it's a waste of time for corporations to pay people for blue-sky speculation.

    Imagining the future is great. Paying someone to come and make predictions based upon nothing but imagination and conjecture is not good corporate policy. "Inspiring imagination in others" isn't really something you can do reliably enough to put on the payroll. If some business wants it's employees to be more imaginative, they should hire some more imaginative employees.

    "Joseph Coates put it this way: "Being right or wrong isn't so much the point as being useful. "

    My point is that futurists have very rarely proven to be useful.

    Mostly they're just consultants on the same idea as the various scam-gurus that also bilk stupid CEOs.

    -Kle.
     Reply
    Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred
    Image of JimBonJovi JimBonJovi
    12/12/09

    @Klebert L. Hall: I think your whole point is nothing but opinion, and you have no way of proving how useful they are, or even explaining what you think this usefulness entails to anybody who is not you. But that's just my opinion.
     Reply
    JimBonJovi was starred JimBonJovi was unstarred
    Image of Klebert L. Hall Klebert L. Hall
    12/13/09

    @JimBonJovi:
    Sure.

    Here's a much clearer version of my opinion:

    Futurists are the television evangelists of science.
    -Kle.
     Reply
    Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred
    Image of Klebert L. Hall Klebert L. Hall
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Scariest Map Ever - At Least for Americans
    On the bright side, this would be an average year, in France.
    -Kle.
     Reply
    Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred
    Image of WestMantooth WestMantooth
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    Or to quote WaterWorld

    "WTF?"
     Reply
    WestMantooth was starred WestMantooth was unstarred
    Image of Mathmos Mathmos
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    An old quote from Alfred North Whitehead: "It is the business of the future to be dangerous."
     Reply
    Mathmos was starred Mathmos was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Point Of Futurism Isn't To Make Accurate Predictions
    Was it Ben Bova who said that futurism is science fiction with its balls cut off?
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    Maglev cars that drive themselves would be great, thanks. But no talking.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of matthewabel matthewabel
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    I wish the highways system had a car rail function so you could drive onto the rails or connect to an over head wire and the system would take over until your exit. It would be pretty sweet for travelling cross country. When you got to your exit, you'd have to take manual control, but it would be pretty cool.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment matthewabel was starred matthewabel was unstarred
    Image of beercheck beercheck
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    The fiction: SecureFoam
     Reply
    beercheck was starred beercheck was unstarred
    Image of beercheck beercheck
    12/10/09

    The Reality: Air Bags
     Reply
    beercheck was starred beercheck was unstarred
    Image of Matthew Anderson Matthew Anderson
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    I forgot how cheesy-looking the early live-action Batmobiles were.

    I think we can all agree that Batman: The Animated Series had the best Batmobile. The new tumbler/batmobile gets points for not being a block long and still looking cool.
     Reply
    Janglesatwest promoted this comment Matthew Anderson was starred Matthew Anderson was unstarred
    Image of hardcache hardcache
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    Oh, how I wish I could own a Tumbler!
     Reply
    SJ_Edwards promoted this comment hardcache was starred hardcache was unstarred
    Image of Pessimippopotamus Pessimippopotamus
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    When do we get these then?
     Reply
    Pessimippopotamus was starred Pessimippopotamus was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12/10/09

    @Pessimippopotamus: When the Singularity happens. Any day now...honest. Ray Kurzweil says so. He's a futurist. And futurists would never lie to us.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of RandomArt RandomArt
    12/10/09

    @Bill-Lee: They may not lie. But half the time they aren't right. Just look at 1984 and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's been 8 years since I found that obelisk and I'm still not a space fetus.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee promoted this comment RandomArt was starred RandomArt was unstarred
    Image of Valkyrie Ice Valkyrie Ice
    12/11/09

    @Bill-Lee: Untrue. Kurzweil's prediction is actually a conservative estimate of 2045 to 2060.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee promoted this comment Valkyrie Ice was starred Valkyrie Ice was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12/11/09

    @Valkyrie Ice: Uh, yeah...I was making a joke. My comment was a play on words since one of his books is called "The Singularity is Near". And really, when you think about it, 2045 is pretty near...well within the lifetime of most of this blog's readers.
     Reply
    Edited by Bill-Lee at 12/11/09 1:11 AM Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of GarnetLynne GarnetLynne
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    Hey I don't see the antigrav cars from Blade Runner here. I thought they did a great design on them and the ones that were retro-fitted were cool too.
     Reply
    SJ_Edwards promoted this comment GarnetLynne was starred GarnetLynne was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    12/10/09

    In reply to Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality
    I love Top Gear. Those boys are a riot.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Mary Ratliff Mary Ratliff
    12/10/09

    @LittleDragon: I have to admit it's probably my favorite show on television right now. Whenever I'm in a bad mood or not feeling well I start looking up clips on YouTube.
     Reply
    Mary Ratliff was starred Mary Ratliff was unstarred
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