And yet not even that collection of great philosophers, scholars, scientists and statesmen could have predicted the leaps in technological epochs that would render unintended consequences to liberties that made sense in the 18th century. As batting averages go, its pretty good but there does come a time when wisdom stops being wisdom and becomes historical context.

 

I would agree, to an extent. What I think we've lost that our ancestors had was the ability to reach some type of functioning and amicable (emphasis on the amicable part) compromise. We've lost the ability to argue without fighting, and I fear we are loosing the ability think critically and apply wisdom to problems for viable solutions. They were better than us in that regard.

 

Have you literally no idea how many wars have been fought throughout history?

 

Yes, I do, and I have an intimate understanding of just how many have been fought, and how they've been fought, and how many are actually still going on around the globe.

Fighting doesn't just refer to physical altercations and war, though those are certain part of politics. I was referring entirely to the ability of politicians to create solutions for the betterment of their people vice years of political infighting, gridlock, and vitriol as we are seeing play out. We are losing the ability to listen and create solutions and instead take up stances against each other. Though, Karl von Clausewitz did say that war is simply politics by other means, so if all else fails we fall into the same traps our ancestors did.

 

But you have to keep in mind that there have been governments throughout history who have collapsed because of unwise decisions. And there are plenty of stable governments today. We tend to remember the great, intelligent, and wise figures throughout history. Just because the founding fathers were wise doesn't mean that everyone in the past was wise and used critical thinking. I'm sure there were plenty of dummies with bad ideas around then too. And I'm sure there are people from this era who will be remembered as some of the greats.

 

Oh, absolutely. There are plenty of idiots in every age, and the great ones too.

 

History will help us understand the world and ourselves so when we turn our back on the ugly parts of history we might be condemning ourselves to repeat it.

 

I heard that! (It's my status message)

As someone who is and has been struggling with... those feelings, I found Shawshank Redemption (origin of the quote) to be a very uplifting movie. Watch it if you haven't.

 

If you need anything, you aren't alone. Don't hesitate to reach out.

 

There is good in the world and good people living in the world. You are worthy of love.

 

Everyone wants to see the world as bleak and horrible. All you see,on tv and online is how bad the world is.

 

Well it would be a lie right now to say the world is in a great place. It’s not Mad Max or Mega City One, but all that jetpacks, robots and everyone being happy and stuff projections we got from about the sixties to the late eighties hasn’t materialised either so I’m thinking some folks are a touch jaded.

 

The world has always been a bleak and terrible place, it's just not as easy anymore for people to pretend it isn't when it isn't on their own doorstop and that it actually now is on the doorstep of people that have had an easier ride in the past.

 

Just about anytime an upcoming entertainment product (movie, show, video game) is widely described as "ambitious" I immediately start losing interest in it. Usually that just means to me that by the time it comes out it will have ended up overreaching, overpromising, and overbudget. Very likely won't live up to the hype and probably will end up as a disappointment for me personally. Bonus points if it's spent an unusually long time in production/development.

 

My oldest loves My Little Pony. She wants to draw them, so we googled MLP and came across various websites. All good.

However, search a little deeper and it gets dark quickly. What I did not realize is that MLP has a massive following among genuine racists, and the fandom is currently in the throws of a social revolution against a very large and vocal minority who are trying to usurp it for their own nefarious ends (said literally). Seriously? MLP? WTF?? I can be out of touch, but I thought G.I. Joe or Transformers would have been their more appealing target for that.

So sad because I don't think I can let her search for that stuff on her own. I thought that was a safe place for her. Sigh.

 

Like Avatar 2, 3, 4, and I think 5?

 

I don't think that's the case at all. I think we're currently no better or worse than our forebears at critical thinking or being able to disseminate competing world views and argue in a calm, objective manner. Historically, only a select few would be able to have their views heard an had the opportunity to communicate their arguments and opinions to a wider audience; and these select few were usually distinguished only in that they had the wealth and means to obtain an education and move in social circles that were part of the ruling elite.

The average man or woman on the street was still ignorant in those times and rather worryingly, technology hasn't really changed that as much as we would like.

The difference is that back then, you would only hear ignorant and poorly researched views expressed by the occasional member of the elite who were trying to protect their own self interests or by the public when they would gather as a mob. But today, technology gives everybody a far reaching platform to express and transmit their views, no matter how rich or poor they are, or how much education they may or may not have had.

 

I liked Star Trek: Picard, quite a lot actually, and am excited for its second season.

With that being said, I sincerely hope BioWare sent them a strongly worded “What The Fuck?” letter because some of Picard’s plot points were lifted wholesale from Mass Effect.