I learned science as a kid with a book (La science, ses progrès,ses applications) that was written in the 19030s and updated in the 50-60s. You could feel the wind of history from the Ancient amber to the Magnetron... I'm shocked today by the historical ignorance that a kid of 15 have broke just by reading books, and hearing dad.
It is clearly a phase, a depresive phase, where people a rejecting technology, raison Malthusian myths like every gfew generation when poor get richer and start to frighten the lords, who teach their subjects the technology who bring barbarians is the cause of all evil. When rich activist teach the African what they should do about food, ignoring what is starvation (unlike the African and my dad), I'm afraid. This is where the elder should restore the values... the Promethean values (I've read recently this Greek myth to my daughter, very disruptive in today's mindset... not sure it would be allowed to read in in school today). Today some activists propose to end democracy becase it cannot do what they want, and the worst of all, is they have a tribune in a promeminent newspaper in sweden give a tribune to that https://www.svd.se/demokratin-maste-pausas-for-att-losa-klimatkrisen I'm sad LENR does not grow, but even without LENR we could make the world happy and wealthy, reasonably clean and free... but what i see, especially those pretending to save the world, make me deeply afraid. Hopefull, in india, Africa, i see hope.. maybe my depression is only a Western depression... anyway, i see that Western (and Arab) depression have impact in Indonesia, at the crossing of two anti-promethean memeplex. 2017-11-15 0:05 GMT+01:00 Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com>: > I have this book on my shelf: > > Editor T. White, "Our Wonderful Progress, The World's Triumphant Knowledge > and Works," (1902). 768 pages. > > It turns out the complete text is now available at Google books: > > https://books.google.com/books?id=ixgBoRvrwmoC&printsec= > frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false > > Have a look. You will see how the public viewed technology and progress in > 1902. I think this was a popular book, because printed copies are widely > available today from used bookstores for around $50. You will see the > extent to which ordinary people understood technology and basic science. > > This was an optimistic era, as described by Walter Lord: > > The spirit of an era can’t be blocked out and measured, but it is there > nonetheless. And in these brief, buoyant years it was a spark that somehow > gave extra promise to life. By the light of this spark, men and women saw > themselves as heroes shaping the world, rather than victims struggling > through it. > > (Quoted by me: http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/RothwellJcomparison.pdf) > > This world fell apart in 1914. As British Foreign Sec. Edward Grey said > then: "The lamps are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit > again in our life-time." He was right. We have never recovered, and perhaps > we never will. I doubt that mankind will ever be so blithely optimistic > again, or so willing to trust in science, technology and progress. Perhaps > that is a good thing. > > - Jed > >
