Robin Hanson wrote:
> Actually, the attitude you describe is partly what I'm trying to avoid
I would amend that to say that most proponents of progress are not fondly
revised by present day historians. Since most present day historians are of
the luddite/crunchy/left persuasion, they obviously are applying their biases
> in my ideal community of discourse. "Yeah, we look wierd, but they
> persecuted Galileo didn't they? And abolisionists eventually won, right?"
> Yeah, but most "kooks" really are, movements and religions grow for
> lots of reasons besides the accuracy of their factual claims, and most of
> them are not fondly remembered by history.
I think that the time of the kook is upon us. Since it is now generally cool to be a computer geek, at least among the younger generation (the old school media are still stuck in the 50's "nerd" attitude rut), I can imagine that the next wave of acceptance in the next generation is the futurist, especially as their predictions start to come true at a faster pace.
Mike Lorrey