Re: Nostaliga? (based on Back off! I'm gay!)

From: Geoff Smith (geoff@javien.com)
Date: Mon Oct 02 2000 - 02:28:04 MDT


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[Non-member submission]

Samantha Atkins wrote:
> "Corwyn J. Alambar" wrote:
> > The reason this is so important is because quite possibly in the western
> > world we have seen a population peak - the "baby boomer" generation
may be the
> > largest in most western nations, an this could increasingly make nostalgia
> > less and less a simple cultural oddity and more and more an actual
> > sociopolitical threat to advancement and progress.
> Except many millions of us weren't satisfied in "the good old days",
> aren't satisfied now and will continue to press for change. Many of us
> were bored stiff in the "good old days" and only now does the world
> begin to move fast enough and be pliable enough for us to start to be
> happy.

Which makes me wonder whether those who had really crappy childhoods are
more receptive to transhumanist memes. (ie. a childhood so bad there's
no way one can self-dupe into thinking it was better than present day)
In fact, from my own anecdotal experiences, I think this may be the
case.

This may not be particularly PC, but there may be a huge untapped market
for transhumanist memes in people who had crappy childhoods, not from
boredom, but from more sinister events. To someone who had a horrifying
early life, anything novel and different would help break associations
and routines developed in childhood. What is more novel and different
than a transhumanist's vision of the future? Or -- I would hope -- a
transhumanist lifestyle?

I think I'll go even farther and say this might be a useful form of
therapy for people plagued by a nightmarish past. "Extro-therapy" ...
for people with a strong sense of purpose combined with a troubled past,
I think a transhumanistic epiphany might be just what the doctor
ordered.

> Calcify my ass. We boomers are busy trying to get the younger
> generations to pick up our memes. Do you know how depressing it is to
> watch every single generation have to relearn the same lessons?
> Harumph! :-)

Well, public education isn't doing a good job of this. Popular media is
even worse. So what other methods are boomers employing to educate the
youngsters so they aren't doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past?

An AI that could induce lessons from boomers and translate them to the
reference frame of a Nintendo-Generation-Youngster would be useful for
this task. Especially if it could relate these lessons based on everyday
questions posed by the Gen-Y'ers. Not there yet, though. Eli?

In the meantime, I think boomers would do best if they could try to
relate things to modern youths instead of using analogies
incomprehensible to youngin's raised on computers and arcade games. If
they had a viral marketing team half as good as Pokemon's...

--
Geoff Smith
Javien Canada Inc.
http://www.javien.com/ 



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