- Scott Koenraadt
- Halkirk
- Canada
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How do you think history will judge us?
Throughout history there has been good times and bad times, generations which have fundamentally changed the world, and those that haven't. So my question to you all is how do you think history will judge us?
Dan Geurin 10+
Ken brown 30+
I was just musing as i was getting the sense from everyone who posted that there is a sense or assurety that all things will be written and recorded and passed on for future generations,that the net will survive everything.I wonder if some bright spark out there will stumble across a way of recording on a developed material in book form that doesn't rely on electrical stimulus but remembers? everything that has been written on it and just by swiping ones thumb left or right on each sheaf can cycle through past and present writings,please don't say "Why when we have ipads and iphones" it's just musing at this sense of definite historical assuredness.
Scott Koenraadt
Rick Ryan 10+
Storing historical records on electronic devices...computer data...is only dangerous if the loss of data on that one computer (or the entire electronic "grid") would result in the loss of all data forever. If the data is "backed up" in some manner, then you haven't lost anything. A "spark" that destroys the "grid" won't destroy all the hard copy books in the Library of Congress and other places that maintain archives of the same data. Most of the data stored on the computer is just a regurgitation of an original hard copy that is also in existance. Conversly, many hard copy publications are the result of someone writing a book or publication about something that may have originated in the electronic "Cloud".
As any computer science professional knows, data should never be stored in a manner that could result in the permanant loss of the data from a single point of failure. There is no guarantee that any other form of data storage may not be "lost" either, such as hard copy publications. History shows that. We don't have ALL of the data from the Dead Sea Scrolls because some of it was "lost" due to the type of medium it was stored on, and no backup existed. What if an event ("spark") ocurred today that destroyed the remaing hard copy of the Scrolls? I would hope we would have a backup of what we knew was on it, like on an electronic medium.
Rick Ryan 10+
And as history has shown, and also the wide range of ideas presented in this discussion already, the "judgement" will depend on who is doing the judging of the historical records.
Mankind can't agree today on what many historical records "mean". There is a wide range of dissent even amongst scholars in different fields of "expertise". The judgement of our current history will be a combination of who records the history and then who tries to interpret the recordings.
And if history has shown us anything, any judgements will be influenced for better or worse by the different beliefs, prejudices, values, and even agendas of the people doing the recording and judging.
But I'm still optimistic about it.
Robert Winner 50+
David made a valid point that we are reading well but it is not litature that will endure the test of time. On that same line. Our great art of the era is a soup can drawing. Our movies / actors are not in the icon category. Our music is transitory at best. So in review I do not see that we have advanced the arts and maybe even entered a second dark age.
Economics is a contributor not a historical marker more of a footnote. We have global recession but still not defined as a world depression. This is contributed to bad decisions and poor leadership.
We have not produced a significant world leader in this generation. No one who changed opinion on a global basis.
Industry has shifted from the goods provided in the industrial revolution to personal wants not needs.
Agriculture has went from the local farmer to the large corporate farms.
The largest impactors would probally be the decline of the Catholic Church from the actions of priests and the rebellion of the Nuns. The introduction of AIDs and the advent of pandemics. The fall of the United States as a world leader. The failure / lack of diplomacy in the world of politics. Political intervention and control of corporate / commercial enterprises. The reduction / loss of small business / farmers. ETC ....
History will note that the US and Russia led the world into the space age. I think that the findings at CERN will lead us to another frontier and will be duely recorded.
The history of the US will be decided in the next four years. Either we will stop the fall or go over the cliff.
In summary: It will depend on who records our history and the impacts of todays actions on the course of the future.
All the best. Bob.
Lejan . 30+
David Hamilton 50+
Krisztián Pintér 200+
today, we might be, viewing from the inside, ignorant to the most fundamental changes to the course of human history. we talk about the subprime crisis or poverty or environmental harm, but these might turn out to be minor turmoils. meanwhile, global economy arrived like the thief at night, unnoticed by many. meanwhile, private space exploration began. breakthroughs are happened or imminent in biotechnology and nanotechnology. we observe a radical decline in religious thought. can we be the era of "end of religions"?
David Hamilton 50+
Debra Smith 200+
I do not think we will be all that interesting to history except in understanding the processes toward understanding and resolution. As a world we are just trying to bring the facts all out into the daylight so that habitual patterns of ignorance everywhere can be addressed and ameliorated.
Just a footnote is all I think we will be except to locate the advent of computers.
Gail . 50+
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Feyisayo Anjorin 50+
We may be remembered as the age of science, advancement in information technology, and enlightenment;
We may be remembered as the age of materialism, environmental degradation; or for the destructive capacities of our technology.
Scott Armstrong 50+
rampant consumerism and the pursuit of profit for profit's sake will be two characteristics of 'our' age.
but remember
"history is a pack of lies about things that never happened told by people who were never there" George Santayana.
Ken brown 30+
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Ken brown 30+
So long as we are still dependent on the stuff we have to get better at cleaning it up i suppose.
Scott Koenraadt
Salim Solaiman 50+
Will that US be in winning side or losing side?
Asking as history is written by winners mostly...........so it has got that bias.
Barry Palmer 50+
In the USA my parent's generation was indeed the Great Generation. Their sacrifices deserve awe. Historians will never find an explanation for how us Baby Boomers could mess up the world so badly while simultaneously developing dazzling technology. On the plus side, it was largely my generation that first developed an awareness of the destruction of our environment that we continue to this day. Perhaps our greatest contribution will be teaching our children and grandchildren to value the living world and treat it with love. Don't continue our big mistakes.
Ian Young
Gerald O'brian 50+
"Should we be lucky and leave literate generations behind us when we are done"
Shit.
Our litteracy has never been better. Sure we've been having quite an impact on wildlife, and perhaps climate, but we're learning, aren't we? And making progress. How about cutting us a little slack, for our achievements in genetics, quantum physics and for finding the damn boson?
David Hamilton 50+
Creation and destruction.
Gerald O'brian 50+
David Hamilton 50+
James Zhang 30+