May you live in interesting times.
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@bachophile said in May you live in interesting times.:
Putting aside partisan comments about Biden or his competence, mental or otherwise, I find this an interesting idea.
Truly historic times. Many things seeming to be on the verge of big change.
I worked with a surgeon who held a similar view. His point was that every (insert your pick of time frame) years, a "great reset" occurs.
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It probably depends on perspective. Somebody living in Mao's China, or Vietnam during the war, or Iraq in the last 20 years, or France during the revolution, or Russia in 1917, etc. would probably say they'd been living in extremely interesting times. You'd be hard pushed to find any date in history where really big things weren't happening to some group or other.
We have a tendency to say 'The World' when we actually mean 'Our world'.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in May you live in interesting times.:
We have a tendency to say 'The World' when we actually mean 'Our world'.
NTTAWWT
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Not really sure about a big change anytime soon. I could see in like 500 years there be a time where there are no more countries (tribes, borders) but until then... relatively soon I think we'll see more China-related crises (economy, population, military), perhaps an eventual Russia reset towards a more western/free country once they've had their power reality-checked enough, but I sure am glad there are countries like Israel (and Jordan and Saudi Arabia) that are helping to keep the middle east and surrounding region from being a complete medieval sand pit of extremism. Until then, we'll have catastrophic earthquakes, perhaps a meteor scare or two, and continued pressures on natural resources since the world decided to go from like 1 billion to 9 billion people in 200 years or so. That's a lot of water bottles.
World keeps on spinnin'.
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I'd be happy with an affordable video card.
(I'm not trying to make light of the awful situation in Israel here - just trying to make somebody smile with my usual stupid shit)
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@Doctor-Phibes said in May you live in interesting times.:
It probably depends on perspective. Somebody living in Mao's China, or Vietnam during the war, or Iraq in the last 20 years, or France during the revolution, or Russia in 1917, etc. would probably say they'd been living in extremely interesting times. You'd be hard pushed to find any date in history where really big things weren't happening to some group or other.
We have a tendency to say 'The World' when we actually mean 'Our world'.
I don't buy that. Vietnam is more entangled and involved in the global economy than at any other time in its history thanks to the internet. As is France, Russia, China and everywhere else. But that was an innovation that began in the UK and US.
AI's going to be exactly the same.
Change has always been a constant, but those who think it's not accelerating for nearly everyone isn't paying attention. (Don't blame 'em, though.)
Please love yourself.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in May you live in interesting times.:
Change has always been a constant, but those who think it's not accelerating for nearly everyone isn't paying attention. (Don't blame 'em, though.)
That's not the same as saying that there's a big change every 6 or 7 generations. If we're talking technology, the last big changes were the technological revolution of the 70's and 80's followed by the introduction of the internet in the 90's and 2000's, both of which were huge. AI might well be even bigger, but those two had massive consequences, and they weren't 6 or 7 generations ago, or apart.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in May you live in interesting times.:
@Aqua-Letifer said in May you live in interesting times.:
Change has always been a constant, but those who think it's not accelerating for nearly everyone isn't paying attention. (Don't blame 'em, though.)
That's not the same as saying that there's a big change every 6 or 7 generations. If we're talking technology, the last big changes were the technological revolution of the 70's and 80's followed by the introduction of the internet in the 90's and 2000's, both of which were huge. AI might well be even bigger, but those two had massive consequences, and they weren't 6 or 7 generations ago, or apart.
Well, c'mon, you gotta grade Sleepy Joe on a curve.
Please love yourself.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in May you live in interesting times.:
Well, c'mon, you gotta grade Sleepy Joe on a curve.
He's actually been around for 6 or 7 generations, so maybe I should cut him some slack. There's also a fair chance he's still using dial-up.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in May you live in interesting times.:
@Aqua-Letifer said in May you live in interesting times.:
Well, c'mon, you gotta grade Sleepy Joe on a curve.
He's actually been around for 6 or 7 generations, so maybe I should cut him some slack. There's also a fair chance he's still using dial-up.
I think the investigations of the past year have proven pretty soundly that his son does the online communication for him.
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A lot of magic happened at around the time of the US Civil War and just after.
Communications, transportation and war fighting weapon manufacture took giant leaps, Abraham Lincoln.Then, 6 or 7 generations later, the 60s happened. More communications and transportation leaps forward, space ships and satellites, the Beatles, general purpose computers, Jack Kennedy.
Lincoln, Kennedy, Biden? Nope.
We still have a few generations before the next leap.
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Ignoring technology, and just looking at some big events:
WW1 was one generation away from WW2.
The American civil war was roughly 2 generations from WW1.
The Napoleonic wars were roughly 2 generations before that.
The American Insurrection was roughly 1 generation before that.
I've ignored the Cultural Revolution, Spanish Inquisition, Russian Revolution and my own particular favourite - the invention of bebop, but you could put those in as necessary.
I remain unconvinced by Smokin' Joe's timeline.
I do know one thing that hasn't changed. People telling me since I left school that I'll soon have more leisure time. I'm fully expecting that rug to be pulled from under me once again in a few years as I hit retirement age.
