
What If the 21st Century Begins in 2014? - ivankirigin
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-31/what-if-the-21st-century-begins-in-2014-.html
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The8thDwarf
Sorry, the 21st Century began on September 11, 2001, when my wife ran into our
bedroom and shouted "now you _have_ to wake up! They flew a plane into the
other tower!!"

~~~
ximeng
"First, let’s dismiss one parochial notion -- that the terrorist attacks of
September 2001 were the major break point between centuries. Nonsense. We were
engaged in the same struggle before and after. The U.S. shrugged off more
damage during any month of World War II. Indeed, nothing could be more “twen-
cen” or 20th century than the overwrought focus that some (not all) Americans
apply to Sept. 11. Much of the world assigns no particular relevance to that
date."

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rralian
This was a very uplifting article, as lately I've been somewhat preoccupied by
the demons of Orwellian surveillance and propaganda, growing class inequities,
overpopulation, pollution, mass extinction, the eroding usefulness of
antibiotics, and the march of technology putting greater and greater
destructive power at the hands of the desperate. I suppose my money is still
on terribleness, but hope is at least a useful thought experiment.

~~~
wyager
Directly counteracted by amazing new crypto technologies, a rising standard of
living for everyone, better farming and sustenance techniques, a (successful)
push for more efficient technology in general, the fact that there actually
really isn't much mass extinction going around (not sure what you're referring
to here), rapid development in fields like nanomachinery and nanomedicine, and
the fact that technological equalization of destructive power could very
easily be seen as a good thing.

~~~
ximeng
For extinction, presumably refers to:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction)

"Peter Raven, past President of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS), states in the foreword to their publication AAAS Atlas of
Population and Environment:[17] "We have driven the rate of biological
extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its
historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all
species by the end of the 21st century."

~~~
wyager
>the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century.

And yet, humans are going to be fine. If worst comes to worst, we can whip up
some sweet GM algae that will take care of pretty much every conceivable need
we have for other macroorganisms.

~~~
ximeng
There's at the very least uncertainty and debate on how "fine" humans will be
in the event of major climate change.

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elwell
That link goes to mobile version. Here is print version which is probably
ideal: [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-
the-2...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-12-31/what-if-the-21st-
century-begins-in-2014-.html)

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CWuestefeld
This feels like a lot of post hoc rationalization to me.

