Comments on: The Power of Nightmares

Comment by: mel

2008-02-14T14:16:21Z

Watching it right now … but right off the top this occurs to me:

They say that the failure of political idealism has led to the rise of political fearmongering. Certainly the fearmongering has been there all along but cynicism (justified or not) has has allowed it to take center stage. Yet I see this as a temporary ebb in the flow of secular progress.

The same is true of religon. The ideologies and nightmares have been there all along as means to manipulate and contain the sheep. And, as with politics, the ideologies fail and fearmonger is left as the sole power over the mind.

It just so happens that we live in an age when both political and religious ideologies are failing (have failed? because they were equal parts fantasy?) … so that now we’re surrounded on all sides by the promotion of nightmare scenarios.

When the time comes to recover our hope, will we chose enlightenment or fantasy? Right now it’s not entirely clear to me that we will side-step the temptation to embrace fantasy again.

Comment by: Jonathan Blake

2008-02-14T14:32:43Z

On my darker days, I don’t think there is a solution to our problems. We may be unable to speed up non-trivial progress in human relations. I think we may just keep muddling along, allowing ourselves to progress in small ways by working as hard as we can Ã la the Red Queen’s race.

Comment by: Jonathan Blake

2008-02-14T14:34:31Z

In other words, enlightenment will come—if it ever comes—one person at a time, in fits and starts.

Comment by: mel

2008-02-14T14:59:05Z

Hmm, yeah. I think I agree with you an I think I’m okay with this … and thankful for areas of true and phenomiral progress such as technology.

In my more religious/ideological years the idea of perpetually treading water in human progress would have appeared a kind of hell to me. After all, progress towards Zion (society) and godhood (individual) were not only assumed but measures of God’s virtue. Now? Well, let’s just say that being tempered by the humanistic and evolutionary biological has made me significantly more patient, forgiving, and … yes, happy.

Let’s just pray for no massive periods of regression in this Red Queen’s race.

Comment by: Seth R.

2008-02-14T17:11:45Z

Jonathan, liberal intellectuals felt optimistic about the fate of humanity around 1901.

50 years later, they were thoroughly disabused of the notion.

Comment by: Jonathan Blake

2008-02-15T12:03:25Z

I think there’s still reason to hope, but many of us seem to hold a blind faith that humanity is inevitably improving over time. I think it’s a real possibility that we may stagnate or regress over the long term.