Edge Science Fiction

State of the World 2012

• #236: Karim Brohi (julieswn) Mon 23 Jan 12 18:53
  Underlying many of the issues you discuss, it seems to me that there is a fundamental unwillingness to understand, appreciate and acknowledge the complexity of the world we live in. Be it economics, politics, healthcare, climate, technology - the underlying systems complexity is increasing dramatically, while the media, statesmen, policy makers etc insist on […]
• #235: Gail Williams (gail) Mon 23 Jan 12 10:02
  There's a differentiation of meanings on this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltschmerz where a distinction is made between the modern German use of the word and the original idea from the early 1800's [Read entire topic] […]
• #234: Ed Ward (captward) Sun 22 Jan 12 04:44
  And given that the German means world-pain, that makes more sense. [Read entire topic] […]
• #233: David Gans (tnf) Sat 21 Jan 12 23:19
  That's M-W's definition, really? I was taught that it had to do with feeling the pain of the world, not just being disappointed in it. [Read entire topic] […]
• #232: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Sat 21 Jan 12 11:29
  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weltschmerzWeltschmerz: mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal stateThanks and a tip o' the hat to Garry Golden for the pointer to this relevant definition. [Read entire topic] […]
• #231: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Fri 20 Jan 12 13:05
  I just wandered in from a very good talk at the University of Texas by Elizabeth Churchill of Yahoo Research (http://elizabethchurchill.com/). I was there with my pals Gregory Foster, Bill Anderson, and David Ryan, all Austin-based technologists. Another friend, tech entrepreneur Tristan Slominski, was across the room. The rest were mostly UT students.Church […]
• #230: Ted Newcomb (tcn) Fri 20 Jan 12 11:11
  Great as always, thanks to both of you for your time and thinking out loud. [Read entire topic] […]
• #229: Gail Williams (gail) Fri 20 Jan 12 10:57
  Wish I could share some "analog geolocative presence" and some nice older tequila. Instead, a digital gesture of a toast to you and to the future and to the beauty of the unfolding sky, from here in San Francisco. [Read entire topic] […]
• #228: Peter Meuleners (pjm) Fri 20 Jan 12 10:52
  "analog geolocative presence" is a great term. [Read entire topic] […]
• #227: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Fri 20 Jan 12 10:49
  Commonly I end these WELL things in some personal burst of visionary eloquence. Last year, I wrote a long culture-critic essay all about Cibelle. Cibelle, the London-Sao Paulo multi-artist. I just heard from Cibelle. Cibelle's still performing her music, in extravagant costume, with video, but she told me that she'd like to go to art school and get […]