[tt] [SALT] Historian vs. futurist next MONDAY Apr. 28 (for forwarding)

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Stewart Brand <sb at gbn.org> -----

From: Stewart Brand <sb at gbn.org>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:37:08 -0700
To: salt at list.longnow.org
Subject: [SALT] Historian vs. futurist next MONDAY Apr. 28 (for forwarding)
Reply-To: services at longnow.org


   Note: Next MONDAY, April 28!  (Not this Friday.)

   Though they are good friends and closely familiar with each other's
   work, distinguished historian Niall Ferguson and leading futurist
   Peter Schwartz have diametric views on humanity's prospects.

   At issue is the core finding of Ferguson's recent book, THE WAR OF THE
   WORLD: Twentieth-century Conflict and the Descent of the West.  After
   reading the book twice, Schwartz sees the crucial question this way:
   "Are 'the dark forces that conjure up ethnic conflict and imperial
   rivalry out of economic crisis, and in so doing negate our common
   humanity,'  still 'stirring within us' (to quote the conclusion of The
   War of the World), leading to the high likelihood that the next half
   century will be just as bloody and awful as the first half of the 20th
   Century?"  Schwartz is currently writing an article titled, "The Case
   for Optimism."

     "Historian versus Futurist on Human Progress," Niall Ferguson &
     Peter Schwartz, Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco, 7pm,
     MONDAY, April 28.  The debate starts promptly at 7:30pm.  Admission
     is free (a $10 donation is always welcome, not required).

   In Long Now's debate format, the audience decides who goes first.
   That speaker makes his case for 15 minutes and then is interviewed by
   his opponent for 10 minutes, searchingly rather than trickily.  The
   goal is clarity and depth rather than debater's points.  Then the
   opponent must summarize the first speaker's argument until the first
   speaker says, "You got it."  Same deal for the second speaker.  Then
   they continue to probe each other while responding to written
   questions from the audience.

   Talks coming up:

   May 21 (WEDNESDAY) - Iqbal Quadir, "Technology Empowers the Poorest"

   June 27 (Friday) - Paul Ehrlich, "The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution
   and the Environment"

   Jul. 23 (WEDNESDAY) - Edward Burtynsky, "The 10,000-year Gallery"

   Aug. 8 (Friday) - Daniel Suarez ("Leinad Zeraus"), "Daemon:
   Bot-mediated Reality"

   Sep. 12 (Friday) - Peter Diamandis, "Long-term X-Prizes"

   Oct. 3 (Friday) - Huey Johnson, "Green Planning at Nation Scale"

   Dec. 19 (Friday) - Rick Prelinger, "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco"

   High-quality videos of the talks and other benefits are available to
   Long Now members.  Membership, which costs $8/month ($96/year), helps
   support the series and other Long Now projects.  Each Membership
   donation is doubled, thanks to a matching grant from Pierre Omidyar.
   Joinable [1]here.

   This is one of a monthly series of Seminars About Long-term Thinking
   (SALT) organized by The Long Now Foundation.  Free audios and my
   summaries of all previous talks are available for download [2]here (or
   stay up to date with the Podcast [3]here).  You'll find a range of
   long-term thinking items on our [4]Blog ([5]RSS).  If you would like
   to be notified by email of forthcoming talks, go [6]here to sign up
   online.  Any questions, contact Danielle Engelman at Long Now---
   415-561-6582 x1, [7]danielle at longnow.org.

   You are welcome to forward this note to anyone you think might be
   interested.

                                           --Stewart Brand

--

   Stewart Brand -- sb at gbn.org

   The Long Now Foundation - http://www.longnow.org
   Seminars & downloads: http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/

References

   1. https://secure.longnow.org/members/
   2. http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/
   3. http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/podcast.php
   4. http://blog.longnow.org/
   5. http://feeds.feedburner.com/longnowblog
   6. http://list.longnow.org/mailman/listinfo/SALT
   7. mailto:danielle at longnow.org

----- End forwarded message -----
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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