Do ideas have potential to change the future?

[Oranjui]

found this via /r/DarkFuturology, your source for all things really ♥♥♥♥ depressing and pessimistic. Obviously the video is not my original content.

I was going to post this in Serious Discussion somewhere but realized that there wasn't really anywhere for me to post it and I didn't really feel like making a thread. (edit: nevermind, I did.) Basically, this video discusses how optimism about the future really doesn't do anything solve the problems of the present and only exists to make us feel like there's hope. I mean, how many ideas do we keep hearing about that are going to "change the future" and fix everything and save humanity, but never actually end up being implemented?

It seems like it's just too difficult for humanity to accept that the past can't really be changed, and we rely on ideas and hopefulness to try to change the future. Except nobody's been doing very much at all to actively utilize any of these ideas (see: every ted talk ever, a bunch of news sites and stuff about the future/futurology/futurism, big projects that get a bunch of publicity and funding and then after a few months vanish never to be seen again). Are we reaching too far, and will none of this ever have any chance to succeed? Or do these ideas actually have potential, but there's just something wrong with our culture and society (attention span, perhaps? see Kony 2012 as mentioned in the video) that's preventing anything from really taking off?

Is optimism inherently harmful to innovation, or do we just lack the enthusiasm necessary to make the world a better place?

Meh, I don't really know, I'm probably just rambling without much factual basis. Anyway, back to the video, which is what I actually intended for this topic to be about. It's a pretty damn cynical little talk, but I found it fascinating to think about. So, let's discuss, shall we?

[Harmless]

I think we just lack people doing stuff. We can give a damn, but whether we do anything about it is up to us.

Of course, given the economy and everything it's not easy to do it. You still gotta have a job or pay of some kind, gotta fufill house rent and/or bills of everyday stuff, and if you have family well that's all the more complicated.

Optimism is not connected to whether or not we actually do things.

[Bogdan]

It seems like it's just too difficult for humanity to accept that the past can't really be changed

Perhaps the main reason we can't really do ♥♥♥♥ in Europe, the past and historical background. Mostly I want to point here that some ideas are great and horribly executed, like for instance the European Union, where if you don't live in the right country, well tough. Mostly people are running with their hair on fire that the greeks cause trouble, but at least here in Romania, the problems may be bigger than in Greece. Their country is known for tourism and seriousity when it comes to it and have a great cultural background, while romanian culture hardly managed to catch a place in the last 3 centuries and tourism is pretty ♥♥♥♥. Main difference is that we just take and do whatever the Union asks and hardly protest, while the greeks don't. But well, the problem is also far more complicated than that.

And frankly I'm against this kind of unions, where certain states go yippie-yay while others are giving away their hard worked-potatoes to them, but I'm assuming this thing also happens in the US and other countries aswell.

Another pretty terribly made thing is the UN, which probably is doing the best to keep the peace and protect the people, but one mistake (imo) is the "permanent membership and vetoing option for WWII winners." OK, they ended something awful (but some of them also took an interest in it as it could have been prevented at the time and so on) and I agree they should be praised, but the vetoing part is just horribad. Ever wondered why the UN doesn't do ♥♥♥♥ when it comes to Ukraine-Russia conflict? Well Russia is one of the members with permanent post and veto option, so whenether someone says something against Russia's will, they just veto and case closed (same may apply to other members, so till a point, Russia can go annexing freely).

Sorry to be the pessimistic one, but I don't see things fixing in the near future. We may start, slowly, man by man, city by city, nation by nation, but guiding 7 millards+ (already too many) in the right direction is hard.

[Doram]

Reserved

[Worldsixthocean]

Too much optimism will cause smth really hard to turning back. I live in Hong Kong. Be4,it was a part of United Kingdom. When UK and China talking about giving HK back to China many ppl move to other places in UK cuz China don't have democracy. But my dad just very optimism and said that HK will getting better. But we see, HK just getting worse. Umbrella movement, protest, some radical thing all happened in HK. But it's already very hard to move to other places now. As my dad born me and it's already not a part of UK.

But look at the bright side, if you don't have optimism in you life you will not being motivated to do anything. Thus you still cannot change the future too. But there are something you did carelessly (meaning that you don't have any idea/optimism to do that) and can make a big change in our lives. Like at the Qin Dynasty in old China, someone wanna make a medicine that makes ppl live forever but they made gunpowder which then are not have any idea to do that.

Even in the first cases if my dad want to move to UK that time, but he didn't do it, you still staying in HK and didn't change anything.

So,do optimism harmful? Do ideas can change the future? Well,it is not realated at all. It just depands on what you did.

[Goldy301]

But we see, HK just getting worse. Umbrella movement, protest, some radical thing all happened in HK.

Whoa! You heard about it? Well because both of us live in Hong Kong. Who do you think has fault? CY Leung or the protest? So far I think it's CY Leung and he thinks police are right and students are not.

Do ideas have potential to change the future? 50% No 50% Yes