Here in the UK (and Commonwealth) we had The Great Exhibition:
It's time to build: a New World's Fair
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Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#22Was very surprised to not see any mention of Expo2020, which has been hailed as a "World's Fair for the 21st Century". UAE and Dubai put tons of resources and capital into it but obviously had to deal with the issue of in person events in 2020. As I understand it has been rescheduled for the end of 2021... https://expo2020dubai.ae/en/
Beyond Expo2020, you can find information on the upcoming Expo2025 in Osaka on the Bureau International des Expositions website[1].
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#23We as a species gave up trying to solve difficult problems and now we're only concerned with inflating asset prices to feel "wealthy". Smart engineers are working for HFT firms instead of NASA. We've equated "wealth" with "progress" and we're now discovering how hollow all these fake numbers are.
> We as a species gave up trying to solve difficult problems
We live in an era of constant fascinating biological and cosmological discoveries. In the past 3 years we have entered the era of gene therapy healthcare with several genetic treatments recieving approval by he FDA. We are on the cusp of break even if not effective fusion energy.
I cannot deny that the financialization of everything has diminished the moral imperative of some of these efforts but to act as if no one is attacking big problems is silly.
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#24Nitpicky/unsolicited UI feedback:
I do a lot of double/triple clicking to highlight text as I read online (fidgeting, but also helps keep track of where I am). On your site, triple clicking unintentionally hits the twitter share button, which opens a new, unwanted window. Bit annoying.
Medium does something similar, but they offset the button so you have to move cursor in between clicks to actually trigger the button.
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a place on Earth where that wouldn't be the case?
The internet? Make it a virtual event, so everyone can attend.
We fundamentally believe in the prosperity of our physical world. The fair itself will be physical, but will have a virtual component so that anyone with a smart phone or, even better, a VR headset, can participate.
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#26We as a species gave up trying to solve difficult problems and now we're only concerned with inflating asset prices to feel "wealthy". Smart engineers are working for HFT firms instead of NASA. We've equated "wealth" with "progress" and we're now discovering how hollow all these fake numbers are.
> We as a species gave up trying to solve difficult problems We live in an era of constant fascinating biological and cosmological discoveries. In the past 3 years we have entered the era of gene therapy healthcare with several genetic treatments recieving approval by he FDA. We are on the cusp of break even if not effective fusion energy. I cannot deny that the financialization of everything has diminished the moral…
The fact that every nightly news program includes a report on the stock market (which they invariably conflate with "the economy") but not any of the things you mention is kind of my point. We used to glorify that work. Now the best we can hope for is that it gets ignored lest some senator notice and cut their funding to "eliminate government waste".
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#27I'm pretty sure they are still going, though less frequently. After 2020 Dubai, 23 is in Argentina and 25 will be in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_fair
As stated in the essay, they now operate as "International Exhibitions", not "World's Fairs." There's some nuance to this, but the problem is still the same. These events are national branding exercises & architecture competitions, not a place where the future becomes real.
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really don't think Expo2020 counts. Rooting the future in the UAE seems like a losing battle, and it seems like the amount of entities that would choose not to participate would outweigh those that would.
Is there a place on Earth where that wouldn't be the case?
Given the inventions the author wanted to showcase, the United States seems like the obvious place. While US global dominance has been challenged, it is still very much home to a lot of innovation. My biggest fear is that the fair could wind up being killed by a political squabble about globalism.
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#29No mention of Expo 2010, which had representation from 65 different countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2010_pavilions. I didn't go, but the photos of the architecture from the different countries were beautiful.
> After the six-month run, the Expo had attracted well over 70 million visitors. The Expo 2010 is also the most expensive fair in the history of World's Fair, with more than 45 billion US dollars invested from the Chinese Government
Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair
#30YouTube is the world's fair.
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