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It's time to build: a New World's Fair

cameronwiese.com

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Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#201

Post by iso1631 »

whatshisface wrote: post #127
iso1631 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the distant consequences are the same no matter what you do. Three things 1) Spend the money on blackjack and hookers 2) Spend the money on a new bridge 3) Burn the money on a bonfire for giggles Those three have very different "distant consequences"

1) Money ends up in the local economy 2) Money ends up in the local economy 3) Currency deflates, making all owners of currency richer, and as long as nobody expects deflation to continue, stimulates the economy.

In the case of (2) there is a new bridge which increases productivity in the long term

In the case of (1) there is a no bridge

You've already disproven your "All expenditures stimulate the economy equally" claim with your explanation of (3)

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#202

Post by vidarh »

m_st wrote: post #196
vidarh wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Video phone was not new at that point, though. Germany had commercial installations, though fixed point to point, in 1936. The first descriptions of it date to just two years after the telephone was invented. The exhibit may have made more people aware it was possible, but the idea was already out there, and had been for a long time.

Do you have a link about these German video phones from 1936? That sounds very interesting.

You can find some info here [1],[2]

Of course this was far technically simpler than "proper" video telephony, as they required dedicated point to point circuits rather than function over a regular phone line. Most of the effort to popularise video-telephony was not the concept itself, but solving the engineering challenges of making it work over the regular phone network and making the devices small and cheap enough. In that respect the booths at the '64 World's Fair would have been impressive demonstrations of progress toward that goal.

[1] https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/nazis-introduc...

[2] https://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/before-second-world-war-na...

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#203

Post by lmm »

jiofih wrote: post #102
markdown wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ordinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world. Have you taken a good look at your own country.

I don’t get the fuss with the pledge of alliance (non American here). > "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? It’s not like you can’t leave (except for the IRS) if you don’t like it.

When you're a child you can't realistically leave, and the pledge sounds rather like a promise to never do so. The people making those pledges have very little idea what values they're signing up to. It has the same vibe as chastity pledges, made by kids who don't know what they're talking about at the urging of their parents.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#204

Post by Rule35 »

WaxProlix wrote: post #64
thepasswordis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US seems to have largely decided that any amount of national pride is something to be ashamed of.

Is that sarcasm? American nationalism and over-the-top expressions of patriotic pride border on the jingoistic.

Why does someone doing something over-the-top mean you can't enjoy doing it normally?

Look at how and why people want to be in the USA and look at those things as worth caring about. Try to make your country better for everyone and be happy/proud about your efforts and those of your predecessors.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#205

Post by Rule35 »

markdown wrote: post #146
jiofih wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get the fuss with the pledge of alliance (non American here). > "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? It’s not like you can’t leave (except for the IRS) if you don’t like it.

> Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? It's just indoctrination. I mean, commitment to your country is implied. Do you stand up, put hand on heart and pledge allegiance to your family? Your church? Your friends? Why would you do that for your country? It's nationalistic nonsense that has no place in a modern, democratic society.

> Do you stand up, put hand on heart and pledge allegiance to your family? Your church? Your friends?

I didn't pick the marriage ceremony my culture used. If it involved a hand over your heart I wouldn't have worried about it.

> Why would you do that for your country?

That specific gesture aside, perhaps because I cared about the ideals it represents and the words in the affirmation.

> It's nationalistic nonsense that has no place in a modern, democratic society.

No. Without some sort of bond to those around me why would I respect their views enough to allow a democracy? It's because we share some goals and ideals. If I thought you hated the things I loved about my country I might see you as an enemy, and vice versa, but if we see that we share our dreams we can survive not sharing any other opinions.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#206

Post by the_only_law »

camwiese wrote: post #38
DubiousPusher wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Absolutely. Everyone wants to talk stagnation, but we don't realize how much incredible work is being done in the background. Then, because we live in filtered versions of reality, we don't see it. The Fair serves as a showcase of all of the incredible work being done to shape the future to 1) give people hope and 2) inspire more people to help build it.

Now I just need to figure how to get in on all this incredible work.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#207

Post by Rule35 »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #33
mpalmer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a place on Earth where that wouldn't be the case?

Switzerland? The Nordic countries? Even the UK hasn't annoyed most countries to the point we wouldn't welcome guests for something like this. It's basically the equivalent of the Olympics of the business and science world; of you are granted the honour of hosting, you go out of your way to extend an olive branch.

Oh, you have got to be kidding. Quit it with the Nordic worship.

I mean, they're pretty great overall but all the problems you think the USA has, they have in spades. And while they are great they aren't solely because of ideals as much as luck of their conditions forging a good culture and climate for success.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#208

Post by Iv »

zdragnar wrote: post #186
Iv wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What could we have in a World's Fair now that looks ahead? I want a roboticized home that cleans itself, that is able to do autorepairs, rooms reconfiguration. I want an auto-laundry and an auto-kitchen. I want it smart enough to manage air flow, temperature and humidity efficiently. I want all that to be voice activated. Please make it offline to not depend on some cloud thingies. I want a powerwall and solar pane…

I believe that is the basic setup to a few horror movies and episodes in TV shows. Even so, I'm in, if it comes with an option to not be voice activated. Nothing about modern computing is more frustrating than voice interfaces, except perhaps windows updates.

Any evolution can be used as an horror movie device. Freeways, ubiquitous televisions, in a world that did not have that, you could make scary fictions about it.

I find it sad that nowadays dystopias have become the only depictions of futures.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#209

Post by Iv »

asiachick wrote: post #172
Iv wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What could we have in a World's Fair now that looks ahead? I want a roboticized home that cleans itself, that is able to do autorepairs, rooms reconfiguration. I want an auto-laundry and an auto-kitchen. I want it smart enough to manage air flow, temperature and humidity efficiently. I want all that to be voice activated. Please make it offline to not depend on some cloud thingies. I want a powerwall and solar pane…

Only 1/2 joking but there was an automation exhibit at the 64 world's fair. It was by Disney and then moved to Disneyland for years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_Carousel_of_Pr... It showed the progress of the kitchen over the years and ended with a push button kitchen like The Jetsons I agree with you though. I want all of the things you listed. In particular, I want something that can dust (clean a…

> I want my walls and ceiling to be displays like from Total Recall for cheap (say under $500 per wall)

Fun remark I heard in a startup's pitch: "If you have a hole in your wall, it is cheaper to buy a TV to hide it than to order a repair".

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#210

Post by OJFord »

markdown wrote: post #189
zepto wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of union Jack’s in England, and Tricolores in France.

Flying in front of residential homes? I don't think so. I could go onto Google Maps and in short order find a US flag on a random US suburban residence. It'd take days to find the same in the UK or France.

Not as common I don't think here in the UK as US, but it does happen in certain areas/by certain people, and carries the same connotations, just with the possible addition of football (soccer) hooliganism.
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