Memories of the 28th Century

Sometimes I wonder whether any people are interested in serious matters. Even with regard to the election of electors for Trump didn’t get people to look at the real issues. Instead, people are still worrying that he might carry out some of his campaign promises. Maybe it’s because so many people were surprised that Trump did so well on election day, but since then news and Facebook and other places have been filled with foolishness. Many people seem to think that Trump will completely destroy the U.S. A., but the actual election won’t even happen until December 19, 2016. Then there’s the matter of the President of the U.S. not having much power. The powers of Congress are few and exactly specified and the president has very little power to do things that have not been passed by Congress,

Obama tried to rule by executive orders in regard to some immigration issues, but the courts quickly made it clear that he could not do that, and it is good that the lesson has been taught recently. But people are posting foolishness about tattooing numbers on the arms of Muslims, the wall along the Mexican border, Trump mocking a disabled reporter, and so on. U.S. politics is chock full if foolishness, but it almost always has been. I think that Plato may have gotten it right when he wrote: "Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something."

One reason why we see so much foolishness is that computer software is being used to select stories for wider publication online; news aggregators and Facebook use such programs. Those programs can't tell the difference between a joke and a serious news story. As a results, many people don't know that difference either, and I suspect that Donald Trump may be such a person.

Because news is being spread that way, people who lack the critical sense and/or the background readily believe things that are based on dreams or preferences, rather than on facts. What fun is reality, if one can't have some fun with it? Fact truly is stranger than fiction. While I have dreamed up some great stuff, things that I find in reliable news reports are even better. Things in some of the unreliable news reports aren't credible enough to become interesting. And that gives part of my philosophy of writing fiction.

Humans spend a great deal of time and trouble on matters that do not lead to greater happiness or longer life or evolutionary advantage. Not only that but humans make much ado about such pointless activities, and they have established governments to twist their arms into wasting even more time and trouble.

Most of what governments do is a foolish waster of time and money. That includes most regulations business activity and most military activity. All that government should do is to provide a framework within who people can carry on their lives as they wish to. That requires a little diplomacy for the benefit of those who foolishly wish to traipse around the world, and it would require a small defense force in case some fools attacking. It also would require a system of laws and courts to administer the laws.

A fundamental question is whether humans want to stop foolishly wasting their time, money, etc. and just concentrate on the important things: eating, sex, sleeping, and so on. In my experience, most humans do most things simply because they do them, not because they have any need or real desire to do those things. A few hours ago I saw some people running, and it occurred to me that running is rather pointless, unless someone is chasing you, but some people think that it is important.

A related question is whether there is anything outside of material, observable world. If there is, then there may be reasons for doing things that seem pointless that we are not aware of, but if there isn't, then the only valid motive is for life extension.

Do you have an opinion?