Reply #2: the age is over? [View All]

[ChairmanAgnostic]

Hardly. That attitude reminds me of the physicists of the late 19th century who "knew" all about physicks, with the small exception of a few unimportant unanswered questions.
Then some patent clerk changed the universe and turned the world of physicks inside out.

At the same time, there was a contemporary movement in the arts, tracking pretty much the same time. A group of people sat, talked, drank, screwed, experimented and initially suffered mass disaffection and disgust from the "experts" in the field. Yet, they continued on and created what we now know as the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist eras of art - truly creative and incredibly beautiful.

We are living in a brand new age, and the best way to view what has happened to humanity is consider it in terms of the the 19th century and the tools available to them at that time.

Scientists and artists of those days were men of letters. Writing was itself an art form. It was slow, and not reliable. The impressionists in France had the advantage of meeting together each day, and learning from each other. Just being together allowed a faster exchange of ideas, one which no doubt, brought art to a whole new level.

We, in our modern world, also live in an incredibly exciting time. Just as our leaders are leading us into disaster, there exists, at your fingertips, the avenue to lead us out of trouble. The internet.

People from all over the world are communicating with one another at the speed of light. New ideas or theories are shared, improved upon and moved on faster than ever conceived. In fact, our social scientists have a lot of catching up to do to see how radically humanity has been changed by this media. Scientific theories, ie, Super string theory, quantum physics, and the new Grand Unification Theories are being discussed, improved upon, and corrected instantaneously. More importantly, mere civilians such as we are also part of the equation. True, a few crackpots exist (Say, the neocon movement) but also remember that our best telescope was named after a amateur crackpot who learned how to prove the big bang.

I totally disagree with your premise, that the age of discovery or creativity is over. To the contrary, you are too close to the trees to see the forest? to the forest to see the trees? (I could never get that cliche right). Either way, a new age is upon us, and not a moment too soon. Your world is about to explode, yet our salvation with new technologies and social growth is also upon us.