Overblown Fears of the Next Decade
Yesterday, we took a look at Newsweek’s list of overblown fears of the last decade. I asked for your suggestions for the next decade. So, here are your answers, from the comments, Facebook, and Twitter:
Global Warming [actually, I banned this one, because it was such a big fear in the 00's -- but people still said it]
Barack Obama
Peak oil
Access to water
Mind control (and nefarious uses of neuroscience in general)
Augmented Reality Addiction Disorder
Sarah Palin
Terrorism
“Abuse” of free speech
These are good. Access to water throwing the world into chaos, like mass starvation, is one of those things that’s predicted to be just around the corner every decade — somehow, it never is. (We’ve, of course, had famine, but that’s almost always because of political factors, not an inability to grow enough food.) Mind control and mind reading are both major paranoias that surround neuroscience. Mind control is just silly (at least in the way it’s typically portrayed, as if it could be done through subliminal messages in movies and TV — though nefarious things could be done with weaponized neurotoxins). Mind reading is a bit closer to reality, but not anywhere close to being used to read the minds of political dissidents, etc. Barack Obama will not live up to the fears of the crazies obsessed with him; Sarah Palin, God willing, will never again be close to elected office. As for Augmented Reality Addiction Disorder, I’m pretty sure that’s a joke — but I’m not sure it will stay one.
As I said yesterday: “A fear tends to become overblown when it’s very easy for us to visualize a problem but very hard for us to put it in context — or when it’s very easy to see the costs, but difficult to see the benefits (e.g. globalization).”
With that definition in mind, let me add a few of my own (with, for some reason, terrible punctuation):
The national debt: always whined about, never an actual problem — yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Gay marriage: end of civilization or chance for gay men to pick out china patterns? i vote the latter.
Virtual reality: tear in the social fabric or new way for nerds to masturbate? again, the latter.
The rise of China and India: end of the United States’ run as the world’s only superpower or unprecedented improvement in the living conditions of billions of people? i choose both, and I think both are just fine.
And, okay, Global Warming: “going green” at home is utterly useless in the face of the industrialization of China and India (see above) — but various geo-engineering solutions will render us perfectly capable of counteracting the effects of global warming to the extent we find necessary.
These are fun. Happy to hear more Next Big Overblown Fears from you guys in the comments, or to hear why I’m an ass-hat for thinking Global Warming is no big deal.
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12/12/2012 is pretty overblown fear. People are scared of the LHC too
With the silly movie, maybe the 2012 panic will settle down. We could, however, see some mass hysteria, mass suicides, etc., if people get caught up in it.
As for LHC, it’s finally operational. Time-traveling bird FAIL. (Long explanation for that one.) This:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1937370,00.html
might get you started.
In response to another comment. See in context »Ryan,
I am an individual who thinks Global Warming is a serious threat. I worry about the future for the sake of my young nieces and nephews, the newest of whom is only several weeks old. While I think you raise a valid point, it is my opinion that Global Warming and the environment are worth being concerned about. Without the concern of people like me, there would be no motivation for engineers to tackle these issues, or for world leaders to pay attention.
Virtual Reality in whatever form it ultimately takes will end up being covered in banner ads and pop ups. My only objection is to the nerd categorization. As an avid Halo player (nerd), I have to say that the douche bag set will be right there with the nerds, tea bagging anything that stands still for longer than two seconds.
As for Global Warming, I have to agree. The push to go green at home is silly in the face of China and India, but from a social engineering stand point, it helps ensure that the next generation is aware enough about the problem to want to contribute to its solution.
Lastly, the next threat we’ll face. To paraphrase Jon Stewart, our next threat will be communists socializing nazism. To kill puppies.