Dangers Facing Humanity, Isaac Asimov

(Part 1) A speech by the Isaac Asimov on the dangers facing humanity. A humanist perspective.
Link to part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4M6IH6kJxQ

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[HomoCyborgZombie]

DURP DURP NWO, TIN HATS EVERYBODY DURP DURP

[RDaneelOlivaw2]

@HomoCyborgZombie I can assure you that Isaac Asimov has nothing to do with any of todays NWO conspiracy theories. You can be forgiven for thinking so since he does talk about the need for a one world government. He's not speaking of it in the context of illuminati or an NWO kind of thing. Your generation may not be familiar with him but he is an Icon on the order of Carl Sagan or Richard Dawkins.

[colourmegone]

Thanks for posting this. I had a problem with playback, the video stops at 8:57 and won't play any further. I've tried moving the slider but no luck. You might like to know that Harlan Ellison, who was Dr Asimov's student for awhile, actually wrote a story about Dr Asimov which I believe was published in 'Dangerous Visions'. In the story he was a villain (he was teaching Ellison the craft of writing which entails ruthless criticism) named 'Rike Akimisov'.

[RDaneelOlivaw2]

@colourmegone Thanks for the information on Ellison. I'll google it! The video did play fine for me. Also I just put an anotation to part 2 at the end and a link to it in the description as well. If you got to 8:57 you got enough of the gist to view part 2

[colourmegone]

@RDaneelOlivaw2 I read the 'Dangerous Visions' series years ago along with lots of other Ellison but that stuck in my head, it may have come from another book but I'm sure it's true. One of my favourite Ellison's is "I See a Man Sitting in a Chair and the Chair is Biting his Leg".

I downloaded the video with played it on FLV without a hitch. It could be my ISP or YouTube or maybe Firefox or even Flashplayer. With so many layers from hardware to software to networking who knows?

[RDaneelOlivaw2]

@colourmegone I'm glad you got to see it any way. Video of Asimov is a bit on the rare side. Unfortunately he's not making any more either. I wish he had done more of that, like Sagan. I think he was every bit as eloquent in his own way.

[OxTheWriter]

Many thanks for posting this. Probably one of the best uses of YouTube space and time I've encountered since I found an old interview with Frank Lloyd Wright.

[DeltaNordicAdvance]

Asimov wasn't good enough to get attention by being a real scientist , so he became a science fiction writer. His voice is also very, very annoying. I even agree with a lot of what he says about cutting forests, but his voice is so noxious, it makes it hard to like anything he says. Of course he goes from there to make a slid down a bunch of slippery slopes, so he quickly becomes easily disliked all over.

[alanpgoodwin]

As much as I admire Isaac, I'm still of the opinion that the day I sit in front of the fire and blame my own farts for the increase in my body temperature, I'll join the "global warming"/"climate change" lobby. Global temperature change matches closely Solar activity and not closely at all CO2 content of the atmosphere. Water vapour is a more effective greenhouse agent, however there's no money to be made in "trading" water vapour with developing countries.

[AlgisKemezys]

Nice to hear your POV. God save us!

[scootkh]

I try to NOt be a pessimist..unfortunately, I see how damed greedy and horrid we treat each other and how we plunder the planet, and I can only imagine that if the planet is alive...then its going to shake us off like fleas. With our insane religions that give us permission to kill in the name of god, I hope we DON'T get off this planet...we'd be the scourge of the galaxy. WE are the Klingons that star trek so dutifully exhibits. Personally, I think we got marooned here a long time ago.

[Ypipable]

I Love my devil.

[Nomoreidsleft]

I have great respect for Isaac Asimov, but he's an idealist. The day humanity bands together to form one government, is the day humanity begins its march towards extinction. It's the dynamics of greed, and competition that has brought us to the level that we are at today. The nuclear age was the result of the need to destroy. Greed, and destruction is the very nature of humanity, as is logic, and compassion. We must retain all the aspects of humanity, in order to reach the stars.

[boccastones]

Man I love Asimov's books, but I hate when he talks about Brazil. First of all, Brazil is not a she for it's a masculine noun. Second, the US is always telling people what to do when instead should be fixing its own problems. Third, world government (despite of nWo) is a joke.

[Muad420]

@colourmegone I'm not sure if Philip K. Dick was one, but.. well, you sure have a point there.

[colourmegone]

@Muad420 If you ain't a narcissist don't ever try to become a writer!

[Muad420]

@colourmegone Doesn't Harlan Ellison suffer from (or enjoy) a rather serious personality disorder (I would bet on narcissism myself)?