What is your dangerous idea?

[mummymonkey]

The Edge annual question.

http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_index.html (http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_index.html)

Selected quotes:

ROGER C. SCHANK (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/schank.html)
Psychologist & Computer Scientist; Chief Learning Officer, Trump University; Author, Making Minds Less Well Educated than Our Own
school is bad for kids — it makes them unhappy and as tests show — they don't learn much

SAM HARRIS (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/harriss.html)
Neuroscience Graduate Student, UCLA; Author, The End of Faith
The success of science often comes at the expense of religious dogma; the maintenance of religious dogma always comes at the expense of science

OLIVER MORTON (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/morton.html)
Chief News and Features Editor at Nature; Author, Mapping Mars
The change in mean global temperatures seems quite unlikely to be much greater than the regular cyclical change between glacial and interglacial climates

KARL SABBAGH (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/sabbagh.html)
Writer and Television Producer; Author, The Riemann Hypothesis
Our brains may never be well-enough equipped to understand the universe and we are fooling ourselves if we think they will.

And I just thought this was interesting:

JUAN ENRIQUEZ (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/enriquez.html)
CEO, Biotechonomy; Founding Director, Harvard Business School's Life Sciences Project; Author, The Untied States of America
There has yet to be a single U.S. president buried under the same flag he was born under

[richardm]

There has yet to be a single U.S. president buried under the same flag he was born under


It is interesting, but I don't understand it. On the face of it he seems to be saying that there's not been a single U.S. president born in the U.S. who was also buried there. This is obviously not the case, so what does he mean? :confused:

[Beth]

It is interesting, but I don't understand it. On the face of it he seems to be saying that there's not been a single U.S. president born in the U.S. who was also buried there. This is obviously not the case, so what does he mean? :confused:

I presume he means that the flag changes. Example: when Reagan was born, there would have been fewer than 50 stars on the flag. I'm not sure why this qualifies as a dangerous idea though.

[Lynx2174]

kerosene kept boiling by bits of plutonium 238 would make a MEAN grease remover.

[tsg]

I presume he means that the flag changes. Example: when Reagan was born, there would have been fewer than 50 stars on the flag. I'm not sure why this qualifies as a dangerous idea though.

The term "expanding empire" comes to mind. Not sure I agree with it, but that's what I got out of it.

[c4ts]

I thought it meant presidents didn't die in the states where they were born, since every state flag is different.

[David Swidler]

The flag kept changing (added stars) with each addition of a state to the Union. The last time was 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii joined. Don't see how that's dangerous.

[mummymonkey]

The flag kept changing (added stars) with each addition of a state to the Union. The last time was 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii joined. Don't see how that's dangerous.
He's using it to illustrate that our assumptions of stability and continuity (with regards to the US) are unfounded. His dangerous idea is that that we could live to see an Un-Tied States of America.

[PixyMisa]

He's using it to illustrate that our assumptions of stability and continuity (with regards to the US) are unfounded.

Erg. Not a very good illustration, then.

His dangerous idea is that that we could live to see an Un-Tied States of America.

Or the United States of America, Australia and Some Parts of Canada. :)