[ExI] instilling ambition

[BillK]

On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 5:37 PM, Mike Dougherty wrote:
<snip>
> Is grand ambition even really desirable?  If a society of insatiable
> consumers is the desired programming, would ambitious producers be as
> easily and predictably controlled?  Those interests that profit from
> the status quo stand to lose an empire if a generation of children was
> encouraged to challenge the current equilibrium.  I realize that may
> be fundamentally extropian; however, there exists considerable inertia
> to overcome in the resting mass of "how it's always been."
>


One problem for the developed societies has never been encountered before.
There are now fewer and fewer children appearing as the population ages.
This has many implications for the next 30 years.

Will resources be moved to caring for the old rather than developing the young?
What are the prospects for the young when the old are in the majority?
Will an ageing society be much interested in dynamic exploration?
Interesting times.


BillK