Articles in Unfounded Speculation
Articles on wide-ranging topics, all of a speculative nature.
Globalization Protests
Posted on June 27th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
The G20 meeting in Toronto is wrapping up with the usual protests and usual violence and destruction having entailed. It leaves me with the question, why does the Left so reliably show up to protest all forms of multilateral discussion and international cooperation? You would think that the xenophobic and isolationist Right would take that role and that the Left would be the cheerleaders of multilateralism. And yet, the opposite is usually the case. Instead, the Left engages in pointless protests which always draw violent factions, which necessitate severe security measures at these types of events. Certainly this contributes to the alienation of the Left from most of the population and their continuing slide into political irrelevance.
I Think Jason Kenney is Gay
Posted on March 7th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Gay Stuff
.jpg "Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration ...")
Recently, CBC news ran a story about how Jason Kenney, the Conservative federal government's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, had the short discussion about gay rights in Canada removed from the new edition of the handbook that immigrants seeking citizenship must study. Kenney's office received the draft handbook, with the references to gay rights in Canada, and the minister's office issued a memo ordering it be deleted. The authors of the handbook asked the minister to reconsider and were refused. I wrote a comment on the CBC article, which was not approved by the moderators, where I stated that I have always thought that Jason Kenney was gay, and that this is a classic self-hating closet-case move.
The Avatar Phenomenon
Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Reviews,
Movies
I meant to blog about this back a month or so ago when I first saw the movie Avatar (Wikipedia entry), but never got around to it. Then today, one of my co-workers told me about this clip on Youtube. Do yourself a favour and watch it - you need to see this. These people seem to be completely serious, including the dude having sex with a flower through his braid at the end of the clip. It is truly special. Yes, the special effects were amazing, and the 3D was remarkable. But I think that while most people I've talked to tend to claim they aren't as much into the story as they are into the effects, I think the popularity of the movie was actually rooted in the story and even more in the implicit ideology. Those willing to admit it, and those who go farther into the realm of farce like the LARP people are only the tip of the iceberg - something in this movie speaks to something fundamental in the collective psyche of our culture.
Interstellar Archaeology?
Posted on February 5th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Science Fiction
Randy McDonald posted a link to an interesting discussion about the idea of interstellar archaeology on his blog.
Does More Social Acceptance Eventually Mean Fewer Gays?
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Crystal Ball,
Gay Stuff
"Randy McDonald wonders, like Sam, whether if homosexuality is genetic, there will be fewer gays born as fewer masquerade as (breeding) straight people and pass on their genes, himself suspecting that since it seems to by a byproduct of female sibling's reproductive strategies--at least among queer men--that it won't matter that much" (quoting Randy). I respond:
Man In Space: The New Great Power Test
Posted on January 28th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
According to the CBC, India plans to send a man into space by 2016. It seems like manned space travel is a new symbol distingushing who is a Great Power, or destined to become one - and who isn't.
Name for the Past Decade
Posted on January 13th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
We have developed a cultural habit of chopping up time into decades and referring to general trends and events, such as music, fashion and changing social and political beliefs, by decades or parts of decades. How valid this particular device is is a whole separate question, but it's a deeply ingrained habit for practically everyone and it is virtually certain that we will continue to do it. So what are we going to call the decade we have just left behind (by most common measures - according to pedants, the new decade doesn't start until next year, but the pedants enjoy only very weak cultural influence). In this post, I make my guess 
.
Human Evolution Today
Posted on December 29th, 2009 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Crystal Ball
There are those who claim that all human evolution is in the past, and that today, human beings exist outside the forces of evolution. Another viewpoint envisions evolution as a striving, creative force and human beings evolving to possess a god-like level of intelligence. My position is that both of these views are utter nonsense. A simple appeal to first principles can show that we must be evolving, but that there is no grounds to believe that the results of present-day human evolution is anything like what rational people would consider "improvement."
Finding A Way Through
Posted on December 29th, 2009 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Crystal Ball
There is simply no way to avoid a massive human die-off in the coming century without maintaining a high-energy technological civilization. In the long run, of course, human survival with any semblance of a decent standard of living depends on there being a lot less humans. Nine billion human beings is simply too great a strain on the earth's carrying capacity for us to get away with it for very long (and that's making the possibly unfounded assumption that we can get away with it at all). But we would like to get to a sustainable place the painless way, by having less babies and waiting for the old folks to die off on their own. Since that is likely a tall order, we need to be thinking very seriously about how we're going to manage the relatively short term of the next fifty or a hundred years or so.
Hundred Year Survival
Posted on December 24th, 2009 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Crystal Ball
If our civilization makes it to Christmas, 2109 in basically one piece, it will be a true miracle. Between here and there we have to get through food supplies which are flattening out while the world population is projected to continue to grow to nine billion people before declining, and on top of that, dangerous political instability caused by climate change in an environment of food scarcity, peak oil, and Great Power reorganization. The path to survival requires effective supernational institutions and active government involvement, loathed by the right, and robust free markets and heavy investment in science and technology (with nuclear firmly on the table and interference with the climate seriously under consideration), loathed by the left.