what makes this especially hard is the fact that when we are faced with change and uncertainty our natural instinct is to cling to what we know and look to the past to help us plan for the future. in this case, that won’t work. somehow we have to figure out how to optimistically embrace uncertainty and completely free ourselves from any set world view. i don’t know that this has ever been achieved on this scale, but i am optimistically believing that it is possible.

To put this all in an ambiguous nutshell, the move from Newtonian certainty to Schrodenger’s cat is not really progress. Both approaches are absolutely fixated upon a revealing of the what’s inside the box. Schrodenger understood that the act of revealing kept us from understanding what was revealed, but this represents only an accumulation of data, not a change in posture toward the world.

What I hear in your comment, Levitation, is that it’s time to assume a new posture toward the world.

It is obvious to me that America is at the point of an unavoidable decision between evolution and extinction. The “climate” has changed in such a way that the things that worked in the past will work no more. However, as you’ve said rekonstruct, many of us view the required evolution as extinction. We view a changed America as no America at all, and perhaps we are right, but does that have to be a bad thing. It may be time for America to lose its gills, grow some legs and start walking on land, or perhaps it’s simply time to develop an extra dorsal fin, only time will tell. Either way, the change, no matter how drastic, does not have to be the end.

I think our best hope for survival is simply to, as individuals, propagate optimism about the potential in the change. Governments can’t tell people to think positively and expect anybody to listen. There is a much better chance that I might inspire those who trust me to take a more positive and open-minded approach to what lies ahead. It sounds cheesy and lame even as I write it, but I really think that it is true. For the inevitable change to be a positive one, we need the creativity that can only come from people who are inspired by the potential in an uncertain future.

(people that know me may think that this is a hypocritical comment because I am a pessimist, especially when it comes to big-picture issues such as this. however, i am changing, largely thanks to the inspiration of those i trust. thus, in actuality my experience as a pessimist inspired this comment.)