All through human history, people have sought ways to create a persistent record of themselves. Warriors and adventurers would strive to accomplish great feats in order to be remembered in legend and song. Kings would commission sculptors and painters to preserve their likeness. More recently, celebrities would hire ghost-writers to pen stylized renditions of their exploits. Today, we all cast an increasingly long shadow in the digital world. This has given us the best opportunity yet to create a persistent record of our lives. In some ways it almost feels as though we’re creating a digital version of ourselves. Is that the direction we’re heading in?
To discuss that question, we are joined by no less than the Man from the Future himself.
About our guest:
Stephen Gordon is an attorney based in Shreveport Louisiana. Stephen is a blogger, broadcaster, and futurist. He blogs at The Speculist and he is the co-host at the very popular future podcast, FastForward Radio.
Join us live Wednesday July 13 at 2PM EDT / 11 AM PDT or access the show archive via the player above.
If you’re having trouble with the player you can also listen at our page on Blog Talk Radio.
Our music is Semi-Funk by Kevin MacLeod
UPDATE: Some additional thoughts here.
The 2008 elections removed all doubts.
I plan to commemorate myself with a parallelepiped made of carbon nanotubes and urban garbage, that will be 54 km high, 54 km long, and 54 km deep.
I’ll need a few million workers for a couple of decades, without pay.
Any volunteers?
Phil,
I am the father of two special needs kids. My family has discovered five generations of a genetic mutation called Fragile X, the leading known cause of mental retardation. Im incredibly offended at your use of the term “retarded”.
If you worked for my company, I would “[sh*t] can” you. Chief Futurist? Strategy guy? You are kidding aren’t you? A clear disregard for those without the same skills you were born with and take for granted..Shame on you.
Chief [D-Bag] would be far more appropriate.
Karma is a [b*tch.]
[Comment redacted for language. I normally wouldn't allow personal attacks at all, but David makes good point about the offensive use of the word "retarded." I apologize for that. As I noted, the cartoon was not my creation; it was making the rounds on the web. But that's no excuse.]
Come on “david c”….I understand your sensitivity, but from a truly time-setting POV the term was correctly used for the setting and is effective. It simply means slower…as in relation to my car’s timing, or the clock that runs slowly. We all know the term is neither in vogue nor “PC”, as are many other terms still in use. If you have a problem with the content, then attack that, not the semantics, and please avoid the vitriolics. That’s backward.
David C,
I am the father of a special needs child with Down Syndrome, and I found that quite funny. Not all of us are like you, thank goodness. Is your skin Fragile, too? It sure is thin. My advice, put down the chamomile tea, pause the Sex and the City marathon and stop trolling the Internet in search of “I am offended” moral superiority opportunities. Get in touch with your Y chromosome and grow a pair.
You are the D-Bag, my non-friend.
So would the cartoon be OK if the dialogue was altered to read “No offense, Future Man but is everyone in your time ‘special needs?’ ”
Some people need to learn the rest of the world isn’t going to walk on eggshells because life gave them misfortunes.
If I lose the use of my legs, I’m not ‘physically challenged. I’m crippled. If I enter a wheelchair race, then I’ll be physically challenged. But I could say the same about a fully able bodied person entering a foot race. Mutilating the language doesn’t make it better. The proper term is direct and to the point. ‘special needs’ is vague and could mean such a myriad of things as to be nearly meaningless, unless it is understood to be a euphemism for retarded.
Some people need to learn the rest of the world isn’t going to walk on eggshells because life gave them misfortunes.What a wonderful world that would be! Political Correctness has ruined this country! We have been pummeled into submitting to ridiculous allowances that have only made the benefactors more disabled that they were to begin with!
david C’s criticism is only half-right. I am a social worker, and make my daily bread in a dizzying array of terms of what we are supposed to call things. They change. “Reform school” is a perfectly nice concept if we think of “reform” as improvement,” but not so much if whe break it down to re-form, which has a slightly stalinist tinge. Yet either way, we don’t use the term anymore because everyone got ot understand that it meant “kid prison,” so they changed it to nicer-sounding things, with correction, or development, or something else.
We used to call kids “slow,” and as to “retard” means to slow, it was just an upgrade way to say that. We used Special Class, School For The Feeble Minded, or imbecile, which has a similar root. Not to mention moron or idiot. Each became disgusting in their turn. Then we used developmental delays or disabilities (not exactly synonymous), or “SPED kids.”
Intellectual disability, or mental handicap are coming in as preferred terms, and of course if you know the specific cause you can use…no wait, you can’t because some specific causes aren’t polite to say either.
It is true that “retarded” is impolite. But that is a cultural accident of the moment. As one can use outdated terms now without giving offense – and using initials is very chic – DD, ABD, HFA – it is best to use whatever terms seems least likely to offend. It’s just polite. But they is ultimately no safe term.
There is no such thing as Karma. If you get cancer you can bet it’s wasn’t caused by being an a$$hat.
The comments got retarded really fast. Go away morality police.
Which generation is Phil?
Boomer — but on the young end.
My wife has a truly grotesque chronic and degenerative pain condition, but until I read David C’s comment the thought had literally never occured to me that I might take offense if someone calls someone or something “a pain.”
I truly sympathize with his situation, but he needs to lighten up. Yeah, it sucks, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. Now, grow up and deal with it.
David C:
Grow up.
As a woman, I take deep offense at David C’s use of the word “b*tch* in his comment. Cutesy, passive-aggressive little typographical fig leaf aside, it’s clear he intends us to understand that he means to employ the term “bitch”, which has a long historical use as a hurtful, demeaning perjorative against women. If he worked for my company I’d have him fired for sexual harrassment so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him. If I was still feeling vaguely hurt, I would probably sue him too, just because I took offense and being offended makes one a victim, and I really need to cherish and nurture that mindset so I can always spot something to be aggrieved at, even if the context leaves little doubt that no personal offense was intended.
Laurie –
For clarity’s sake…I added the “fig leaf.” The term “D-Bag” was fully spelled out, too.
I think you and the others make good points. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that cartoon could have been effective and funny without the word “retarded” in it. Just as Dave C.’s response might have been somewhat more effective without all the vitriol.
Maybe I’m just retarded or something, but isn’t the “man from the future” pic something that’s been floating around the Internet for “at least a couple of years?
Or is that part of the “man from the future” concept that eludes me, being special-needy and stuff.
Someone go back and explain texting to A G Bell.
So all you got out of this description of the pathetic life of tweeters is the word retarded?? Doesn’t it sink in that FaceBook, Twitter and the other “all me, all the time” sites are a sad statement about having to be “recognized” for what mundane thing we are doing at the time??? AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH – I joined FaceBook for a month before I deleted my account saying WTF is the rage with this crap??? Gotta go….real life is calling!
The butt of the joke was certainly not Dave C’s kids, or any handicapped person or group. The butt is us: we who Tweet and Facebook excessively.
Enough on this subject! I thought the podcast itself was awesome. The guest was good and the host was absolutely brilliant!
…or vice versa
Political correctness is a series of polite lies told to keep from hurting people’s feelings. When you forget that they are lies, when you start believing them to be the truth you are in deep trouble.
Political correctness is used as a weapon by those who would falsely claim moral superiority. The weapon only works if target of the PC attack is morally superior to the person making the attack, and that target feels bad because of what the PC person says. A PC attack is a passive aggressive attack; it is designed to make people feel bad about themselves. PC attacks don’t work against anyone who really is what the PC person accuses them of being; bigoted. In other words a PC attack is actually an attack on the morally superior for being morally superior. Don’t let people call you bigoted if you’re not.
Here is the correct response to anyone trying to use political correctness as a weapon to gain power over people and control their thoughts: “Just shut up.”
No, sir, you may not take the word “Retarded” out of the English language; it is in the dictionary and has a well defined meaning. No, you don’t get to run things – which is what you are trying to do. To repeat myself: “Just shut up.”
Oh and by the way:
Bitch:
–noun
1.a female dog.
2.a female of canines generally.
3.Slang .
a.
a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman.
b.
…
The slang definition appears to be the appropriate one, if the shoe fits wear it.
[I've deleted this comment. Since I gave David C. some latitude re: the usual policy on personal attacks I've allowed some name-calling and language that normally wouldn't fly here. But can we please not make commentary about each other's children? I know civility in a blog comment thread is a tall order, but there is a line, folks.]
Futureman, is it true that in the future people will niggle over words and meanings and display phony offense and outrage at the littlest things?
you shouldn’t have to have a child with special needs to get what David C was saying. It’s not about being PC. It’s about having a little dignity for the most vulnerable among us. Of course you have the right to use the word retard, just like I have the right to speak out on behalf of my family member and say ouch.
Not mentioned, but obvious: “retarded”, or any other non-PC word, should be ok if used as an objectively accurate description. And should not be ok if used as an attack. It’s the attack that’s offensive, not the word.
I suppose it may need to be said given the comments, and their reflection on our society in general: there’s a big difference between giving offense and taking offense. You can do your best to keep from giving offense but it’s impossible to keep people from taking offense. There’s always going to be somebody who can gin up outrage at just about anything we say or do.
By no means thought of it that way.
Preach it my brother.