I appreciate the time and effort that commenters and supporters of nextbigfuture.com make.
It is more time consuming for me to manage comments. There is a LOT more spam.
I also do not want to manage comments with insults and aggression. Do not just make comments just trashing countries (like China) or people or individuals. Those kind of comments can go to X (Twitter). Nextbigfuture is on Twitter aka X and all of the articles get reposted there. X is made for comments with aggression.
People who want to have comments approved here.
You need to be polite all the time. Even after you have been approved. I will unapprove commenters who start being rude and insulting. Again, you are free to go to X. I will see if there is some way to link up the articles here with the matching X post.
I do not want to approve short comments that just say — I don’t believe or this is crap. This adds nothing to the conversation. You have to give valid reasons. Make your alternative case. If I say Tesla or SpaceX or a technology will do something, then make your alternative scenario.
I will approve comments that add some insight or had some analysis that required some effort.
If managing comments on wordpress becomes unmanageable, then I will shift to comments only at substack.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
No comment.
China is the greatest. President Xi is the Messiah. Come Lord Xi, you are the hope of the Universe.
Oh really? And who’s payroll are you on? And how hard do you think it would be for us to check this out?
Well, we already have checked you out, and we know who your masters are. Hey, just for the hell of it gang, let me tell you about something that did happen in the early 1980’s. In 1983, the world was in the most dangerous place it’s been since the Cuban crisis of 1962. And the vast majority of people have no clue about how close we came to horror, in 1962 Like Russian subs that were shadowing our carriers had nuclear armed torpedoes. (From what we know now, two per each sub) We dropped hand granades to get them to surface. We knew they we’re there. To the guys in the sub, it felt they were being depth charged, There’s an old expression in our Navy and it was as good in 1962 as it is in 2024, one shot, you die.
What’s scary, is in in 1962, a certain Whisky class sub had two out of three command officers say “they we’re being attacked (they were not, but I understand if they thought that) and two of three command officers said “we’ve lost contact with Moscow, we must attack!” The third commander said; “we loose contact with Moscow every other day, our communications suck! (We’ve actually overheard the Russians say this) So the third commander said “Lets surface, and listen to American radio.” If we’re at war, it will be obvious, and if we are, I’ll agree to release (fire) our nuclear armed torpedoes against the big American capital ships (our aircraft carriers). WW3 would have started then. For what one man had the logic to ask: What is the American radio saying? Nothing we’ve not heard before. Music, news, weather reports. That officer, IMO prevented WW3. Also, people with only the rank of Sargent, had control of tactical nuclear weapons on the beach of Cuba in 1962.
Guess what? It’s said Secretary of Defense MacNamera went white when told about those nuclear torpedoes, and tactical nukes on Cuba’s beaches. According to declassified reports, he DID NOT know this at the time. Let’s jump forward, to 1983, and show you how stupid, intelligence can be. In this case, on the Russian side. Back then, Andropove, was leader of the USSR. The former head of the KGB, he had never been out of his own country. (For what it’s worth I learned more about my own country, the USA, when I saw us from the outside looking in. Very insightful.) At that time the Russians were convinced Regan wanted to start WW3. Of course he never did. Neither do I. I believe, as I believe Regan did, don’t f**** with me. I have no problem with that.
But let me tell you how a society/culture misunderstanding could lead to a really bad outcome. In 1983, the Russians were watching our military bases for any activity they thought was “unusual”. Not an unreasonable thing. There’s a lot I could go into that about what is obvious, or not but let me talk about the Pentagon. Ever been there? It’s (still) one of the worlds biggest office buildings. It’s also a mall, with very nice shops, and a few command and control facilities as well. In other words, it’s very American. That said, most people who work there, military or civilian work what you would call a “day schedule”. Most, but not all of the military people show up early; 0400-0500. Civilian people, like I was, got there 0800 and stuck around as long as my services were needed. Usually getting out, on a good day 16:30-1700hrs. But I digress. The vast majority of people who work there are gone between 4and 6pm. Sure there’s a small number of people in our command centers 24/7. But a fraction of the people during the day. This information is not sensitive, let alone classified.
But the Russians, in 1983, had great angst in seeing many lights in the Pentagon on after 9pm. They thought people were “plotting, scheming, planning war”. Actually, no. After 9pm, that’s when the cleaning crew shows up. For those of you who think; Oh the Russians would know this, Trust Me, THEY DID NOT. This is a great example of how idiot conspiracies can be imagined, or intelligence agencies can be so off in understanding their target.
I love this site because it’s about technology, and how societies interact with that. It’s rather unique in that sense. Yes, I have made critical comments about China, North Korea and Iran. I’ve never been rude, crude, or vulgar. Ever. If I’ve been critical of any countries behavior, be it their economic actions or military behavior, it’s because those can be destabilizing, and dangerous. IMO. I always say what I do with a caveat. First, I don’t make stuff up. (Who do you think I am, Trump?)
Second, my opinion is just that: What I believe and feel at any one moment. My POV are based on information I get, from open sources, including media, scientific and social journals, and some people who have access to info, specific to their talents. Use your imagination as to what that means. I believe respect is critical to free speech.
It’s quite natural for anyone to be offended by someone who says something that offends you. (certainly if it’s directed right at you). Just someone not seeing the world through your mindset, can feel like an insult. My best advice? Don’t take it as a personal attack when their favorite color, ain’t the same as yours. Its hurts no one, if you look at a difference of opinion, in such a simple mindset. After all, ain’t that what it is? Be honest to what you feel, and be polite. That’s never a contradiction or impediment, it’s a means to an end.
One more point. When I make comments about China, or North Korea, or East Germany (before the wall fell), I know what those societies were, and are like. Germany is today now free and united. East Germany was a very grim place when I was there in 1987. Everyone spied on EVERYONE, to an extent that would blow your mind. When the wall came down, and some of the STASI (secret police) files became public it was devastating for people to learn the truth. That parents spied on their kids, kids spied on parents, and everyone spied on anyone they could. What a horrible way to live. I’ve been to Germany many times before and after the wall fell. The pain expressed in people who will never trust those they unconditionally loved, is awful.
My comments about China are not about it’s people. It’s about it’s government. Chinas government does today what the East German government could only have dreamed of. East Germany relied largely on informants. China, uses it’s technology to monitor every person, every moment, of everyday. There is total audio and video surveillance. I mean total. Pattern recognition systems can tell who you are, by how you walk. (Each person does walk a bit uniquely, from everyone else.) Not only do they track&tag you from what you buy (China learned that from us, actually) but they ask you questions when you do. Why are you buying this now? what bothers you? what would make you happy? (I’ve been in China, and you do get asked those questions) Like when buying a shirt? Yup. Happened to me…
I don’t like the way China treats it’s own people or it’s actions that affect mine in a negative way. I believe I have every right to say that. As long as I’m not rude. And I never am.
So many other forums on the internet got community moderators when they got big, perhaps this is something you should consider?
I would never *just* trash China. I just want you to keep in mind what sort of country they are, when you celebrate tech advances there, or talk about US firms becoming more involved with them; It does have serious geopolitical implications.
That aside, I’m here for the tech news and discussions, not really politics.
By the way, I do appreciate the work you put in here. This is certainly my favorite site. And it’s nice with the new commenting system that your comment appears immediately, rather than some longish random time after submitting it.
What sort of country they are? Are you sure you aren´t fed some propaganda?
It’s a country not much different than any other. It has its collection of very wealthy and connected people at the top, who dictate how others should live. Don’t let textbook definitions of ideology fog up the facts. It’s alway been about money and power, a formula followed the world over by people sitting in similar positions.
^ This. A million times over. People are people, wherever you go. A percentage of them will always be drawn to power and money. It’s just plain human nature. Even many religious zealots don’t believe the stuff they spout out of their mouths, let alone more practical people. They’re just after one thing.
Well, what you ask is the minimum a community of readers who are assumed as educated people who appreciate knowledge specially the scientific one.
Perhaps you can block the participants who are not complaining with this mínimums, but don’t eliminate it from this site, but my feeling is that most of us are behaving correctly and could be unjustified to affect the many for just a few
Regards, we appreciate your job and efforts