Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with future

What really long lists can I put my name on now to thank myself later?

2legit2quit — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:31:24 -0800

Long Term Planning: I just submitted my name to the Packer season ticket waiting list, which is supposed to be 30 years long. I don't even live in Wisconsin, but life could take me anywhere in 30 years, and I like the feeling of knowing it might be an option one day. Are there any other lists or similar things I should do now? Please no general health or exercising advice.

Name this scifi story about highways of the future

chrisamiller — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:09:15 -0800

Looking for a short sci-fi story that I read on the internet. It was about a police force who worked in the very risky highways of the future, where rocket cars zoomed around at hundreds of miles an hour. Other half-remembered details:

- The protagonists drove in a huge vehicle with three or four personnel, including drivers and a medic

- Traffic was heavy at one point because people were returning to Ohio from a football game in California

- it started snowing at another point in the story

- The highway was several lanes wide and contained differential speeds: 400 mph in the left tube, 300 mph in the middle, etc.

I can't even remember if it was a particularly good story, but I stumbled across it several years back and would like to read through it again. Thanks.

What does the future sound like?

philip-random — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:54:51 -0800

Where is music headed in the 21st century? The wording of this recent Front Page Post triggered a sort of interesting thread that didn't go nearly far enough for me, particularly as I've been kind of living in the past of late, sonically speaking. So, please open up, hive mind. Where is music headed?

Links and samples much appreciated, sublime, ridiculous, anything in between. Please educate me.

Whence "in the not-too-distant future"?

unregistered_animagus — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:48:20 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "in the not-too-distant future"? I'm pretty darn sure I first encountered it through MST3K, and have thereafter sub-defined it as "Next Sunday, A.D." ...in fact, for years I've interpreted its use as an under-the-radar MiSTie shibboleth.

BUT surely there must be an earlier origin? (Crow: "No! And don't call me Butt Shirley!")

/mst3k nerd

It just strikes me as odd that the particular construction of "not-too-distant" would replace the use of "near" so frequently without deliberate precedent.

Reminder - everything changes 17 years from today

cashman — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:37:24 -0800

What game changing reminders is my future calendar missing ? I recently started adding notable, possibly world changing future dates to my google calendar as reminders. I have Thursday, June 1, 2017 as "Last of the JFK documents should be released" & "World Ends" for Thursday, December 20, 2012. It helps me in not focusing on the past to have possible world-changing events upcoming, even if they are a couple years out. What other popular prophecies, promised confessions, projected cataclysms or things of that nature should I add to my calendar?

Adjusting my Sails

Rubbstone — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:32:47 -0800

Do I give in to wanderlust? Or go back to school for a grad degree in Comp. Engr with an eye to robotics? I'm a graduate of Morehouse College with A Physics Degree. I'm kind of pigeonholed in the current economy and unsure of what the next step would be. I had a full scholarship when I went to school but since then I've under achieved to a 2.99 which would be a 3.25+ minus leadership and art classes. I like my job in customer service most of the time but its draining for the introvert. I don't want to be around people that bore me right now. My family is recomending me for grad school at this point and their right, if I'm going now is the time. But,should I. I'm not even sure what I would want to be a good outcome. I'm smart a problem solver and a fast worker who knows how to work with difficult situations. I want to be my own boss and I like designing things, thinking aobut what people need and occassionally being with people. Do you have any ideas for me? Any places I should look or go. I've been thinking military but I'm already chaffing at my jo,bs rules I think that would be worse. Half the time I feel like I should blow all my money and skip town

Failed to register for Selective Service - ruined for life?

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:07:38 -0800

Let's say your a male and you've made a horrible mistake: you didn't sign up for Selective Service while you still had time. Is there any way to fix this? You graduated high school and left home before the age of eighteen. Neither your high school nor your parents suggested you sign up, as your relationship with both high school and your parents was somewhat tumultuous. You didn't even realize -- literally had no clue -- it was important until returning to undergrad at age thirty to finish your bachelor's degree. You never needed Selective Service information for employment or school before. If you could go back in time and register, you would, a million times over.

Here are some of the consequences for not signing up, including ineligibility for college Financial Aid, all federal jobs, many state jobs, and more.

Clearly, not signing up was a terrible mistake. However, it seems that if you can "show by a preponderance of evidence" that failure to register was not knowing and willful, you may be able to have benefits re-instated.

Do any MeFites have experience with either (a) completing an education and looking for jobs while being a non-registered male or (b) being on the other side of the table and re-instating benefits for non-registered males? It seems like being a non-registered male shuts all sorts of doors -- how did you cope? Is it best to contact the SSS directly, or go through the financial aid office at school? For financial aid officers that may have let non-registered males through, what makes a good case? Would joining the army waive these penalties, and allow things like financial aid and government jobs again?

To be clear, I'm not looking to skirt the system, just trying to get a sense of what my options are, and if I have any hope of convincing someone to let me apply for financial aid or government jobs.

In other words, is there any way this can be fixed, or do I pay for the rest of my life?

Throwaway email at anonymousmistake@gmail.com. Thanks in advance.

Offsetting sea level rise: An engineering idea of Biblical proportions

0bvious — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:52:25 -0800

The seas are rising. Climate change has made it inevitable. I have a strange question... Assuming that world sea-level rises by 1 metre over the next hundred years - Would it be possible to cordon off a section of land, somewhere in the centre of a continent, and flood it to create an artificial ocean, thus reducing the consequences of the sea rise? This Biblical scale engineering feat must take these issues into account:

1. The section of land would have to be a very large 'bowl', in the centre of a continent, that is already below sea level. Another section of land, leading from the ocean to this central 'bowl' section, would have to be carved out to create the biggest dam system mankind has ever witnessed. Does somewhere like this exist?

2. The number of humans currently living in this 'bowl' would have to be less than the number of humans who would be displaced by the 1 metre sea level rise. Otherwise this huge engineering feat would not be worth undertaking.

3. Other environmental issues should be taken into account, such as the ecosystems that would be displaced or the new weather patterns and ocean currents that would be created.

Do you have the calculations of water/land displaced? Or ideas about where this kind of thing could be built? I'd love any input on this monstrous thought experiment.

Thanks!

Advice for lost youngsters?

aesacus — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:30:46 -0800

Ideas for a young couple in a crux to figure out their future? We both attended a small, super expensive liberal arts school that we both became dissatisfied with. I completed the first year, then withdrew, but she re-enrolled this year and then quickly decided she wants to withdraw now. Now we're stuck trying to figure out what we can do next. Neither of us want to go back to our parents' houses or hometowns. She wants to take a break from school. I want to transfer as soon as possible and keep going to school, though it's not a big deal if I have to take a break or go part-time for a short while.

Our biggest priority is to move somewhere appealing and financially establish ourselves. Last summer, we lived together and planned to find full time jobs, but we only managed to find sparse temporary work through the college. Demoralized, we thought it would be extremely hard to just move somewhere and assume we'll find jobs immediately. We would prefer to arrange something beforehand. We've been applying to jobs off the Caretaker's Gazette, we're looking into work that provides room and board, like “wwoofing,” and I've been working hard to learn Ruby and some other programming languages to gain a job skill.

So, does anybody have any ideas for opportunities we could pursue? Should we just load everything up in the car and venture blindly out into the world? Should I just pick a university to go to and treat all our money concerns as secondary?

Is there any research that seeks to quantify from year to year the degree to which humanity has grown more civilized or more depraved?

jeffreyclong — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:44:11 -0800

Is there any research that seeks to quantify from year to year the degree to which humanity has grown more civilized or more depraved? Seems like futurists would do this, but I don't know where to begin to look. Negative factors would include crime, war, human trafficking, starvation, preventable disease. Positive factors would be access to affordable or universal health care, some form of freedom or democracy with a complementary bill of rights. What do you think are the factors that should be measured?

What is the title of this book?

Uncle — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:58:42 -0800

Identify a book for my girlfriend please. Read in the mid 90's maybe had 'children' in the title. Sci-fi novel about children held captive with woman in a castle after being placed with her through a government forced foster system (children are lent out to childless people for one month). They survive nuclear meltdown and years after by being put into suspended animation. When they wake up thousands of years have passed and they are kept subdued with drugged wine. David(?), the main character, escapes and finds a village of survivors who have become mutated from the radiation and inbreeding. They live off beetles and giant rabbits that have grown to the size of cattle. David has a close relationship with a girl in the castle and returns to save her?

Should he stay or should he go?

Nolechick11 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:22:23 -0800

My boyfriend can't decide what he should do about his job. Should he stick with a job he's not happy with but has great job security and benefits? Or is he better off finding something that will make him much happier? Or somewhere in between? Much, much more after the jump. This question is being asked on behalf of my boyfriend. He can’t decide what to do about his current work situation, so I suggested asking the hive mind’s opinion. I have tried to give as unbiased a summary of the problem as I can (I’ve never been all that thrilled with the way they treat him) and I’ve shown it to him for his approval. I apologize now for the length.

My boyfriend currently works as a computer engineer at a science-oriented government facility. He has been there for approximately 6 years and this is the only job that he’s had after college. The core part of the software system he works on was produced by another developer who left the group about 3 years into the project. This piece of software is used in various places around the facility. His responsibilities include (but are not limited to) maintaining and adding on to the existing program. Over the years, he has learned a fair amount about how the core works although it is very convoluted and difficult to understand. He hasn’t been all that happy with the job for a while and at various times has considered posting his resume, but he just hasn’t done it. He did try to leave about two years ago. He found another job that was offering a more money, but his current job gave him even more money to stay and he did. They gave him a bonus and made him sign an agreement saying that he would remain there for a year.

Recently, however, things have started to get a lot more stressful. There is and has been a lot of turn-over in his group, which was relatively small (6 people). Three people quit within the past 6 months and only recently has one new programmer been hired. Additionally, my boyfriend is now the only one left who understands about 2/3 of the software system used throughout the facility. As a result he is seen as the guy to go to when there is a problem. Often the problems at the instruments have nothing to do with the software. However, whether they do or do not, he is the most likely person to be able to diagnose the problem and fix it. The facility runs 24 hours/day for about 10 months out of the year, so there are often people there late at night and on the weekends. Therefore, he often gets phone calls after he’s left work or on weekends because something broke. If he isn’t already busy, he will often agree to just go back into work because it is not something that can be easily diagnosed/fixed over the phone. He also has the added responsibility to train new employees.

So, he has been seriously considering posting his resume to see what kind of jobs/offers he can get. One potential problem is that after the third person quit, his boss asked him if he was looking for another job. He said that he didn’t really answer the question because he didn’t want to lie. He told his boss that he doesn’t have a resume up but didn’t specifically tell him he wasn’t thinking of looking for another job. His boss also asked him not leave for at least three months because they would be completely screwed. My boyfriend has discussed this with his parents and they are encouraging him to ask his boss for a raise and a change in job title and description (to include the new supervisory duties).

He doesn’t know whether to stay in the job he is basically unhappy with or try to find something new. He also doesn’t know whether or not to talk to his boss about a raise. One extra thing to point out is that he said a raise would be nice but it wouldn’t be long before the unhappiness with the job came back.

Reasons for staying:
1. He has iron clad job security and government benefits. He has some pretty major health issues, so health insurance is a must.
2. His pay is decent. He thinks its at least average for his field (although he’s not certain). He gets regular cost of living increases and can receive raises.
3. According to him, continuing to work there is a “known quantity”. Basically, he’s worked there for so long he knows how things are run and how everything works (and doesn’t see any huge changes in the future).
4. He believes he has built a good reputation within the building, beyond the people he works with all the time.
5. He has some feelings of guilt if he leaves when they are already down three people.

Reasons for leaving:
1. The software which is produced is of low quality. The facility he works at is not willing to spend the resources necessary to improve the software and the project is generally poorly managed. In addition, the facility wants to keep expanding the software to work on all systems without addressing its core problems.
2. The clients of his software (the scientists) do not like the software and he rarely gets positive feedback from them. Even when he does, he knows that it could be made a lot better.
3. The work is not particularly challenging.
4. The job is very stressful, especially right now. He often has difficulty falling asleep (can’t stop thinking, sometimes about work). Occasionally, he will wake in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep because he is stressed out from work.

Hopefully, you’ve stayed with me this far… so do you have any advice for him? Should he stay the three months and then say screw it I’m finding another job? Should he wait it out to see if the economy gets any better? Thanks for any help you can give!

Bonus question: Assume that my boyfriend decides to post his resume. His boss is actively looking for more people to hire. What does my boyfriend say to his boss when he (the boss) eventually finds bf’s resume online?

How Do I Ace This Test?

forallmankind — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:36:39 -0800

Where do you want to be in 3 months/ 6 months/ 1 yr/ 3 yrs within the company? My boss asked me to write a response to this when I challenged him about my lack of career direction. Obviously I have my own thoughts, but beyond that, what specifically is *he* wanting to read when I turn this in? What will help convince him to put me on the fast-track to where I want to be?

Raising a family in New Zealand. How much has where you grew up determined your personality?

scazza — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:02:13 -0800

How much has where you grew up determined your personality? How important is location? Those who grew up in New Zealand, how much has its culture and limitations shaped you? Children of expats, how did having expat parents influence you? Any Americans in NZ want to tell me why they are raising their children there? And I'm not asking this since I just saw "Away We Go." It just occurred to me the similarity of this question. I often think about where would be the best place to raise a child. Yes circumstance usually dictates, but let's forget that for the moment. I am American but also a New Zealand citizen where my large family on my father's side lives in Auckland. I have always heard that NZ is an amazing place to raise your child, however I have some concerns that maybe you all can help me with.

My experience has mostly been of Auckland and my own family. My family network there is very large and insular with very little room for individuality. I don't think anyone in my generation there has gone to college and they all work for the family business. They all talk of leaving but never do. They are an amazing family, but culturally ignorant and occasionally offensive (for example re gays). I am an artist, my partner a lexicographer, we adore the outdoors, but also like intelligent conversation and debate about everything, anything (University of Chicago life of the mind anyone?). We have considered raising our future children in NZ but basically I don't want them to grow up to be like the rest of my family there, isolated in terms of cultural and intellectual knowledge and respect, open-mindedness and curiosity. Individuality, achievement is a very American value, one that can sometimes be taken too far, but I don't want to rob my children of it if they grow in a more insular culture. My cousin tells me it gets more insular as you move south in NZ from Auckland but I don't know whether to believe her, and I wouldn't want to live in Auckland.

How much does or has location determined your personality? I think it's determined by your parents more than anything (contradicting conventional thought that it's your friends who are the most influential, but I've just never encountered that in anyone I know) but what about extended family?
I've heard Wellington is the culture capital of NZ, is this true? Are there other places? Is it true that cultural exposure declines as you head south?
Those who have grown up in NZ, have you felt a full cultural and intellectual exposure and life?
Any Americans in NZ want to tell me their stories? Why and where do you live in NZ? (Though it would be Saturday for you now, so are you even checking MF?)
Friends I've known who left NZ to see the world have all moved back. What's up with that?

I'm probably moving. Do I stay in this relationship or do I go?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:06:40 -0800

I'm in a relationship but unhappy where I live and planning to move. My boyfriend may not wind up joining me. Is it better to cut off the relationship or pursue a long distance relationship again for a little while? I'm twenty six and a girl; for the past eight or so years I've been dating this fella five years my senior. He is the only guy I have kissed/dated/etc so my viewpoint's pretty limited. We were for a long while a long distance relationship, and three years ago I moved 2000+ miles to the Southwest to be with him. The time spent with him has overall been a good one; he's one of my best friends and I am constantly laughing and feel more or less at ease with him. There are of course some issues like all relationships, but we've dealt with them as best we can.

The big issue at hand though is that I hate where I am. He keeps telling me it takes a few years to feel settled in, but the climate and the sprawl of the place make me miserable most of the time. Beyond that, apart from the very casual friendships I have made at a night-job, I really have no friends here and it's made things unbearably lonely. So I'm really restless and feeling like I need a major change in my life. We've discussed this big issue a lot and he admits it can be a boring place and he doesn't think I should spend my twenties in a place that makes me sad, so he agrees I should move. But at the same time he couldn't move right away and possibly might not at all. I know it causes him pain to know he's not enough for me so at the moment I've been keeping mum about moving talk until things are a little more concrete beyond the daydreaming and saving money phase.

Things are falling into place that would make it possible for me to move up to Portland, OR; I am self-employed in the creative industry, and I know a lot of creative friends up there and loved the place when I visited. I've found post-college that I need a circle of creative people, and I do need friends. The internet helps, but still it's not the same. I'm saving to make the plunge within the next year, but as I do so I realize that it might be the end of my relationship. And this makes me torn on how to proceed.

Some details/issues/mitigating factors-

-He is a gamer. Big-time. He plays computer games every night, and left to his devices he'd be totally addicted to them. It's practically his only hobby, so it's hard to really do much else together besides eating, talking, sleeping, and watching tv. I would mind this less if we lived someplace where I was more mobile or had other things to do. Right now I work while he games, basically. I work a lot.

-He tends to take me for granted, but at the same time is very thoughtful and helpful when it counts so it does make up for it.

- we own a dog we both love very much, but who is slightly more attached to me. Since I work at home and am her predominant caretaker, I'm pretty certain he'd want her to come with me, although if he really wanted her I would give her to him.

-He has a circle of friends that he's accumulated since grade school, which I would hate for him to lose touch with.

-He doesn't have a lot of ambitions beyond staying above the poverty line and he owns a house that he got when he was 20 and this is his main investment (though it has several big repairs it needs before it could even be sold)

-His job is very much a niche and he's in a job he really likes, although it doesn't sound like he wants to spend his whole career there. Most jobs I've found for him are contract work or else require more knowledge/classwork/a degree and understandably that's concerning to him.

-He is not very motivated these days. Before I met him apparently he was a very angry person and that anger motivated him to work out, do more. But he's more laid-back and forgetful, so things like staying fit or taking classes have been put off here and there. His lack of motivation makes him complacent and sometimes boring. I feel like he really needs something to set him off and start being more proactive in his life, though I'm not sure a breakup is the best way to do it!

-I know he considers me the love of his life; I am not entirely sure I feel the same way. I love him dearly but at the same time sometimes pine for someone creative like me, or to be alone. As is, we are pretty different people and while this is good sometimes I'm not sure he understands me. At the same time this is the only guy I've been with, so part of me wonders if I might be alone for the rest of my life if I break up with him. Not enough to be afraid to go through with it, but I do wonder a little.

I know that there's still time to work this out, but I don't know what to do yet and I will be thinking about this for a while until we start talking about it when it is a little closer to reality. I love him dearly and best case scenario he'd come out to live with me and try something new to shake himself up out of this complacent mood he's been in. But all discussions seem to lead to excuses why that couldn't happen in the short term (the house, job, big change-- valid, but excuses all the same). But I really don't know what he'll do until I do it-- when I go on trips he misses me greatly and feels bored and realizes he takes me for granted. Perhaps if I move on my own and keep in touch in a long-distance way again, he may realize that being without me isn't as good. Perhaps not; it's a gamble. If we are to ultimately break up, I want to do it as kindly and amicably as possible-- he is a good guy despite his flaws, and really this isn't as much about him as it is about me and my restless and lonesome nature. It's not a DTMFA situation or anything. Ideally I want to stay friends with him, but I think he said a long time ago he probably couldn't stay friends with me if we ever broke up, so that's a painful possibility I'm willing to deal with.

So I guess what I'm wondering is what would you do, would you tear the band-aid off, chop off the limb and move on (sort of a be cruel to be kind thing?) Or would you see how things would go for a while in a long-distance format and then decide a little later when we both know more about the situation? I've done the long-distance thing, and it sucks but I know I can do it (whether I want to again, I'm still deciding). I can't decide whether breaking up or staying together for long distance for a bit to see where we stand is kinder to both of us. Either way it'll end up with us both sad for a time, but I'm divided on what will hurt more. And if I do break up with him, I'm not sure how to do it in a way that will sting as little as possible. Making him sad makes me sad, so if you have any advice on that too I'd love to hear it.

I'm sorry that this is long, but I wanted to give details. If you have been in a similar situation, I've set up an email address at ldrtopdx@gmail.com and would love to hear what you experienced or what you might do if you were me. Thanks everyone in advance!

Are there any metals or minerals in danger of becoming extinct?

penciltopper — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:12:57 -0800

Are there any metals or minerals, especially ones essential to some vital industry, that are in danger or becoming "extinct"? Say WWIII is fought over the remaining oil, and WWIV is over the remaining water, will WWV be over the last of the...vanadium?

This came up when I was debunking a technophile friend's faith in technology to bring us through the next few hundred years or so.

Him: "Well, we can certainly get off of dependency on increasingly rare and conflict-generating fossil fuels by switching to hydrogen-powered fuel cells...."
Me: "You know that fuel cells need platinum as a catalyst to function, right? You think oil is rare, where are we going to get all that platinum, and without fighting over it?"

Him: "silicon chips are made from sand...we're certainly not going to run out of sand!"
Me: "well, most of it is sand, but the working parts are made from rare metals and elements...sand does you no good if we've mined out all the gallium arsenide or whatever"

So I'm thinking in terms of using up all of a non-renewable resource, but in terms of materials, not fuel. All the world's dodo birds were in one spot, and we thought they were so neat we used them all up. Is there any material that we're in danger of doing the same with?

Does all the americium-231 come from a single atoll somewhere, and when we've mined it all out we won't be able to make a smoke alarm anymore? That kind of thing.

Not-reasonably-obtainable counts in this, I'd think. For instance, I've heard that there is plenty of gold dissolved in the planet's oceans, but there's no way to extract it in useful quantities.

What can I do to feel more positive and confident while riding out uncertaintiy in "transitional" phases of my life?

Chrysalis — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:30:31 -0800

What can I do to feel more positive and confident while riding out uncertaintiy in "transitional" phases of my life? I'm in my mid 20s, and after a pretty traumatic breakup, have just moved back to my home town. I haven't lived here for 3 years, and while it's great to be back amongst my old friends and have a chance for a fresh start, it's also quite unsettling that I haven't got a long-established routine or a clear future plan now. I'm trying to use this as a time to reconsider what I want for my life (now that my plans with my partner won't be happening) and get in touch with who I really am etc... but I can't help feeling uneasy about the fact that nothing's really happening right now... I'm about to start studying, I've applied for a job, I'm keeping busy with training for my sport, but right at this moment there's nothing major that I'm passionately working on and towards, that I can pin all my hopes on (I realise this is unhealthy and almost definitely the cause of a lot of my unhappiness).

I've felt similarly before, and always just either stayed in an unhappy situation to avoid this happening and tried to "make it work", or jumped into a poor but distracting situation to avoid having to go through this. These situations have been both geographical, career or relationship situations, but my response so far has always been the same.

This time I want to stick it out and not just run away from it. I feel like this is my chance to become more authentically "me" and comfortable with that, and make better choices from that position, and hopefully end up being comfortable and reasonably happy day to day without it being pinned on some future awesomeness, but I keep being tempted to either run away (distract myself with things I don't really want or literally move overseas again) or hide in my room forever cos it's just too hard.

What can I do to face this time in a positive, constructive manner?

Where's my jetpack?!

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:16:42 -0800

Is there a better word for this notion than "futurism?" What's the best word or phrase to connote desire for the idealized future -- that romantic, superficial imagining of things to come which is the flipside of nostalgia?

It's what can make science fiction and utopia/dystopia fantasy stories so alluring, can make you cry "where's my jetpack?!" but isn't confined to mere technophilia.

In the paper I'm writing, I'm using "futurism" to describe the visual style of the film a lot, so I'd like to have another, distinct term to describe the motivation of looking into the future with hopeful, fantastic, or romantic imagination. I figure maybe one of you smart sci-fi literate cookies might have figured this out by now.

Arguments for why "utopianism" or "futurism," etc. are actually the best options are completely welcome to me.

Lollipop Fields and Robot Makeovers?

thebellafonte — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:10:31 -0800

Can anyone identify these cartoons? One about two poor kids who dream of a world made of food, then wake up to a feast in their kitchen. Another about a young couple at a future world/technology expo where they see instant houses, get groomed by robots, and ballroom dance? I had a VHS tape as a kid with a few cartoons on it.
Here's what I remember from the first cartoon:
Brother and sister living in poverty. They stand outside of a baker's (?) window and lick their lips, which the baker sees. Baker goes over and starts whispering to town butcher (?). Mother feeds them cake for dinner, and it's hard so the kids dip it in milk. They ask for more food, but there isn't any. Mom starts crying on table. She tucks them in, their blankets look like swiss cheese. They have this mutual dream in which everything is for eating- lollipop flower fields, possibly some carnival rides made out of cheese wheels and things. They wake up and realize it was only a dream. Then they go to the kitchen and there's a huge table full of delicious things to eat. The baker and the butcher are there. The boy stabs himself with a fork to make sure he isn't still dreaming.
Second cartoon:
Follows a young man and woman as they make their way through some sort of future world expo. There is a bullet train that takes the people to the expo, which is in a tall, rounded skyscraper. Inside, houses are being built very quickly by machines, and a stork flies by and drops a baby in one of the chimneys. The man sits in a robot chair that grooms him- shave, haircut, etc. And the woman steps into some sort of mold that gives her an hourglass shape and a cute dress. I think there's also some robot thing that puts lipstick on her and curls her hair. They go dancing in a ballroom. Oh and I just remembered that they each dance with a robot partner before dancing with eachother. Then they go up to a machine, press a button, and a block falls out. The block unfolds itself and is a totally awesome car. They get in and drive away.

I think about these cartoons more in my adult life than I'm willing to admit.
I'm 23, but I think they're from the 40s. Maybe 50s.

Any help as to identifying them or an idea of where to get a copy would blow me away.

Can I help my 19yr old brother with little hope for his future?

T.D. Strange — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:01:06 -0800

Can I help my 19yr old brother with little hope for his future? My brother is 19 and about to be kicked out of the house with no real skills or prospects of making anything of his life. He dropped out of high school, had his license suspended, has been through a string of min wage jobs. My mom/brother almost had him ready to join the military and he got his GED, but that window has now close due to tightening standards and his inability/unwillingness to pass the drug test. He has made passing interest in various technical or community college programs, but will never follow through on any of them.

He has had authority issues his entire life, constantly clashing with teachers, bosses and most of all our parents. He constantly blames anyone in an authority position, or maybe the world in general, for the perceived unfairness of his life. Yet objectively, he’s had every opportunity to succeed if had made any semblance of effort on his own behalf, and his current crappy outlook is the result of years of constantly choosing the self destructive path and deliberately ignoring well meaning advice from all sources, especially from parents and teachers. In a pop-psychology sense, the attention he gets from acting out and playing the victim is greater than the reward of actually making something for himself.

My Dad has given him an ultimatum to be out of the house by the end of the month. He has no realistic prospect of being able to support himself on his own, so I don’t see how that is possible, but I believe the seriousness of the ultimatum.

I am supposed to be staying there for a couple months this summer while studying for the bar exam. In the past I’ve made efforts to give him advice: “stay in school, D is for diploma!” “how about looking at this EMT training program?” and “maybe you should join the army for a few years, it would give you a nice salary and you might like it” but he’s never given my advice any more credence than anyone else’s, and I’m confident that he looks at me as an kind of stand-in parent. Is there anything I can do to help him out of the rather hopeless bed he’s made for himself?

What do you mean it's just a phase?

Beardman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:27:39 -0800

Please point me to some examples of people/characters imploring their future selves not to forget, diminish, or dismiss the experiences of the present self. Novels, non-fiction, poetry, film = all good.

I left the question open-ended because there could be a lot of different contexts, but the basic scenario is one in which a person recognizes the transience of the present and insists on the importance of what they're currently going through, no matter what difference in perspective the future brings.

Examples that don't quite follow this "message to the future" format, but which still evoke a sense of the impermanence of the present, would still be helpful.

Thanks!

Does an MBA retain its value relative to the current and near-future market?

zennoshinjou — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:02:03 -0800

What (if anything) is the value of an MBA in today's market? I am curious if anyone has any insight into the value of an MBA today and in the next 5 years. I have considered off and on getting one but I have read a lot about rising skepticism about their value in certain industries due to over-saturation, groupthink and a general sense that MBAs don't bring to the table what was previously thought.

Has anyone done any ROI research that is current (I looked a bit on the google and found stuff from ~2001)? Is it reasonable anymore to shoulder such a substantial load of student debt?

As an ancillary question is an MBA something worthwhile to pursue if you aren't yet entirely certain what you want to do with your life? It seems to me that setting aside specialization its a good sort of generalist degree that can open doors to more challenging and involved opportunities further down the road.

anyhow, thanks for the help.

How do I pick a major - work I love, classes I love, or a subject I love?

magraak — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:10:45 -0800

How do I pick a major? Work I love, classes I love, or a subject I love? I'm a second semester sophomore at university, and I need to pick a major in roughly two weeks. I don't know what I want to do after I graduate, so the choice is difficult. I'm seriously considering three majors: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Psychology, and English. The trouble is, my school doesn't have minors or double majors, and I can think of compelling arguments for and against each of the choices:

Bio:
For: I love the subject. I love being outside, and I love knowing about the plants and animals around me. I was convinced from ages 4-12 that all I wanted to do when I grew up was work in a green house. I used to run experiments in my garden. This is also the most useful of my possible choices, and it has an amazing semester abroad fieldwork program in Panama. And I can imagine wanting to know the material, so I can point out thing to my future grandkids while on family walks/picnics/vacations.

Against: I've taken all the prerequisites, but no classes in the department itself, and I'm worried that I'm not good enough at math/science, or that I'll get bogged down with those parts. (This wasn't an issue when I was younger, but my university is full of people who are actual geniuses - and I don't consider myself one of those people, though I'm generally pretty good at whatever I set my mind to) I don't want to be terrible at my major, and I don't want to start to get bored with my major.

Psych:
For: I find the classes really interesting, and I know I'm good at them. I can also think of several topics I'd be interested in exploring during the mandatory independent work, and a professor has offered to supervise both my junior and senior independent work without prompting.

Against: While I might want to research in this area, I really don't want to have any of the careers that are most heavily associated with this field, except maybe teaching.

English:
For: I love doing the work. The classes and the reading can be either hit or miss, but there's no better feeling than sitting down to write a paper, and realizing I actually have original, valid, important thoughts, and can back them up. I feel proud when I finish.

Against: What do you do with a degree in English? Also, because I haven't taken much in college, it would involve taking about 3 English courses per semester for my remaining time at university, and I'm not sure that I would be happy without enough time to pursue my other (very broad) interests.

So...What do I do?

Technology of the future.

517 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:35:13 -0800

I'm looking for predictions of near future technology made by people who are actually working on that technology and have the funding to make it happen. AT&T had these commercials in the early '90s and now, 16 years later, most of these things can be done with an old laptop.

Of course, these ads are only interesting because most of their predictions came true. I was wondering if there were any other compilations of future technology that is backed by big money out there on the internet?

Print, video or whatever format is fine.

How to deal with mixed signals from a long-term SO?

pecanpies — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:07:06 -0800

(Relationship Filter) What's a rational, fair, and non-dramatic way to deal with mixed signals from your significant other? I've been in a serious relationship with someone for about a year and a half (I'm female, he's male, if it matters). Yes, not terribly long, but long enough that I believe each of us thinks that there is a good possibility that this may be it, so to speak. Things between us are overwhelmingly happy, positive, peaceful, comfortable...just generally awesome. We have much in common regarding how we view the world and how we'd like to spend our lives.

I do have the feeling that I'm getting some mixed signals from him, though, regarding how he envisions the relationship progressing. A year is too soon for me personally to start talking marriage (and again, that's just me), but I would like to know if we're at least thinking along the same lines with regard to relationships/our individual futures/etc.

This is what's happened: more than once, he's made comments that his income would be enough to support both of us "so that [I] wouldn't even have to work" (his words). Please note - to my knowledge, I've never given any indication that I expect him to support me, now or ever. This is something he's said on his own. He has also made references to living together, me moving in, etc. at least a dozen times. I have not made such comments, if it matters. Oddly enough, though, he really doesn't talk about future plans that much - e.g., say things like "we should go to Europe next summer," "we should go to a World Cup game one day", etc.

So. After giving this some serious thought on my own, I decided to broach the topic of moving in together. We had been talking about our current living situations & plans we each had, and I casually asked if he had been thinking about living together. The look on his face immediately changed and he made a vague reply, something along the lines of, "Well, uh...it wouldn't bother me, I guess." I wasn't sure how to respond and remarked that I thought us moving in together, if we decided to do that, should be something we each both actively desired, versus something that didn't "bother us too much." Long pause, then he made a vague reply about "someday."

I feel like I've made a fool of myself, but I was only responding to what I thought was a conversation he had already started. Thoughts on dealing with this confusion? Do I drop it completely and hope for clarification later, or confront it head-on? Something in between, perhaps?

Thanks for reading this far, and I appreciate any insight you can give me. If you've been in a similar situation (either in a position like mine or one like his), I'd definitely like to hear what happened & what you learned.