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A pause for thought.

Eruptions will be a little quiet thanks to some poor decision-making by the powers-that-be.
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If you haven’t heard, ScienceBlogs HQ has put its foot squarely in its jaw thanks to a little poor decision-making. Now, Eruptions is a little outside the mainstream of ScienceBlogs – there aren’t many corporations that might influence my posting (unless you suddenly see “Eruptions – brought to you by RyanAir” the next time an Icelandic volcano erupts), so I would hope that the credibility of this blog is hopefully not too threatening by the PepsiBlog, but I feel for my other ScienceBloggers who may be adversely effected for various reasons. In solidarity with them, Eruptions will be quiet for a while as SB’s Powers-That-Be (hopefully) address this dilemma. Stay tuned … (and hopefully nothing blows its top in the interim).


Now, if you feel strongly about this problem, please do not hesitate to email Seed Media (editorial@scienceblogs.com) and voice your opinion. It is a very fine line that keeps bloggers credible in this media age, so we need to be vigilant to protect it.

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Related
It’s plain to see that I’m an optimist, sometimes more than is socially comfortable. The ease with which I dismiss the disastrous economic decline above serves as one example of that. I wrote that the recession will benefit our political system, and, before I cut this line, as having “rewarded our company for methodical execution and ruthless efficiency by removing competitors from the landscape.” I make no mention of the disastrous effects on millions of people, and the great uncertainty that grips any well-briefed mind, because it truly doesn’t stand in the foreground of my mind (despite suffering personal loss of wealth). Our species is running towards a precipice with looming dangers like economic decline, political unrest, climate crisis, and more threatening to grip us as we jump off the edge, but my optimism is stronger now than ever before. On the other side of that looming gap are extraordinary breakthroughs in healthcare, communications technology, access to space, human productivity, artistic creation and literally hundreds of fields. With the right execution and a little bit of luck we’ll all live to see these breakthroughs — and members of my generation will live to see dramatically lengthened life-spans, exploration and colonization of space, and more opportunity than ever to work for passion instead of simply working for pay. Instead of taking this space to regale you with the many personal and focused changes I intend to make in 2009, let me rather encourage you to spend time this year thinking, as I’m going to, more about what we can do in 2009 to positively affect the future our culture will face in 2020, 2050, 3000 and beyond.

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