News that Matters

Recently I had watched a short TED video of this guy Kirk Citron (sounds like something out of Star Trek). He was given 6 mins to talk about his "big idea." Given his time, he decided to talk about the news. His talk is titled "And now, the real news." I would highly recommend watching the video, it is, just 6 mins long.

The talk is interesting because he asks a vital question: What news is going to matter in 10? 100? 10,000 years from now? The speaker makes a very good point and its worth thinking about. in 100 years will anyone remember or care about the "death panels" in the health care debate? Will anyone even know who Sarah Palin is? With the disaster in Haiti even matter? Will the "Miracle on the Hudson"  be anything more than a forgotten event? Will the Fort Hood attack matter in even a decade? History says it won't.

Let's even go into other events that we think are important today: The "global war on terror." In 100, 200 years, how much will it affect life then? Chances are it will be minimal. The biggest story of the last 3-4 years has been the economy, but does anyone remember the economic recessions that have hit the U.S. every 20 years or so? Even with its magnitude, this economic recession will fall out of the minds of most as the economy gets better, and we walk towards another crisis down the road.

The speaker then points to news that got almost no coverage in the media, but those that will have the greatest impact in 100- 10,000 years (assuming humans survive that long). Those stories include the expansion of a mega-colony of ants that have spread to every part of the earth except Antarctica, a "robot scientist" that made its own discovery with little help from humans among many others.

What other stories will matter? Stories that detail how scientists have created nano robots to swim through the blood of mice to help them fight disease (eventually to be put into humans). His top choice for the story that matters the most is: The discovery of water on the moon, which will pave the way for colonies there and an entirely different future.

So next time your complaining about a pimple on your face, or your greying hair, bald spot, or that you "need someone to cuddle with" just realize that if the death of millions of people through the Global War on Terror and the Haiti Earthquake won't be remembered in 50 years, chances are your zit problem will die the next day. Move on. Choose news wisely. Food for thought.

Here's the link to the presenter's project that analyze's only "important news."