Its become sort of common place these days to denigrate established ideas with the notion that there is something within easy reach that will replace them. That this is not the case comes as a surprise to those who were not aware of the traditional views in the first place. This usually means young people.
It is understandable for the new crowd to go high on expectations, but the problem arises that these expectations and euphoria may lead to very irrational result. In the initiate to new aspects of science and religion there are always going to be expectations of great truths and wonderful things to happen have been fed by elements of science and religion that are still very uncertain. The best approach would seem to be to learn something of current science and religion before jumping onto the Bleep wagon.
Irrational ideas emerge during periods of rapid change. In the current period of emerging extraordinary change resulting from already irrational approaches to science and religion from the leadership of the Bush administration, we may experience an enormous resurgence of the irrational. In the background, lurks the disaffection with reasoned solutions and experience because of the profligacy and solution vacuity of current US economic, science, health, and educational policies.
We can all hold our breath that we are not entering another round of flight from the dollar as gave such an impetus to the ruination of the middle class, the ordinary student coming out of college, as occured in the mid-1970s. It is just possible that the current decision makers are steering the world economy into a dangerous period of stagflation that no nation can afford and that will bring about an end to dreams of economic independence worldwide. By independence, I mean freedom from debt burdens that stifle innovation and invention.
While America has the world focused on oil, the main focus should be on water resources. Watch for the slight of hand that shifts towards stealing these resources through the use of existing economic and military advantages. One can see the potential results by searching for enormous lakes in Asia that no longer exist except as deserts and wastelands. There is an enomous potential for desertification in the decade ahead before the world is enlightened enough to see the excesses of destructive energy intensive technologies. Grow corn to create energy, but don't put something into the ground that is thirty times as dangerous to our precious atmosphere. Yes! What the bl..p do I know. Not much!