So what are YOU optimistic about? That's the 2007 Edge Question.

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THE WORLD'S LEADING THINKERS SEE GOOD NEWS AHEAD

While conventional wisdom tells us that things are bad and getting worse, scientists and the science-minded among us see good news in the coming years. That's the bottom line of an outburst of high-powered optimism gathered from the world-class scientists and thinkers who frequent the pages of Edge, in an ongoing conversation among third culture thinkers (i.e., those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectual in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are.)

The 2007 Edge Question marks the 10th anniversary of Edge, which began in December, 1996 as an email to about fifty people. In 2006, Edge had more than five million individual user sessions.

I am pleased to present the 2007 Edge Question: What Are You Optimistic About? Why?

The 160 responses to this year's Edge Question span topics such as string theory, intelligence, population growth, cancer, climate and much much more. Contributing their optimistic visions are a who's who of interesting and important world-class thinkers.(edge.com)

People like Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Jared Diamond, Freeman Dyson and J. Craig Venter (yeah, OK - so I have no idea who any of them are either... well, apart from Richard Dawkins...) - were among the 160 luminaries - who in short, clear essays, tackled the question “What are you optimistic about?”. Finally, something to help the average Joe see beyond the old cliche that we are all fucked.

Forcing respondents to set aside the doom-and-gloom mindset that passes for sophistication, Brockman elicited answers that remind us that we are living in a Golden Age of discovery. The biologists, physicists and computer scientists he queried believe that the 20th-century breakthroughs that have enabled us to live longer, healthier and more comfortable lives may be dwarfed by the accomplishments on the near horizon.

Hold on there, the pessimist interrupts. What about global warming? Won't our cities be flooded as we're burned to a crisp? Nope. Edge respondents are convinced that help is on the way (source)

Some of the essays are a little dry and too scientific for my short attention span, but there is a healthy balance that covers the more interesting themes of the human condition and the environment. I particularly like these comments from Nancy Etcoff, a Harvard psychologist:

The data suggests that the demographic trends we are seeing away from marriage do not portend an increasingly unhappy society. Along with other evidence, it suggests that what is important for happiness is the quality of a relationship and not its civil status.

Finally, forget optimism, I know this for sure: we will always form passionate bonds with others, and through them find joy, solace, comfort, love, amusement, sympathy, and moments of ecstasy, and we will know in them the awe and wonder of being alive.

And now that I've convinced myself that I am indeed an intellectual and not just another disorganised, dysfunctional piss-head, I'm gonna go and read some more of these essays. Go get yourself a cuppa and settle into an interesting and positive look at the future. A perfect winter activity. BTW, my name is Martine and I've been sober for a week.