Re: starship-design: Smells Like Teen Spirit

[KellySt@aol.com]

These two paragraphs clearly point out the bulk problem of all space advocacy 
groups.  They think its the  cheerleaders that make the crowd excited about 
the game.  They forget that if nothings happening "on the field" i.e. in 
space inself, no one has anything to be excited about.



In a message dated 5/15/03 6:03:51 PM, lparker@cacaphony.net writes:

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>Space education programs fall flat because the genuine excitement of
>hands-on engagement with something uniquely, generationally new and timely
>is simply absent. Rather than remedy the problem by advancing space access,
>giving rise to genuine passion and interest, these programs attempt to
>generate enthusiasm in a way transparently phony to kids, who have a
>finely-honed nose for the foolishness of adults trying to act like
>teenagers, whether in trying to recapture their own youth by imitating
>the young or in trying to talk to them in their own language.
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>There was little need in the last decade for programs, governmental or
>nonprofit, to get kids excited about computers. Why? They were exciting.
>The time was right, the technology was available, malleable, and eminently
>suited to creative play. Space technology isn't there, and all the wishful
>thinking, and "space is kewl" phoniness won't change that fact.