WIRED: Clark Wants to Go Faster Than Light [View All]

[LuminousX]

"I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go," said Clark. "I happen to believe that mankind can do it."

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60629,00.html

I'm a science and NASA geek so talk like this excites me. Ignoring the fact that e=mc² is a physical law and asking to circumvent it is pretty silly, I like the fact that someone is talking about science in a visionary sort of way.

"It's my only faith-based initiative."

It may take faith to violate the laws of physics but it takes steely nerves to promote hardcore scientific research when there seems to be a backlash against such things. Bush is clearly not intellectually curious and sees technology only in terms of consumer products instead of adancement of humanity and society.

"Some goals may take a lifetime to reach," he said. "We need to set those goals now. We need to re-dedicate ourselves to science, engineering and technology in this country."

I would like to hear each of the top-tier candidates make such a commitment. Dean is my favored candidate but I don't think he is very visionary when it comes to planning for the future. That's okay, because we have enough short term immediate problems because of Bush that we need to focus on them.

If we don't have our eyes on the horizon, we may be unprepared for what is coming. Dean style pragmatism is great for today, but who knows about tomorrow. Investment in science, engineering, and technology will help drive the economic booms of the future.