In Issac Asimov’s “Lecture on Humanity”, given in 1973, he makes many predictions about the 21st century. He says, among other things, we’ll need population control, a shift in our view of education, a change in food production, and we’ll have to realize “we’re a world without war” (10).

As a young, intelligent member of the 21st century, what do you think of Asimov’s predictions? Have any of them come true? If they haven’t, should we work toward making any of them a reality? Why or why not?

What other elements of Asimov’s lecture appeal to you? What do you make of his humor? Of his anecdotes? Explain what we can learn from his pointed sarcasm and from some of the stories he shares with us.

And, finally, how does this lecture reflect qualities of synoptic philosophy and critical analysis? Give a specific example.

We’re all excitedly awaiting your response to these questions. Make sure you’ve posted your blog by midnight on Tuesday, September 22nd. Also, it would behoove you to reexamine your classmates’ responses to the previous post. Some of them are without commentary; others recently posted.

I disagree with Asimov. I believe that he is looking at the world in a very idealistic way. Although everything he says is very intelligent, convincing, and impressive, his ideas are just about about as plausible as a Utopian society. Solving the worlds problems by simply changing our lives is simply not possible without serious action from a person in power. The government represents us and politics is simply a grown-up-game of staying in power. No government leader is going to sacrifice his or her political career for something they deem unimportant. America, other countries, and even human beings ourselves will always deal with more pressing matters first. Even though he does warn us of the dangers of the future, nothing will be done until trouble is banging at our back door. Also his predictions don't sound realistic. We must face the fact that as long as there is desire, lust, and greed the world will never be without war and violence.

I did think Asimov was very funny and appealed to the people. He was easy to relate to and very charismatic. He is definitely a very good speaker.


Asimov used synoptic philosophy by gathering evidence for his ideas from a variety of sources in science and literature. He used critical analysis by using his ideas to draw conclusions and to connect information from different sources.