Optimism at SETICON 2 and Beyond

The SETICON 2 event happened this past weekend in Santa Clara, California. The SETICON is a "unique, entertaining and enlightening public event where science and imagination meet." Speakers such as SETI pioneer Frank Drake, astronauts Mae Jemison and Tom Jones, Star Trek veteran Robert Picardo, SETI director Jill Tarter, exoplanet explorer Geoff Marcy among many other notable people attended and mingled, marinating in the ideas and the presence of influential personalities.

It seems that everyone is excited. There is a palpable post-SETICON 2-buzz filling the internet this week as a result of all that scientific and creative merging. What is the general theme that the rest of us sense? Optimism. 

The reason is this: we can't possibly be living in more interesting times. The entire planet, in one way or another, is connected via planetary, near-instantaneous computer network that is having profound impacts across all aspects of life. The rate at which we solve problems is increasing exponentially, which seems to be leading to the abundant future recently described by Peter Diamandis. And most intriguingly, we've been discovering hundreds of planets outside of our solar system at an intense rate.