And yet, without knowing it, ahead of you was the Civil Rights Act, the women's liberation movement, the environmental movement and the Clean Air Act, increased support for interacial relationships, gay rights.

In the midst of that dark time, it would have been hard to believe any of those could be ahead of you. Who knows what could be ahead of us now?

I have elementary age kids and it is fascinating seeing how that generation is growing up. They are so much more community oriented and caring that my generation was. They seem to understand that there are hard problems to be solved and that they won't be solved alone.

I'm filled with sorrow at the world they are inheriting, but I have a lot of optimism that they will do a better job with it than we have.

There's nothing metaphysical about observing that we have imperfect knowledge of the future and some potentialities are positive.

> I've already discounted the idea.

That's a personal choice of attitude and perspective, not an objective property of the universe. You're welcome to it, of course, but it's probably not accomplishing much for you.

> Everything ends eventually.

All the more reason to make the most of it and find the joy we can while it lasts. If it's going to end either way, why obsess about it?