Rapid-fire advances in technology will continue to transform our
lives and the economy. But what's the bottom line--the implications of these trends for
our lives? You'll find the implications briefly analyzed in the second of two articles
drawn from Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies's special report, "50 Trends
Now Changing the World." The authors offer a bottom-line summary of the key
implications for each trend they describe. (See "Trends Now Changing the World:
Technology, The Workplace, Management, and Institutions," page 27 of the print
edition.)
Also in this issue, education futurist Gary Marx takes a
closer look at 10 critical trends and what they mean for schools. Not only must schools
prepare students for a rapidly changing world, but educators themselves are also
confronting the effects of such trends as increased competition for talented workers and
the graying of society. And the children they're trying to teach are different from
previous generations of students, Marx notes, with more-advanced technology skills and
more commitment to solving the world's problems. (See "Educating Children for
Tomorrow's World," page 43.)
The globalization of markets--and the cultural imperialism it is
believed to produce--is one major trend that has a lot of people worried. But fears of a
coming "McWorld" may be out of place, say sociologists Ronald Inglehart
and Wayne E. Baker. For one thing, evidence from the ongoing World Values Survey
suggests that the United States is an "aberrant" culture--modern economically
but very traditional in its values. Modernizing countries elsewhere in the world are not
necessarily destined to follow the American cultural path. (See "Modernization's
Challenge to Traditional Values: Who's Afraid of Ronald McDonald?," page 16.)
