Blogs

Last week I read a piece in Forbes about how young people today should not complain about "underemployment," the phenomenon of working part-time or at a job unsuited to one's level of education.

When imagining the changes we may see by the turn of the next century, we might no longer find it very useful to look back to changes occurring in the same amount of time in the past. Eighty-eight years ago, in 1924, movies were silent, and the Great Depression was an inconceivable wild card. But change is accelerating exponentially, as The Singularity Is Near author Ray Kurzweil has argued, and the next 88 years could see the equivalent of the last 10,000 years worth of change.

Imagine: you arrive at the party; you recognize no one; but immediately your internal antennae-and-computer begins to swap mind-files; within seconds the new acquaintances are scanned; you “know” everyone you see; you know who wants to sleep with you, work with you, laugh and/or be friends with you; you know everyone’s curiosities, intentions, memories - everyone’s brain is "naked"… Fully informed, you enter and mingle.

In a recent futurological piece "science and technology writer" Dick Pelletier declares: "Although many today might find the idea of romance with a machine repulsive, experts predict that as the technology advances and robots become more human-like, we will view our silicon creations in a much friendlier light." At the outset I want to not

Despite fashionable twaddle about American decline, America's cultural influence has never been as dominant as it is now. Indeed, the 21st century promises to be the American Century to an even greater extent than the 20th. The American attitude to life – The American Idea – is now reflected in the universal aspirations of all humanity. Throughout history foreign observers have perceived and portrayed the dignity and majesty of the American Idea in ways that have impacted the thinking of the rest of the human race and triggered their desire to emulate the good life.

Our species is inventing and developing its way to an early grave, warns a new film with a grim take on human civilization.

As Gen Xers reach midlife, they are emerging as one of the most active age cohorts and an overlooked pool of leadership and entrepreneurial talent. Here are five interesting facts about Gen X at midlife:

originally posted at the Trend and Foresight Blog.

The only time I'm tempted to use the expression "The future is now" is when I see a story about a "new" trend or development or prediction, such as today's Technology Review blog piece on the idea of a marketplace for personal information. See "A Stock Exchange for Your Personal Data" by Jessica Leber, posted May 1 at Technology Review's Computing blog.

The Wall Street Journal (4/22/12) headlined the story “A Quixotic Quest to Mine Asteroids,” about a number of well known, respected individuals who have formed a company (Planetary Resources, Inc.) to search for natural resources in space, with the potential to mine asteroids.
Very exciting!

What if we treated the human body as well as car lovers tend their treasured old Volkswagen Beetles? It would mean continuous maintenance, repairing even the most minor bits of damage before they accumulate and ultimately lead to the body’s demise.