Humanity

In futures thinking as in life, often it’s important to look back in order to look ahead. This week marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing, offering the perfect opportunity to do both.

As the summer heat comes blasting across the country, it’s a perfect time to relax in a beach chair by the pool and read a book. Luckily, the World Future Society has a Summer Reading List to help you pick the perfect read. As a bonus, you can come to the WorldFuture 2012 conference in Toronto this July and meet these authors!

Eric and I got haircuts yesterday afternoon, and while I was waiting I flipped through magazines.

For colleges and universities, the great age of experimentation is now upon us. Harvard and MIT recently announced a new nonprofit partnership, known as edX, to offer free online courses from both universities.

The Minerva Project recently announced it will become the first elite American University to be launched in over a century, at the same time, transforming every aspect of the university-student relationship. The Ronin Institute is promising to reinvent academia, but without the academy.

The Internet is lit up with hand-wringing about a referendum in North Carolina regarding the passage of a referendum aimed at making gay marriage illegal in the state forever more. On Facebook, Twitter and in the comments sections of all the usual Internet hangouts, well-thinking people are lamenting this step toward a new Dark Ages, a further deepening of injustice, a coarsening of society.

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