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FUTURIST UPDATE

News & Previews from the World Future Society

March 2000

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IN THIS ISSUE:

* Career Opportunities for the Third Millennium

* More Sensible Solar Energy

* Fighting Future Genetic Discrimination

* On Sustainability and the Quality of Life

* World Future Society News

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

The twenty-first century will offer career opportunities that may boggle even the most dedicated career counselor, says Drexel University sociologist Art Shostak ( http://www.futureshaping.org ). High schoolers of the new millennium may have to seek the advice of "opportunity counselors."

"Those in their teens in 2000 can expect to choose among entirely new vocations, as in lunar base and space satellite jobs, virtual reality specializations, e-commerce, robotics, and 'high touch' areas, the latter including all of the performing arts and other antidotes to the 'high tech' obsession of the times," says Shostak, co-founder of the World Future Society's Philadelphia chapter.

Advances in biotechnology may create esoteric, interdisciplinary jobs combining biology, chemistry, planning, ethics, and business knowledge. Wealthy families will want more personal, at-home services such as care for the children and elderly, which will increase opportunities in those career areas. Finally, "Women are likely to find the early twenty-first century richer in life choice opportunities than any previous epoch," Shostak believes. "Odds favor the Third Millennium becoming that of the New Woman's."

For details, see http://www.wfs.org/Ideas.htm.

MORE SENSIBLE SOLAR ENERGY

When you think about it, generating electricity with solar cells, then using that electricity to run a light bulb doesn't make much sense. Future solar technology may allow us to use the sunlight directly for illumination.

"Instead of inefficiently converting visible light found in sunlight into electricity only to reconvert a sizeable portion back into interior light, it makes more sense to just collect and distribute the light directly," says Jeff Muhs, a researcher at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Muhs has developed a "full-spectrum solar energy system." It's a rooftop solar collecting system that splits sunlight into the visible and non-visible (infrared) portions of the spectrum. The non-visible sunlight is used to make electricity via solar cells, but the visible light is channeled directly to the interior of the building with fiber optic cable. Muhs's system may be three times as efficient as conventional solar technology, according to assessments carried out by ORNL and an independent organization.

For more information, visit the ORNL Web site at http://www.ornl.gov.

FIGHTING FUTURE GENETIC DISCRIMINATION

As scientists get better and better at screening human DNA for hereditary diseases and other defects, many people worry that employers will use genetic information to discriminate against people who are at risk for certain conditions.

President Clinton signed an executive order last month prohibiting federal agencies from using genetic information to discriminate against employees. He also endorsed a bill introduced by Senator Tom Daschle and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter that would extend these protections to the private sector. Clinton said, "Clearly, there is no more exciting frontier in modern scientific research than genome research," but he cautioned that "this extraordinary march of human understanding imposes on us profound responsibilities" to protect people's privacy.

For more information, visit the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov and the National Human Genome Research Institute at http://www.nhgri.nig.gov/NEWS/.

ON SUSTAINABILITY AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE

Independent futurist and author Hazel Henderson has two new books out that deal with critical trends in the global economy:

BEYOND GLOBALIZATION: SHAPING A SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL ECONOMY (Kumarian Press, 1999, 88 pages, paperback) concisely describes the effects of the accelerated interdependence of the world's economic and financial systems, which has been driven by the infotech revolution. Many problems and issues are now global rather than local, and the local economies suffer for it, she writes. For instance, "the tax bases of municipalities and local governments are . . . eroding as Internet-based e-commerce outflanks stores on high streets."

The book includes valuable directories of periodicals and organizations involved in seeking solutions to the problems of globalization.

The CALVERT-HENDERSON QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS (Calvert Group, 2000, 391 pages, paperback), co-edited by Henderson, is a unique collection of essays by experts in 12 key areas, including employment, education, national security, infrastructure, public safety, shelter, health, and income. The goal is to provide a set of assessment tools that can give a better picture of our well-being than traditional indicators such as gross domestic product.

Order BEYOND GLOBALIZATION from the Futurist Bookstore (http://www.wfs.org/bookstor.htm) for $10.95 ($9.95 for Society members), cat. no. B-2336. Order CALVERT-HENDERSON QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS ($19.95) from the Calvert Group, 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. Telephone 1-800-368-2748.

WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY NEWS

WEB SITE FEATURES FUTURIST PROPOSALS. The Society invites its members and other interested persons to submit proposals for improving life in the future. Those deemed of general interest will be posted on our Web site, where readers can peruse them and send the authors comments, questions, critiques, or encouragement. More information, including submission guidelines, will be available at http://www.wfs.org/innovate.htm by the end of the month.

"BEST BOOKS" ON WEB. Last issue we reported on FUTURE SURVEY editor Mike Marien's picks of the 20 best (and one worst) futures books of 1999. Marien's picks are featured in the January and February issues of FUTURE SURVEY, and they are now posted on our Web site at http://www.wfs.org/Bestbooks99.htm.

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FUTURIST UPDATE will bring you the latest futurist news, book reviews, and Society happenings every month. Readers have permission to forward copies of FUTURIST UPDATE to friends and colleagues providing they forward the entire document. The editor welcomes your input to this new effort, so feel free to contact him at jminerd@wfs.org. Subscriptions are free with membership. For prospective members, we offer a limited three-month trial subscription. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to majordomo@wfs.org with "subscribe futurist-update" or "unsubscribe futurist-update" in the body.

FUTURIST UPDATE is published monthly by the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. Telephone 1-301-656-8274. Fax 1-301-951-0394. E-mail info@wfs.org. Material in this newsletter may be reprinted provided that credit is given to the World Future Society. The Society is an international association of some 30,000 people interested in studying how social and technological developments will affect the future. The Society is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational and scientific organization devoted to helping people everywhere understand trends, forecasts, and ideas about the future. Membership in the Society, including a subscription to THE FUTURIST magazine (6 issues/year) and numerous other benefits, is available for $39 (U.S.) http://www.wfs.org/member.htm.

To receive information on the World Future Society, its programs and publications, send an e-mail to sechard@wfs.org; visit http://www.wfs.org; or call 1-800-989-8274.