Futurology - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks
If you could see your future, would you try to make it better? If you were a Soviet in 1980 and you knew that spiraling debt would destroy your country, would you do something to stop it? If you were a German in 1933 and knew that the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State would lead to a world war, tens of millions of deaths, and the leveling of your nation, would you oppose it? Its safe to assume that we would all say yes to these questions.
P2P Futures for Futures Studies
Jose Ramos proposes six paths: 1. Communion in diversity “Communion in diversity means that, even though we represent radical hybridity, mutating into new contexts, we are drawing upon each other’s knowledge and experience in order to inspire ourselves and continue to evolve and mutate what we do. We need the field of futures as a space to gather and evolve in community.
Futurology podcasts
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Accelerating Future
There isn’t enough in the world. Not enough wealth to go around, not enough space in cities, not enough medicine, not enough intelligence or wisdom. Not enough genuine fun or excitement. Not enough knowledge.
Can Technology Save the World? Experts Disagree
Edited by David Leonhardt Follow Us: The Upshot a plainspoken guide to the news
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means and how to respond
We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production.
According To A Nasa Funded Study, We're Pretty Much Screwed
Our industrial civilization faces the same threats of collapse that earlier versions such as the Mayans experienced, a study to be published in Ecological Economics has warned. The idea is far from new, but the authors have put new rigor to the study of how so many previous societies collapsed, and why ours could follow. Lead author Mr Safa Motesharrei is no wild-eyed conspiracy theorist. Motesharrei is a graduate student in mathematics at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, a National Science Foundation-supported institution, and the research was done with funding from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The fall of the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan, and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent," the forthcoming paper states
The Law of Accelerating Returns
An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate). The “returns,” such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There’s even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity — technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history.
The Future of the Human Race
User Rating: Details Parent Category: Advanced News Lessons Category: Science and Technology Written by Chris Cotter The following hypothesis on the future of the human race sounds more like a sci-fi potboiler than scientific theory.
The Unique Challenges of Exponential Leadership
Salim Ismail The term “exponential” refers to a sequence or process by which desirable results are achieved. As Salim Ismail explains in his eponymous book, written with Michael S. Malone and Yuri van Geest, an exponential organization (ExO) “is one whose impact (or output) is disproportionately large — at least 10 times larger — than its peers because of the use of new organizational techniques that leverage accelerating technologies.”
Humans will be extinct in 100 years says eminent scientist
(PhysOrg.com) -- Eminent Australian scientist Professor Frank Fenner, who helped to wipe out smallpox, predicts humans will probably be extinct within 100 years, because of overpopulation, environmental destruction and climate change. Fenner, who is emeritus professor of microbiology at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, said homo sapiens will not be able to survive the population explosion and “unbridled consumption,” and will become extinct, perhaps within a century, along with many other species. United Nations official figures from last year estimate the human population is 6.8 billion, and is predicted to pass seven billion next year. Fenner told The Australian he tries not to express his pessimism because people are trying to do something, but keep putting it off.
8 Reasons Why We're About to See an Explosion in Robot Intelligence
We are approaching a transformative expansion in robotics. Around half a billion years ago, life forms on Earth suddenly became significantly more diverse, creating most of the general classes of fauna and flora we know today. This period is known as the Cambrian explosion, and the leading theory to explain it is that certain traits, like vision, became advanced enough to help multiple species thrive. The field of robotics might be poised for a Cambrian explosion of its own, according to Gill Pratt, a DARPA program manager.
