Short URL: https://is.gd/TheNext20Years
- 2019 -- Action Plan for 2038
- A followup class (one day, 2.25 hours) -- With discussion of possible action plans to address issues raised by these books
- (Viewing Dimandis Abundance TED talk is strongly encouraged)
- 2018 fall:
- RISE - Sept 7 to Oct 5th Fridays 9-10:30AM rm 121
- OLLI - Sept.4-Oct 2nd, Tuesdays 10-11:30 Concord
- 2018 spring: OLLI 5 days, 1.5 hours Manchester
A new generation of books have come out addressing the "Supernova" (term from Thomas Friedman's book) of technological changes that are, and will be affecting society on a personal and global basis. Many of these changes are "good", at least on the surface, but also many of them will have a significant impact on the world as we know it. The Future is not what it used to be.
The class will use perspectives from a number of trends and futurists to identify the factors involved, the challenges we face, and discuss how we (individuals and society) might respond.
- Technological change is accelerating on many fronts -- from multiple paradigm changes to a "supernova"
- Thomas Friedman's observations about change ("Thankyou for Being Late")
- The historical context - Homo Deus, et al
- For the last 10,000 years we focused on famine, pestilence and war
- these are now within human control
- We have established humanist values to drive principles
- Liberal (individualism), community based (communism), evolutionary (fascism & genocide)
- The future of work
- Outsourcing, offshoring
- Robosourcing and AI
- Productivity and automation are displacing jobs -- "Non-employed" is a growing community of folks who are not seeking jobs, ergo not "unemployed"
- Rise of the useless class (Hamari's term) (Friedman uses non-employed)
- Concepts - universal basic income (reverse income tax), work week expectations, wage gap
- Re-invention of Life and Death
- virtual immortality?
- Haves and Have-nots - inequality for all
- Will we see the division of humanity into two species, homo nextus and homo left-behind-us?
Resources/References:
- Slide Set for Jim's Class
- Singer and Brooking LikeWar: The Weaponization Of Social Media (2018)
- and NPR Fresh Air interview with authors - key points and recent developments
- PBS Frontline "The Facebook Dilemma", Oct 29 & 30, 2018
- How Humans Get Hacked: Yuval Noah Harari & Tristan Harris Talk with WIRED; (Oct 2019, 1.5hrs)
- Homo Deus: A Brief History of the Future; Yuval Noah Hamari (2017)
- 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018)
- TED Dialog Interview (Feb 2017, 1 hour); TED presentation on prior book (20 min)
- The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change , Al Gore (2013)
- Thank you for Being Late; Thomas Friedman, (2016)
- Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence; Max Tegmark (2016)
- Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress Steven Pinker, (2017)
- From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds, Daniel Dennett (2017)
- (also see syllabus for 2017 OLLI class on this book by David Banach)
- Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, Kelly & Zach Weinersmith (2017)
- a combination of research and humor on some interesting possibilities.
- Yardsticks of human development
- Cloning --- Horses (March 2018 "Sixty Minutes")
- High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them; J.F. Rischard (2002)
- A Short History of the Future, W.Warren Wagar; (1989)
- The Next Hundred Years; Harrison Brown James Bonner, John Weir; (1957)
- The Anthropocene -- age of man
- Will Stefen, et al: Trajectory of the Anthropocene Paper, charts, and video (53 min)
- Closer to Truth videos (lots of them) addressing related topics
- 2018 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report
- The Future of Work and Death, 2016 movie from "FirstRunFeatures.com"
- Hans Rosling, "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think" (2018)