Thoughts for the Future

After a couple days off, today we return to the general idea of this blog. Which is to talk about the future of human civilization and especially how western countries will be shaped by both social and technological issues in the coming years. Today we tackle a subject that is divisive and emotional. The future of the socio-economic landscape. We live in a period that has seen disparity between the lower, middle and upper class citizens. So the question is, will it get worse? Will the rich get richer and the poor, poorer? Let's dive in to get a better idea of the situation because this is a volatile subject that ebbs and flows following technological and cultural advancements and missteps. So let's look forward to the next five to ten years. The biggest problem facing us is the huge amount of unemployment we might see through robotization and automation in the coming years. Think driverless vehicles as an example. Millions of people that are taxi drivers, or work for compan...

So let's hit one from left field here. I realize this blog is about my thoughts for the future. Where I think we're headed as a civilization, our grave missteps and our best decisions. But today, I say screw that. I'm gonna talk about something totally different that in a way has nothing to do with what I usually write but is in a sense something that has become a part of me as I grow up trying to become an entrepreneur and public voice. We're gonna talk about men’s fashion. Didn't expect that right? Well it's something I'm passionate about not because of my own image or even the first impression. I mean it's a little bit of that but so much more. Learning how to dress well is a process that initially seems like a rebranding of sorts and it is, but what it really gives you is confidence. Dressing well, getting that killer outfit is like getting a suite of armor. It gives you confidence to let everything just bounce off. There's only so many insul...

The internet has quite possibly been the greatest human achievement in history. If you think about it one of the most important differentiating factors between humans and other species’ is the level and modes of communication. Our ability to articulate wants, needs, feelings and opinions has been integral in growing civilization, and communication has never before been as important or as influential as it is in our current epoch. So how does this relate to us going forward? Well social media is the answer right now. I feel as though social media is not only our current cultural proponent, but will be going forward for a long time, if not its current incarnation, a version there of. Social media has allowed us to document everything, and documentation is everything. Information is everything to a business owner and entrepreneur. The internet has not only greatly increased the amount of information available, but supercharged the speed of information gathering, processing and utiliza...

I think everyone has hero. I think everyone is a hero to somebody. Whether you are a parent, a big sibling, an emergency worker or a leader to many or few, everyone is a hero or is going to be a hero. I argue that everyone is supposed to be a hero. Whether you want to or not. We've all grown up with stories of courageous people in movies, in literature and in scripture. Anyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to yes, Jesus himself, is a version of the hero we all look up to. We look to them as a sort of template. A kind of loose guide to what we want to be to or to what we should  be. Our obsession with heroes interests m e a lot. It takes a sing'e look at the most popular films over the past decade or so. We just love our heroes. We even athletes into heroes. Super-athletes that play football and basketball at such a high level, levels us regulars could never reach because of our biological short-comings. This obsession can be two things, we look up to these heroes for two things...

Humans have always had a fascination with God. Our earliest ancestors have had stories of their deities. Now it seems we are as far from a religious society as humanly possible. We've shifted from telling stories of God, to trying to create God. Artificial intelligence can seem scary to anyone that's seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator, Ghost in the Shell and so on. It's scary because it's something we can't possibly control. We stand on the edge of creating our own destroyer, and yet we're almost ecstatic about it. No other species on the planet is so hell-bent on orchestrating its own demise, so you could say we're pretty special in that regard. It's not all doom and gloom, A.I. could also be the savior of our self-destructive species. It could serve as the sole worker in society. Doing all the jobs we don't wanna do and doing it better than anyone ever could. Imagine a world where everything that could ever be a threat to humanity is being ta...

Today I sit here after speaking other students in my class. Talking to them about our various dreams, ambitions and views for what the future should be. It's always an interesting conversation because no two people have the exact same view of how the future should be and even more so how we should create it. I'm of the firm belief that there is power in people.  Every person in an almost bottomless well of potential. Not acknowledging this potential, this resource is borderline insane. With so many people in the world and the unending well of diversity we find in people, we can find the optimal operator for any task no matter the complexity or simplicity of this task. Say we follow this road, say we try our best to optimize every single person's particular gifts, would this work? Would this give everyone an avenue to succeed in society? A nice thought indeed. But would this system even work? What is the best system?  I'm concerned with the optimization of human p...