The Future

Call me naive, but I'm super excited about the future. In fact, in this post I'm going to refer to it as "The Future!". Go ahead and roll your eyes if you like. But let's take just 30 seconds to think about "The Future!" together.

So let's be clear, I'm not talking about how cute it is that our 3 year olds can design their own apps, or how we can use Google Glass to play real-time augmented reality games (though don't get me wrong, I'm a super geek and love that stuff).

I'm talking about "The Future!" where as a collective human endeavour we can creatively explore solutions to major world issues that many of us adults growing up thinking are unsolvable or "just the way it is". Is it that inconceivable to expect radical shifts how we feed, educate and medicate the planet's rapidly growing populations? Can we honestly hope to enrich the daily lived experience of billions of people, in our own lifetime, here on beautiful little Planet Earth? Keep reading.

Although I'm partly trying to impress you with my reading list, I do passionately share Bill Gates' recommendation of the book "Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think". And I wonder wide-eyed at the audacious but logically-argued future envisaged by Kurzweil in "The Singularity is Near". These visionary scenarios make me feel like a kid looking through a telescope into space for the first time. 

For example, when I contemplate unlocking and exploring the exponentially growing and dizzying potential of nanotechnologies, genetics and robotic intelligence in the coming decades, I believe that our lived daily experience in "The Future!" could be very different. And not just for us living in advanced economies, I mean every person living on this planet.

Of course we will still need to manage our human emotions, relationships and behaviours against countless negative forces that trouble the world. But my inner utopian optimist hopes that significantly better and more equal living standards across the planet will drive us as a people to create more productive, peaceful and beneficial experiences for everyone.

Anyway, please read the books I've mentioned for a much more articulate and academic presentation of what lies ahead. Or if you don't have time, at least stay positive about about the possibilities. I look forward to our journey, see you in "The Future!"

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Peter Gould has many labels including Internationally-acclaimed Designer, Brand Consultant, Digital Artist, Geek, Australian Muslim, and now 'Guest Blogger'. 
www.peter-gould.com