Millions of middle-aged Americans are part of the “Sandwich Generation”–so-called because they are those individuals who must not only care for their own young and growing children but also their own aging parents. To be sure, it can be a difficult and frustrating burden. One method of dealing with the frustration of this challenge is…

Walter Breuning, the world's oldest man, died yesterday. When asked his secrets to a long life his top response was: "Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. Every change is good." Related Posts The Secret to Unlearning in Seven Words The Key to Happiness is in the Door

If something doubles just ten times it is one thousand (1024 times to precise) larger. This is an important concept to grasp if you want to better contemplate the future. Why? Because no fewer than nine technological trends—semiconductors, data storage, bandwidth, genomics, gene sequencing, robotics, nanotechnology, brain scanning and scientific knowledge—are doubling anywhere from every…

My focus on unlearning has been borne from my work as a professional futurist. As I explain in this video, the future is changing so fast that as a people and society we must constantly change our worldview. To this end, the Wharton School of Business recently published an formative and insightful article entitled So…

Carl Sagan once advised the public to “never underestimate the power of exponential.” It was sound advice. Unfortunately, as with so much other wise counsel, it is easy to dismiss. You shouldn’t. Consider just a few recent examples of exponential growth. In 1998, a small Silicon Valley start-up was conducting 25 million web-based searches a…

At first appearances, the idea of a portable toaster may seem absurd and, perhaps, it is. But is there any reason a toaster can't look like the one in the picture to the right? One of the real benefits of unlearning is that it can help spur creavity and innovation. For example, what if the…

"Much of what we think we believe, we learned as a child, and to lead a fuller life you should never stop questioning what you do and looking at things in a new light." — Ellen Langer Until yesterday, I had no idea who Ellen Langer was. Now, I find myself wanting to purchase her…

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article describing how appliance manufacturers are now doing a better job of designing products for aging baby boomers. One strategy they employ is to make their younger engineers wear "aging suits" to help them empathize with and better understand how more elderly users might actually experience a product. To this…

In 1899, just a few years before the Wright brothers achieved their historic accomplishment, Lord Kelvin — then one of the world’s brightest men and most accomplished scientists — declared heavier than air machines to be "impossible." He was wrong. To add insult to injury, Lord Kelvin was proved wrong by a pair of bicycle…

WebMD has interesting article suggesting our behavior can influence how are genes act. According to research by Dean Ornish people can change how certain genes perform by making modest adjustments to their life style. Ornish found that by engaging in exercise and eating a more low-fat diet "more than 500 genes changed the way they…