Think: I found this short article, The Mega-trends that Will Shape Our Future World, to be very insightful. My favorite category was “Innovation to Zero” by which the author means that crime, disease, hunger and pollution will all move in the direction of zero in the near future.
Think Again: This Harvard Business Review article, 10 Ways to Prove You’re a Strategic Thinker, is an excellent guide to becoming a better thinker. Here are the 10 methods: 1) Elevate your perspective; 2) Be forward-looking; 3) Anticipate potent impacts; 4) Connect the dots; 5) Simplify the complicated; 6) Use analogies and metaphors; 7) Stimulate strategic dialogue; 8) Show you are informed; 9) Practice strategic listening; and 10) Seek feedback.
Think Different: Robots are now gaining personality due to advances in artificial intelligence. This video explores how Boston Dynamics is using ChatGPT to provide robots with different personalities. This is just the tip-of-the-iceberg with regards to what is to come next in the field of artificial intelligence.
Think the Unthinkable: The headline says it all: Scientists Seriously Believe We Could Live Forever. The gist of the article is this: The pace of technological progress is now advancing so rapidly that with every extra year we live we will likely see enough progress to stay alive for at least another year. Put in simpler terms this suggests that we might always be able to stay one step ahead of the Grim Reaper. (Whether you like this idea or not, it is something we all need to think about because it is going to have serious social, moral, political and economic implications.)
Think Smaller: Often technological advances in one area lead to advances in another area. A case-in-point is this article on various new “energy harvesting” technologies and their effect on wearable technology. Instead of using battery technology, the wearable device of the near future may very well be able to draw energy directly from a person’s movement and/or body heat. This will have implications not only for how we monitor our own health, it could also help us gain a deeper understanding of the habits of wildlife. (The article discusses how the technology is being used to increase our understanding of the Bison.)
Afterthought: “Those who do not think independently are under the influence of someone else who thinks for them. If you give your thoughts to someone else, it is a more shameful slavery than if you give your body to someone else to possess.” –Tolstoy
