It was the biggest story of the year and perhaps the biggest story of the decade or maybe even this century. Surprisingly, it has quickly faded from the view of most people.
What story am I referring to? It's not the BP oil spill. It was the announcement in mid-May that man had created artificial life. (For a quicker primer on the topic I encourage you to read this excellent article in the Economist — which to its credit is the only major publication I am aware of that accorded the story front cover status).
I mention this because unlearning requires you to see what isn't there. In the case of artificial life just because the main stream media isn't covering the field that doesn't mean it isn't going to have a huge impact on you or your business. It is. And if you are in the health care, agriculture, chemical or energy industries, I believe it is going to require a massive amount of unlearning much sooner than most people realize.
As The Economist wrote, the creation of artificial life could "prove mankind's mastery over nature in a way more profound than even the detonation of the first atomic bomb."
