25 Things You Need to Know About the Future
How will we live in the future? And what will the human race become? Will we nurture designer babies, be served by intelligent robots, have personal 3D printers, and grow products on-the-vine using synthetic biology? Or will shortages of oil, fresh water and other natural resources constrain our lifestyles and lead to industrial decline?
In this fascinating guide, futurist Christopher Barnatt examines 25 known challenges and technologies that will help shape the next few decades. From Peak Water to vertical farms, nanotechnology to augmented reality, and electric cars to space travel, a startling picture is painted of future possibilities that no individual or business will be able to ignore.
Highlighting life-changing research and innovation from over 250 companies, universities and non-profit organizations around the globe, 25 Things You Need to Know About the Future is a startling, frightening and powerful blueprint for anybody who wants to future gaze and future shape.
Published on 19th January 2012 by Constable & Robinson in paperback and e-book formats. 416 pages. A Korean translation was published on 21st November 2012.
Click any part or chapter below for more information and online references.
Phi Beta Iota: Each of the above breaks down in multiple additional links, generally stories online. We are less impressed by this than most — anyone who listens to a broad spectrum of signals has seen all of this before. What is NOT on this list that really matters are two things: Collective Intelligence (M4IS2) comming of age, and Open Source Everything (OSE) which is the ONLY truly revolutionary technology change in as much as it is also a cultural change that impacts on every human on the planet.
See Also:
High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, & Change. (2004). A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility. United Nations.
Jean-Francois Rischard (2003). High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. Basic Books.
