by The title s
ays it all: Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think. If you’re a true believer in technology (technology will solve our problems), take comfort that “within a generation, we will be able to provide goods and services, once reserved for the wealthy few, to any and all who need them.” Those versed in integral futures are likely to say “not so fast;” our technological capacity development has outstripped our values and cultural development. That is, our abilities to wisely that technology is under-developed.
Regardless of which camp you’re in, let’s be very grateful for what the author Peter Diamandis does for us here. He provides a positive, hopeful, and plausible vision. There ain’t many out there! Abundance is a tale of good news. Yes, there are bumps along the way, but human [and AI-driven] technological ingenuity save the day. Diamandis believes that the greatest tool we have for tackling our grand challenges is the human mind. Some old-timers might remember Julian Simon, who used to horrify audiences in the 1980s — when we were really worried about population growth — by suggesting that the more people, the better (see the doomslayer).
In a nutshell creative ideas are the ultimate resource. Diamandis puts his money where he is mouth is. He founded the X PRIZE Foundation, which is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity through the design and operation of large incentive-prize competitions. And he was a co-founder of the Singularity University, which studies technologies at the core of abundance: biotechnology and bioinformatics; computational systems; networks and sensors; artificial intelligence; robotics; digital manufacturing; medicine; and nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
Sure, one can and should question whether this tech fix approach can work (by 2035, the book says). I think it’s fair to ask what the alternative is? ….thus my own search for after capitalism visions. I am not drinking the whole glass of Abundance Kool-Aid, but I am very glad we have this vision to work with, and it surely is at least part of the solution! – Andy Hines
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