Abstract
This chapter concludes the book with a discussion of the “future of the future,” or how our evolving view of the future will shape actual futures—and what current events might hobble our ability to foresee. It discusses corporate short-termism, democratizing technologies and wealth inequality, the nature of karma, and finally, happiness.
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
—G.K. Chesterton
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Serial CEO Margaret Heffernan makes a reasonable rebuttal of the “the executive suite disproportionately attracts psychopaths” theory, at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/are-ceos-psychopaths/
- 2.
“Dumb money” = desperate investments in questionable vehicles, in times of low or zero interest rates.
- 3.
Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve, writing in the Wall Street Journal, lays the blame for income inequality on technology. Other authors claim inequality is cyclical, not structural. A United Nations University study (Singh and Dhumale 2000) concludes globalization and technology are not the primary drivers of inequality, though authors admit technology is a significant contributor. Their paper addresses income inequality, not wealth inequality.
Tellingly, “San Francisco, the heart of the tech industry, now has the fastest-growing income inequality in the country, a gap on par with Rwanda’s.” http://recode.net/2014/05/31/tech-titans-on-income-inequality-and-their-stingy-stingy-industry/
The poor idiot economists think inequality just means there’s a bigger gap between the rich and the rest of us. Not true: Extreme inequality changes everything, including the structure of society and industries. The new structures create latent demand for still more technological innovation (see “The Circle of Innovation” back in Chap. 6), and the cycle continues.
- 4.
See for example iPhone: The Affordably Luxurious Global Accessory. http://www.thelowdownblog.com/2014_08_10_archive.html
- 5.
Phillips (2014).
- 6.
“Since the 1950s, reports of major depression [in the USA] have increased tenfold, and while much of that increase undoubtedly represents a new willingness to diagnose mental illness, there’s a general consensus among mental-health experts that it also reflects a real development.” http://www.technologyreview.com/review/403558/technology-and-happiness/
You will no doubt remind me that there are (Wall) street thugs in America who still enjoy stealing from us, and you’ll guess correctly that stealing is not extinct in Korea either. Moreover, new technologies make newer and more interesting opportunities for stealing, like identity theft and other Internet cons. However, perpetrators are a smaller fraction of the population than in decades past, and this is a digression, anyway.
- 7.
- 8.
Certainly, gadgets can make people smile. My daughter goes so far as to say, “Maslow forgot to mention consumer electronics!” Tech entrepreneurs have found limits to selling efficiency. Rishi Mandal, cofounder of Sosh, says, “The next question is, how do you accomplish tasks while creating a smile?”
References
Brooks N (2017) Understanding the manifestation of psychopathic personality characteristics across populations. PhD thesis, Bond University, Faculty of Society and Design
Phillips F (2014) Meta-measures for technology and environment. Foresight 16(5):410–431
Phillips F (2019) The globalization paradox. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 143:319–320
Singh A, Dhumale R (2000) Globalization, technology, and income inequality: a critical analysis. UNU
Yano K, Lyubomirsky S, Chancellor J (2012, November 28) Can technology make you happy? IEEE Spectrum, https://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/can-technology-make-you-happy
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Phillips, F. (2019). The Future of the Future. In: What About the Future?. Science, Technology and Innovation Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26165-8_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26165-8_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26164-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26165-8
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)