Random Thoughts

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We are now in the transition from the Information Age to the Shift Age. In recent columns I have positioned the recent financial melt down and global economic collapse as the beginning of a painful transitional restructuring between ages. Just as the 1970s with all its stagflation and unprecedented turmoil was the transitional period between the Industrial Age and the Information Age, so is this time a transitional period between the Information Age and the Shift Age. The election of Barack Obama, predicted by this observer over a year ago, is the political manifestation of this transition to…

Barack Obama is now the President Elect of the United States. For all the reasons that have been mentioned across all the TV channels and in all the newspapers around the world, that is an incredible statement. I am thrilled by this historic and transformational event. It is nothing less than that. I have much to say about this event and will do so in subsequent columns. There are shifts in consciousness, politics and perception that have already happened in the U.S. and around the world.. There are many more that will take place due to Obama’s victory on November 4, 2008. I will write about…

The past few weeks have seen the unfolding of the financial crisis and meltdown of global equity markets. During this time I have been traveling across North America giving speeches about the future to groups of CEOs and business owners. In every instance, the primary concern of everyone has been what the short and long term ramifications of the financial crisis will be. As a futurist I am asked at each presentation what I see ahead for the U.S. and global economy. With the strong caveat that I am neither an economist nor a financial advisor, I have weighed in with both long term and short…

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The last column here placed the financial crisis within a historical context. The financial meltdown is part of the disruptive transition from the Information Age to the Shift Age. We are moving through a period of turmoil when the old order is being replaced by a new order. The nation state economic model is being replaced by a new global model. We are at a time when the old ways no longer seem to work and yet the new realignments are not yet clear. In the United States there have been three great waves that have arced over our society during the last 30 years. The incredible run up in…

Sex with robots available in five years!(1) Not so fast -- do we love robots? How about -- do we understand how we love each other? Let's limit the subject even further to just the science of love between a man and a woman. Well, we have the anthology of love all the way back to the earliest civilizations in Western Asia. What do we know today about the anatomy of love between a man and a woman? What have we learned since the days of William Shakespeare and 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways?' There is a flurry of scientific interest in love in our new century. Take speed-dating…

One of Salvador Dali’s greatest paintings is called “The Persistence of Memory”.  Last week the results of a new study were published in Science magazine that conclusively prove the physical nature of that persistence.  In what other scientists have called a ‘foundational study’ a team of researchers from America and Israel have discovered and documented the physical nature of memory.   In the study, the researchers threaded tiny electrodes into the brains of 13 people with severe epilepsy.  Evidently this implanting of electrodes is standard procedure as it allows doctors…

There have been many cultural changes so far in 2008. Some of these changes are in response to the rapid increase in the price of oil and other commodities. Some of these changes have been due to technological innovations. In both cases new behavior patterns are being established that will, to some degree become permanent and will create new dynamics in certain industries. Today we take a look at some of the predictions made here last January.   Shopping The predicted shopping trends were written with a long term view. What is interesting is that the high price of gasoline has…

  The economy has clearly become the primary subject today in America. It has become so not only because of all the issues discussed in the prior column, but also because it has also become the number one issue for voters in this significant election year.   In the “Forecast for 2008” column on January 9th of this year I wrote:   “The U.S. Economy will not go into a recession as it has been traditionally defined. There will be a bumpy ride, particularly in the first six months of the year. The traditional conversation will be an either/or discussion: will there be a…