I want to take a moment to further explore singularity. More specifically, the idea that the processing power of computers will shortly overtake that of the human brain from which point our existence will be irreparably altered is something to be considered as a future leader and manager. Coincidentally, I was on vacation just before the class started in and a few friends and I were discussing this very topic. I remember thinking that, “Wow! Imagine a world in which we can seamlessly interface with technology, and not only imagine, get ready because it is almost here!” I remember the excitement I felt thinking of the possibilities and the amazement that one day soon, we would be living in a science fiction novel. Other than the brief discussion I had never really ever thought much about the future of technology and had never really taken computing power to its logical conclusion.
Is full seamless integration with humans and technology really a good thing? While the benefits are obvious it is critical for me as a leader and manager to explore the risks associated with certain paths in order to lead more effectively. The cynic in me sees the push for greater processing powers coupled with the push for technology integration beginning with the mobile revolution we are experiencing now will no doubt be used by governments and businesses to further their own power and positions. However, as a business leader and one that is in marketing I can also see this as a wonderful new medium to explore new and exciting touch points with the consumer. As a result of being in marketing I am always mindful of what it feels like to be a consumer and invasions of privacy and stalking have always been very thin lines to walk. Perhaps singularity will eliminate this, or perhaps singularity will not be as elegant as we hope and in fact exacerbate it to an already fatigued consumer. Driving this is the idea that we can personalize advertisements in order to better target your interests and as we move toward singularity the methods used will indeed be imperfect and may cause controversy by the time singularity makes it a working reality. Because even today certain advertisements on my screen are not relevant to me because the reason they were clicked on was for a friend or my wife used my computer. And it is obvious what they are doing, nobody likes to be played the fool and nobody likes to be sold on something but in the same respect I have learned the consumer loves to buy. The critical lesson for me is to manage that balance and lead to a place where the consumer is empowered and doesn’t feel they are being stalked and sold.
But could I be wrong about that? Is the inevitable drift toward seamless integration one that already empowers the consumer enough and that the rest is gravy? Mobile applications have indeed empowered consumers but has the company or government been empowered more? Do rising tides lift all boats or just the yachts? To be honest I see both sides. And that is an assumption I have always held. I believe the world we live in is yin and yang. It is a world that is defined by two sides with one side that is dominant. The ebb and flow of who is in the dominant position can remain for generations or it can oscillate rapidly but the assumption remains that there are only two sides. I see it in protons and electrons all the way to humans and technology.
Singularity by Kurzweil is an exciting introduction to the world of singularity. I see his piece more as a parable than a bona ide future reality: One that serves as a pedagogical tool to explore the technologies we are just beginning to employ. I assume it is not possible for the world he describes to exist. Shangri Las’ are a product of one, not two as my philosophy dictates. Technology will not change that in my opinion. I suppose his story is about the end of duality in the cosmos as it relates to humans; that we can transcend yin and yang and become ‘yiang’. I suppose it is possible and I must challenge my own assumptions about what is possible because if it is I must be ready to lead in that future as well.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
I feel like we are all headed off a cliff.
"Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"
T.S Eliot couldn't have been more right. Over the past few month I have been spending more time on social networking sites. Perhaps because I work from home and have quite a bit of time on my hands or it is to my advantage to know the space on which my businesses will live or die. In either case I have tried my darnedest to breath it in, familiarize myself with its intricacies and ultimately fasten it to my lonely work belt.
In addition I have always been fascinated by ancient knowledge. Sometimes I think that the human species has gone through a variety of transformations and at each new iteration the past is lost, never to be remembered. There is wisdom that exists in this world. Wisdom we seem to no longer need? Like how to navigate by stars, how to know what weather is coming, how to plant crops and make beer. As a result I took a keen interest in ancient eastern philosophies in my undergrad years. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism and any other form of ancient mysticism I could get my hands on. I believe I was drawn to it because these philosophies truly set out to understand life's ancient questions. Questions like who are we, what are we doing here? Questions that you would think would have been answered by now but, alas it is not about quantity of interaction but the quality of interaction that reveals insight.
Sometimes I just want to leave my technological modern life and take my family to Tibet to learn how to slow my heart rate down to 5 bpm while sitting outside naked in 5 feet of ice and snow. Or learn how to master the mind through meditation. There is ancient knowledge that is being lost by the minute...and it really makes me sad. I feel like we are all chasing illusions, illusions that will never make us happy, and that makes me sad too. So it begs the question, what is real?
I cant escape the feeling that our focus on the illusions of reality or manufactured reality is something terribly wrong. That the speed at which we are distancing ourselves from truth will only be in direct proportion to the speed and magnitude of our 'realignment'. I have never lived during another time so I cannot speak intelligently on what they felt as a society and to be honest I never really looked it up but I would be hard pressed to say that they felt as I do now.
man this blog is turning out to be pretty gloomy...
T.S Eliot couldn't have been more right. Over the past few month I have been spending more time on social networking sites. Perhaps because I work from home and have quite a bit of time on my hands or it is to my advantage to know the space on which my businesses will live or die. In either case I have tried my darnedest to breath it in, familiarize myself with its intricacies and ultimately fasten it to my lonely work belt.
In addition I have always been fascinated by ancient knowledge. Sometimes I think that the human species has gone through a variety of transformations and at each new iteration the past is lost, never to be remembered. There is wisdom that exists in this world. Wisdom we seem to no longer need? Like how to navigate by stars, how to know what weather is coming, how to plant crops and make beer. As a result I took a keen interest in ancient eastern philosophies in my undergrad years. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism and any other form of ancient mysticism I could get my hands on. I believe I was drawn to it because these philosophies truly set out to understand life's ancient questions. Questions like who are we, what are we doing here? Questions that you would think would have been answered by now but, alas it is not about quantity of interaction but the quality of interaction that reveals insight.
Sometimes I just want to leave my technological modern life and take my family to Tibet to learn how to slow my heart rate down to 5 bpm while sitting outside naked in 5 feet of ice and snow. Or learn how to master the mind through meditation. There is ancient knowledge that is being lost by the minute...and it really makes me sad. I feel like we are all chasing illusions, illusions that will never make us happy, and that makes me sad too. So it begs the question, what is real?
I cant escape the feeling that our focus on the illusions of reality or manufactured reality is something terribly wrong. That the speed at which we are distancing ourselves from truth will only be in direct proportion to the speed and magnitude of our 'realignment'. I have never lived during another time so I cannot speak intelligently on what they felt as a society and to be honest I never really looked it up but I would be hard pressed to say that they felt as I do now.
man this blog is turning out to be pretty gloomy...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The new "New' Economy
Is manufacturing dying? Some would say yes- its already dead with a hearty 'good riddance' slipped in at the end. Others may cling to the view that it is not dead, it is only undergoing transformation and upheaval that will soon bring us clawing back to the foot of their radiantly burning phoenix. Whatever side you fall in I think it would be safe to say that we can all agree it is not what it once was. But, is the self proclaimed 'New' economy fairing much better? With the dot-com bubble bursting and egghead notions of perpetual growth popping with it, I think it is high time we reevaluate this 'New' economy as well.
I think this apparent conundrum may have its benefits. Like any perceived failure, it is an opportunity to redefine. Our generation has, up to this point, had nothing to fight for. No World War, No Great Depression, until now. Who will step up? Who will help shape the new 'New' economy? I say it is a matter of getting back to basics.
Entrepreneurship has saved this country time and time again. And the current crisis has, in my opinion thankfully- put working or looking for a 'job' in manufacturing, Corporate America and Institutional Banking just as risky as starting your own thing. I can see a world where the USA's sustainable competitive advantage is in innovation and creation. Where we are all taught from day one to be entrepreneurial in all that we do, not just professionally but socially and politically. We have the infrastructure to really build on this here in the States. We have some of the most efficient capital markets in the world and easily the best higher learning institutions this corner of the galaxy has to offer. We should encourage each other to take the 'risk' and start our own thing. The new 'New' economy is one where we have transformed the way we live to match natures processes. To encourage organic creativity and inspiration.
We can begin this movement in a variety of ways. First being communication. Virtual hubs like Forge are a great example of this movement taking shape locally and I expect more to come and silos to be broken down daily in the name of greater collaboration and thereby efficiencies. Encourage our elected representatives to ease the paths to entrepreneurship. We need Health care entrepreneurs can afford, either by a pooling of risk or some other straightforward solution. We need to encourage them to stop subsidizing dying markets and industries- nature has no such goodwill I am aware of. And above all we must encourage this through a revamping of our education system and parenting. The educational bureaucratic monoliths are becoming more and more stagnant in an age of hyper change and ever increasing nimbleness.
Forge is one area we can all have a say. To help build a start up community brick by brick. Im in, are you?
I think this apparent conundrum may have its benefits. Like any perceived failure, it is an opportunity to redefine. Our generation has, up to this point, had nothing to fight for. No World War, No Great Depression, until now. Who will step up? Who will help shape the new 'New' economy? I say it is a matter of getting back to basics.
Entrepreneurship has saved this country time and time again. And the current crisis has, in my opinion thankfully- put working or looking for a 'job' in manufacturing, Corporate America and Institutional Banking just as risky as starting your own thing. I can see a world where the USA's sustainable competitive advantage is in innovation and creation. Where we are all taught from day one to be entrepreneurial in all that we do, not just professionally but socially and politically. We have the infrastructure to really build on this here in the States. We have some of the most efficient capital markets in the world and easily the best higher learning institutions this corner of the galaxy has to offer. We should encourage each other to take the 'risk' and start our own thing. The new 'New' economy is one where we have transformed the way we live to match natures processes. To encourage organic creativity and inspiration.
We can begin this movement in a variety of ways. First being communication. Virtual hubs like Forge are a great example of this movement taking shape locally and I expect more to come and silos to be broken down daily in the name of greater collaboration and thereby efficiencies. Encourage our elected representatives to ease the paths to entrepreneurship. We need Health care entrepreneurs can afford, either by a pooling of risk or some other straightforward solution. We need to encourage them to stop subsidizing dying markets and industries- nature has no such goodwill I am aware of. And above all we must encourage this through a revamping of our education system and parenting. The educational bureaucratic monoliths are becoming more and more stagnant in an age of hyper change and ever increasing nimbleness.
Forge is one area we can all have a say. To help build a start up community brick by brick. Im in, are you?
Friday, January 14, 2011
Collapse
Lately somthing has been rattling around in my brain and I cant seem to get it out of there. Perhaps its the books I read or the movies I watch but nonetheless I have the distinct feeling that the world we live in is set to drastically change in the next few decades, if not earlier.
I remember the actual moment I first grasped this notion. It was the sunny afternoon of September 11th 2001. I had a political science course that day at Santa Barbara City College and after class I was strolling over to friends house that lived nearby the college. It was during this walk that I remember looking up to the serene clear blue sky and realizing that there wasnt a single plane in the sky over all of north America. It was the hideous lifting of the veil. That 'it' was all so fragile. The technology we rely on, the everyday comforts we take for granted, it could all be gone in a puff of smoke.
Flash-forward to today. Terrorism is no longer the big worry in my eyes. What is worrisome, or relieving (depending on how one looks at it) is the sheer fraud of our financial system. In essence it is a big pyramid scheme predicated on the (utterly insane) notion of perpetual growth. Perpetual growth may have seemed like a good idea when resources like oil, water and energy were plentiful but we all know those days are coming to a screeching halt. This is our rude awakening. Perpetual growth has just hit the immovable force of finite resources. It is not sustainable, never was and the generations preceding ours have squandered more natural resources than I care to think about. The paradigm is shifting and denial is the first symptom. Food shortages are already happening, the middle east would never say they are about to run the taps dry (even though they are) and water has already been wasted, polluted and purchased as it is only a matter of time before the veil begins to really shake again.
There are those in power who know this is coming, and can do nothing to stop it because they thought that man was a God. Who will be ready for this? Who will start building the boats? Who will stand like a deer in headlights? Who will dismiss the entire collapse and belly up to the bar? Our generation has never had to make a sacrifice they say, the 'greatest generation' had there struggles but, all pale in comparison for what we are faced with. Good luck, and be ready.
-puts tin foil hat down
I remember the actual moment I first grasped this notion. It was the sunny afternoon of September 11th 2001. I had a political science course that day at Santa Barbara City College and after class I was strolling over to friends house that lived nearby the college. It was during this walk that I remember looking up to the serene clear blue sky and realizing that there wasnt a single plane in the sky over all of north America. It was the hideous lifting of the veil. That 'it' was all so fragile. The technology we rely on, the everyday comforts we take for granted, it could all be gone in a puff of smoke.
Flash-forward to today. Terrorism is no longer the big worry in my eyes. What is worrisome, or relieving (depending on how one looks at it) is the sheer fraud of our financial system. In essence it is a big pyramid scheme predicated on the (utterly insane) notion of perpetual growth. Perpetual growth may have seemed like a good idea when resources like oil, water and energy were plentiful but we all know those days are coming to a screeching halt. This is our rude awakening. Perpetual growth has just hit the immovable force of finite resources. It is not sustainable, never was and the generations preceding ours have squandered more natural resources than I care to think about. The paradigm is shifting and denial is the first symptom. Food shortages are already happening, the middle east would never say they are about to run the taps dry (even though they are) and water has already been wasted, polluted and purchased as it is only a matter of time before the veil begins to really shake again.
There are those in power who know this is coming, and can do nothing to stop it because they thought that man was a God. Who will be ready for this? Who will start building the boats? Who will stand like a deer in headlights? Who will dismiss the entire collapse and belly up to the bar? Our generation has never had to make a sacrifice they say, the 'greatest generation' had there struggles but, all pale in comparison for what we are faced with. Good luck, and be ready.
-puts tin foil hat down
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