Does anyone Believe This Megatrend Stuff?

[M.D. Holloway]

So in a recent scan, I came across this. Not sure it is valuable or just spewtum. FWIW, #1 is shyt...



Megatrend 1: Oil Production will peak within ten to thirty years, requiring a shift to complete new energy methods.

Megatrend 2: The limits to traditional representative democracy are appearing because of the increasingly complexity of society, the overwhelming amount of information of real time media, and need for big money to be reelected.



Megatrend 3: The increasing symptoms of global warming are becoming obvious in many different ways.

Megatrend 4: Unknown viruses and resistant bacteria are emerging that are untouched by existing medicines.

Megatrend 5: Conflict between the trends of aging in the developed world and the increasing numbers of youth in the developing world creates an economic and social time bomb.

Megatrend 6: There is an ongoing severe reduction in biodiversity throughout the world.

Megatrend 7: We are approaching a moment of "technological singularity"when runaway advances outstrip human comprehension and all our knowledge and experience becomes useless as a guidepost to the future.

Megatrend 8: The future vitality and sustainability of the economy and society will be dependent on the ability of leadership to develop cognitive complexity and continuous innovation in the capacities of the citizens.

Megatrend 9: There will be an increasing clash of civilizations and rise of terrorism.

Megatrend 10: There are three economies in churn at the same time:

a) Last stages of the Industrial Economy
b) Twenty year transition stage called the Creative Knowledge Economy.
c) The early stages of a Web/Networked Economy

Megatrend 11: National borders increasingly will be seamless.

Megatrend 12: Artificial intelligence is emerging which, when combined with biotechnology and nanotechnology, may very well transform the concept of what it means to be human.

[Willem Fick]

Geez Lube you did a lot of reading over the past few days!

IMHO #1 is a complete unknown as the oil industry is a cartel that manipulates output and controls data over resources. I'd give that a 50/50 likelyhood.

#7 is very interesting. If you look at the rapid advances in technology, and the way in which creators of various of these things are able to control markets and behaviour, I can easily believe that we will reach a point where technology is available to all, controls our lives, but only truly understood by a handful of individuals.

[Schumi]

Hmm....

1) Not necessarily.

2) I don't think the 'big money to be reelected' line is warranted. With the increasingly growing communication and networking of people over the internet, the world gets smaller, not bigger. Think youtube pop stars here.

3) Not my bag.

4) Probably.

5) I don't like the use of 'developed world' There are differing ages in both, this makes no sense to me. I'll just disagree with this one.

6) I think we have plenty left to go before this is a problem.

7) That is a real ****ty definition of the singularity. I agree with the forthcoming, but I don't think that describes it correctly

8) THAT DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. WTF.

9) I disagree

10) No ****, any 8th grade american history student could come up with that.

11) Another Duh.

12) Absolutely.






Some of these statements are aiming in the right direction but #8 sounds like it was written by an idiot which makes me think the whole thing was written by one of these internet sensationalist wannabes. It doesn't say anything. #10 is just a statement, which, on it's own, again doesn't say anything.


*sigh*

[Z-man]

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