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Hybrid Reality -- FastForward Radio Jun 14, 2012

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Ayesha Khanna joins hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon to discuss her book Hybrid Reality. Co-authored with Parag Khanna, Hybrid Reality explores the frontier of the information revolution: The Hybrid Age, making the case that what human civilization needs more than anything is not greater IQ or EQ, but TQ: technology quotient. Has “balance of innovation” superseded the military “balance of power” as a measure of national potential? How are the smartest countries, cities, and companies harnessing new technologies to gain an edge? Moreover, what role does TQ play in adapting to a future in which robots are normal social actors in our lives, healthcare becomes a vehicle for physical enhancement, academic pedigree dissolves in a global skills market, and virtual currencies enable tax-free transactions? Join us as we explore these critical issues. About our Guest Ayesha Khanna is Founder and Director of the Hybrid Reality Institute, a research and advisory group focused on human-technology co-evolution and geotechnology. She is a Partner at K2S Advisors which provides strategic and financial advisory services in smart and sustainable cities, technology and infrastructure. She is also a Faculty Advisor at Singularity University and directs the Future Cities group at the London School of Economics.

Discounting the Future -- FastForward Radio Jun 07, 2012

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Stephen Pinker, writing in The Better Angels of Our Nature: It makes no sense to scrimp all your life so that you can have one hell of a ninetieth birthday bash. Self-indulgence becomes irrational only when we discount the future too steeply—when we devalue our future selves way below what they should be worth given the chance that those selves will still be around to enjoy what we’ve saved for them. There is an optimum rate of discounting the future—mathematically, an optimum interest rate—which depends on how long you expect to live, how likely you will get back what you saved, how long you can stretch out the value of a resource, and how much you would enjoy it at different points in your life. So -- is FastForward Radio steering people wrong when we tell them to focus on the future? Exactly how steeply should the future be discounted in an era of accelerating change? You could die tomorrow. You could live another 50 years. or maybe you could live another 500 years. So how much is your future worth? And which estimate do you use to value it? Tune in and we'll explore! Plus -- Paul Victor Vasquez joins us to talk about United Stewardship Alliance's latest uChallenge.

Predicting the Present -- FastForward Radio May 31, 2012

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Last week we talked about fallible vs. infallible futurism. We demonstrated how predictions can be phrased in such a way that they are never wrong. That can be an important skill, what with the future being so difficult to predict. But it isn't just the future -- sometimes we can't even predict the present. To demonstrate, host Phil Bowermaster has put together five groups of headlines taken from recent news stories about science and technology. All of these headlines have to do with some scientific or technological breakthrough. Each of the five groups contain three headlines, two of which are real and one of which is fake. Co-host Stephen Gordon will attempt to identify the fake. Sound easy? Well listen along and see how well you do!

Infallible Futurism -- FastForward Radio May 24, 2012

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This program may well be the most important 60 minutes of your entire life... ...or possibly not. If you phrase your predictions the right way, they can't be wrong. Is there any value in infallible futurism? And what is its relationship to the fallible kind? Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon talk about why we need both kinds, and why it's important not to confuse to the two.

The Big Fork -- FastForward Radio May 17, 2012

Show notes

Increasingly two models for the near future compete for our attention. We'll call one model Abundance and the other Limits to Growth.The former tells us that circumstances are improving and are likely to continue to improve; the latter says that a big reckoning is on its way. A recent debate at TED between Paul Gilding and Peter Diamandis captures the issues pretty succinctly. So who's right? Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss. Plus: other future-related topics, including: Google getting smarter Saudi Arabia going solar...? Daily aspirin linked to decrease in cancer deaths Space exploration by robot swarm

The Quest for Immortality -- FastForward Radio May 10, 2012

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Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss the quest for immortality, which has been with humanity for a long time -- perhaps since the very beginning, and which has done much to shape the world in which we live. New organizations are emerging with a whole new take on the proposition that life can be extended indefinitely. How do we get from here to there? The phases might look something like this: Life Extension Durable Digital Replacements Substrate Mobility Immortality So, will some of us live forever? And what does that even mean? Join us!

The Singularity University... Worldwide -- FastForward Radio May 03, 2012

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Question:“What do you make of the Singularity University?” Buzz Aldrin: “I’m a pretty high achiever. But I come here and think ‘Gosh. I’ve just got to do better.’” Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss what makes Singularity University special and indispensable. Then they'll talk about how to adopt some of the Singularity U awesomeness in your own life... in case you can't attend, OR in preparation for when you do. Hosts: Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon

A New Gold Rush...In Space! -- FastForward Radio Apr 26, 2012

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Planetary Resources has announced their plans to begin mining near-earth asteroids for the valuable resources that can be found there. Launches may begin in a couple of years. Is a new Gold Rush on its way, one that will open up space in the same way that previous rushes opened the western frontier? Hosts: Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon

Drivers of Change -- FastForward Radio Apr 19, 2012

Show notes

Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon welcome futurist John Smart for an overview and quick tour of 10 distinct areas of accelerating technological change, along with a discussion of the opportunities, disruptions, and threats they represent. They examine: Nanoscience and Technologies Resource Technologies Engineering Technologies Information Technologies Social Technologies Economic Technologies Political Technologies Security Technologies Health Technologies Cognitive Technologies John will be delivering a talk on "Forecasting the Future" at the DaVinci Institute's next Futurist Mastermind Group meeting on Thursday, 4/19/2012. About John Smart.

Jumping Ahead -- FastForward Radio Apr 11, 2012

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We picture our journey into the future as a smooth transition, but our real progress is a combination of leaps and bounds on the one hand and fits and starts on the other. On a special Tuesday edition of FastForward radio, hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss why the road to tomorrow is such a bumpy one -- and why that might be a good thing.

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