Post 22

In this post I will argue that for a wiser technofuture to be possible, education needs to change, innovation needs to slow, and overall unintended consequences need to be reduced. It should be no surprise to anyone that education is probably the most important thing to ensure a better future. If the education is poor, future generations will suffer, and as a result, the overall growth of the world will stagnate and lead to job loss and a broken system. Similarly, if innovation continues on its current pace or speeds up even more, then inequalities between various peoples will continue and social, political, and religious issues will continue to divide people and nations. Also, if the innovations produced continue to have numerous unintended consequences, more problems will develop and society will continue on its current path.

Education is key to understanding how the world works. Without receiving a good education, it is very unlikely that you will succeed or do well in this world. But, what about the kids who are not doing so well in life despite attending school? This means that the education system is flawed and it needs thoughtful change. In this rapidly changing world where people of different origins and diverse backgrounds are coming into contact and interaction, it is important that schools teach about various cultures so at the very least, a mutual respect or understanding is there between future generations.  In society today, we often see white children picking on Muslim children for their religious coverings or beliefs and mutual respect is almost nonexistent. However, these issues go beyond just our children because adults discriminate against cultures or peoples they do not understand, so the problem is actually more serious.

Many consumers and people in general have noticed that innovation, especially technological, has been increasing at a rapid rate. At one point, just a few years ago, smartphone buyers were able to say that the phone they bought 2 years ago is still the best on the market. Nowadays, a newer, more powerful smartphone is released every 6 months or so, which leads to overconsumption and growing frustration amongst buyers. As futurist Ray Kurzweil states, "We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21^st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate). Just think about how much things have changed in the past 10 years—wireless internet, smart phones, Facebook and Twitter—and then try to imagine how vastly different things will be in 2021, or even 2100” (1).

If the pace of innovation is slowed or stagnated at the current rate, perhaps more trial and error testing would prevent unintended consequences that result from the fast pace of technological innovation. For example, the “antenna gate” of the iPhone 4 could have been prevented with more trial and error testing. “Antenna gate” was the name given to iPhone 4 users who reported that signal strength of the phone was reduced when touching the lower left edge of the phone, bridging one of the two locations which separates the two antennas, resulting in dropped calls in some areas with lower signal reception (2).

Sources

"Big Idea: Technology Grows Exponentially | Big Think." Big Think. 26 Mar. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. <http://bigthink.com/think-tank/big-idea-technology-grows-exponentially>.

"IPhone 4." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_4#Antenna