Last week, it was announced for the first time that old records outsold new records. As a futurist and business forecaster, this is noteworthy because while many people can grasp how the Internet, digitization and social networking are opening up a new future, they are simultaneously causing a growing number of people to be exposed [...]
“We are so good at seeing patterns that, often, we see them where they don’t exist.” –Michael Mauboussin Question #26: If you flip a coin 14 times which is more likely to occur: a) The coin will land on “heads” 14 straight times (H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H); or b) this random outcome: T-T-H-T-H-H-H-T-T-H-T-H-T-T? The answer is that the [...]
“It’s sad that we never get trained to leave assumptions behind.” “We should question all the rules–we should break all the rules.” “I like to put myself in the most uncomfortable position.” These three wonderful quotes (found in this article: What’s Next for Silicon Valley) come from Sebastian Thurn, the iconoclastic thinker and doer behind [...]
The future is accelerating. The rate of change is itself changing and becoming ever faster. One of the consequences of this state of affairs is that knowledge is becoming obsolete at an ever accelerating pace. This leads to a paradox: Education is becoming both less and more important at the same time. It’s becoming less [...]
“Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance.” –George Bernard Shaw Question #24: Do more people die jaywalking or in the crosswalk? The answer is the crosswalk. The reason is because people are lulled into a false sense of security due to the allure of existing rules such as painted crosswalks and flashing [...]
“We must unlearn the constellation to see the stars.” –Jack Gilbert from the poem “Tear it Down” Question #23: In 2003, what money-losing product far exceeded its sales projections for the year in spite of the fact that manufacturer made no material upgrades to the product and spent less money on advertising? The answer is [...]