2. Sometimes it's nice to have an easy model for complex topics,
especially if it helps us understand where we're at and predict where
the trendlines are going. Right or wrong, models get us thinking
about what is, what's possible, and even what's desired.
Take a moment and ask yourself -- how special do these times we're
living in feel to you?
Photo taken from: The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress,
and Prosperity In A Time Of Brilliant Technologies
3. If you're like most, no matter how much things have changed, we
take them for granted at an incredibly fast pace.
Comedian Louie CK pointed out how quickly we've gone from the
act of flying being a miraculous and impossible feat which defies our
natural abilities to our grudging about delayed flights, in-flight
internet outages, and cramped seating.
What if, on a daily basis, we've been grudging, instead of taking
advantage of the true reality of the world we live in?
4. Once upon a time, less than a century ago, the only music you could
hear was played live. A few decades later, music could be recorded,
and certain people began to aggregate collections. Fast forward and
the radio enabled us to tune in to broadcasts, while advances in
technology and declining prices allowed for personal music
collections. Only in the last several years have we seen music from
throughout time made available with a quick search, for free. Or if
you prefer, listen to any person's playlists or radio station in the
world, right from your personal phone, also for free. If that's not
enough, make your own music in minutes, with free apps, beats, and
musicians around the world willing to collaborate with you in
realtime. Welcome to the On-Demand world, the wait is over.
The trend in music was from scarcity to near over-abundance. If we
truly have arrived into an On-Demand world, two questions should
be asked at this point.
How might we think differently, and where are we going from here?
(Diagram Showing Option Count: 1 10 100 1000+ ???)
Limited Local
Limited Recorded
Limited Broadcast
On-Demand (Unlimited Local, Recorded & Broadcast)
???
5. If you guessed that the On-Demand world doesn't just apply to
music, you are right. In entertainment, we have thousands of
channels to tune into, and an internet full of movies, news,
performances, and home videos covering virtually every interest. In
education, we have books, apps, tutorials, and lectures… searchable
by our exact interests. We can now learn and enjoy faster, cheaper,
and easier than ever before. Even in relationships, sites such as
Meetup.com, dating services, and other social media make it
possible to find people with shared interests, to carve out the life
experiences we wish to have. In business, millions of jobs are posted
daily, crowd-funding has made personal financing easier than ever,
and logistics like marketing, sourcing, manufacturing, and
distribution have been streamlined to the point that small teams
with the right products and services can positively affect more
people than ever before.
It might be considered the biggest limitations we have in this age are
our capacities to imagine, motivation to act, and proper guidance.
6. Instead of taking this world for granted, like we've done with the act
of flying, what if we spent more of our time and energy using the
tools we’ve created to build the lives we each desire?
Instead of thinking we've reached the end of innovation, or settle for
the fact that the iPhone was the biggest invention in our lifetimes,
what if we extrapolate the trend we've seen in music, and become
part of creating the next logical step in the evolution of reality?
Virtual world, co-created by engineers and players of Sim City
7. Many of us are not quite fully living in the On-Demand world yet,
or at the very least, are not acting like it. But perhaps it's still not
too soon to think about what's next. There are no signs the
exponential increases in data and technologies are going to screech
to a sudden halt. In fact, the evidence points to the contrary.
Technology will continue to network our world’s data, and become
faster, cheaper, and more useful.
It's easy to argue against technology drastically changing our lives,
probably because our lives still aren't all that different than our
parents' were, and because we've been promised so much for so long.
But, let's still consider what the best plausible future would look like
that we'd want to live in, based on the trends we've seen.
The happiest, most meaningful moments in our lives are often the
ones where we feel like we're at the right place, at the right time,
with the right people, doing the right things. Things just seem…
well… right. Sometimes this happens because of our efforts, other
times it happens serendipitously, all on its own.
How might we begin engineering serendipity?
engineering(verb):!
the action of working artfully
to bring something about!
serendipity(noun):!
finding something good without
looking for it
8. In music, we've nearly done this. Using apps like Pandora or Spotify
radio, we can declare what music we like most, compare that with
others’ tastes and musicology, and specialized AI works out our very
own personalized algorithm, then voila! Songs we've never heard
before enter our eardrums, usually satisfying our listening desires.
But what about matching the right time, place, and mood? Is it
possible for each of us to have a DJ who knows what we want to
hear before we've even heard it, there for us at all the right moments?
9. Again, as you've probably guessed, it's still not about the music.
How many people would want to wake up, and instead of a job to
go to, have opportunities presented to them based on their skills,
qualifications, and interests every day? To meet and work with
people who are looking to go where we're going, and do what we're
doing? To have as much (or little) variety in the people and
experiences in our lives as we desire?
Historically speaking, it's amazing that yesterday was so much like
tomorrow for so many centuries. And how the biggest invention in
20+ years of a connected world was a cell phone which enables us to
be nosier than ever in more or less the same people's lives.
But literally speaking, there is nothing really holding the world
together like it has been. Every passing day we have the chance to
choose how we allocate all of our resources, and what gets changed.
10. Questions for Pondering
…If every human had the ability to feel in control of their day, and
their lives, to work or travel where they wanted, and do what they
wanted to do, wouldn't the world be happier?
…If every human had the opportunity for not just planned
happiness, but serendipitous happiness via constant pleasant and
surprise opportunities, wouldn't we have a lot less to fight about?
…If every human had the freedom to connect with each other based
on realtime interests and activities, wouldn’t we accomplish things
never before possible in the hundreds of billions of hours we
collectively share every week to make life more meaningful?
…What will it take to prepare for engineered serendipity?
…How are you preparing?
11. The End?
Please send your thoughts, comments, and questions to me @
tkurlas@gmail.com or +1.513.238.5779
Thank You For Reading!
