In 1962 Bob Dylan sang that the times they are a changin. Still true even more so today. We as a nation went from no formal education as we recognize it today to transitioning a population from subsistence farming to industrial manufacturing to the computer age and then the information age. Subsistence farming was what held civilization together for thousands of years and then came industrialized manufacturing that sustained us for at best 100 years and now the last two have becomes obsolete as a means to support our society in less than 50 years. The changes in the way societies function is the challenge as these transitions keep having shorter and shorter lifespans as we move deeper into what is being called the 4th Wave. Founder of AOL, Steve Case wrote about it in 2016 in “The Third Wave”, Jeremy Rifkin in 2013 in “The Third Industrial Revolution”, respected theoretical physicist Michio Kaku in 2011 in “Physics of the Future”, Harvard professor of business, Clayton Christensen in 2007 in “Disrupting Class”, etc., etc. The times as always are changing and society if wishing to survive must embrace the change and engage with it. If wanting to look at the subject from a historical perspective look to the collapse of the varying civilizations and how not embracing new technology caused their demise and the ones that did, their prosperity. To save you time, Michio Kaku does a synopsis of it in “Physics of the Future” in the chapter on the Future of Wealth. The challenge I see is people are far too engaged in finding what or who to blame instead of asking where do we go next. Looking for an answer without asking the right question is always a lesson in futility. I call it attempting to drive forward with the majority of attention being focused on the rear view mirror. There is a reason the windshield is far larger than the mirror especially with the constantly accelerating rate of technological advancements. Daunting I know but it is the reality we live in. Rob
