Today I came across an interesting article that I thought I should share. It brings to mind an infamous rant from Terence Mckenna about how people say "Nothing much is going on." or that "Nothing much ever changes.". He argued that perceiving trends in technology was difficult due to how brief the human experience was. He also believed that there was a direct correlation between "The great awakening" and the average lifespan of human beings.

Later, Mckenna would speculate that changes in time/history/technology would become more and more prevalent as they perpetuate themselves. For example, the formation of the universe took billions of years, millions for planets, & thousands for life. Or you could imagine life forms taking thousands of years to get to language technology, hunndreds of years to the industrial revolution, tens of years to the communication revolution and so on.

Topics Of Conversation:

• Do you believe that there is a direct correlation between "The great awakening" and the average lifespan of human beings?

• Do you believe that we can integrate technology, or that it will supersede us?

• How far do you believe we can (somewhat) accurately predict the trends of future today?

• In 50 years, how far into the future do you think we will be able to see into the future trends? 2 years? 6 months? 1 week?

nice topic.

That list is really cool to read, I'm glad so much positive things are being invented.
The direction some of those project take; helping humankind to co-exist with Earth by means of technology seems to be 'the way to go'.
I think there is a strong tendency towards believing that we are 'on top of things'.

There is a discrepancy in the way technology evolves and the speed at which a human life unfolds itself.
Gaining skills, exploring one's consciousness and finding a good way to live have little to do with science and technology.
Sure, technology can help, but only because we've grown helpless due to this discrepancy which will only grow bigger as long as we keep looking for answers in technology.

• Do you believe that there is a direct correlation between "The great awakening" and the average lifespan of a human being?
I don't know if personal 'awakening' has something to do with lifespan. Maybe it has to do with the lifespan of a generation and its habits. That it needs time to come to a turning point of some kind. I think the 'great awakening' is ever returning.

• Do you believe that technology will continue to exponentially grow?
Yes, and I also believe that it will come to a halt quite abruptly. The rate at which 'useful technology' sorts itself out is also increasing. When personal gain ceases to influence technology it will stop evolving and start crystallizing to become self-sufficient and truly helpful.

• If so where do you see us in 5 years? 10?
Nothing much will change. I don't think the true evolution can be measured by the rate at which technology evolves.

• How far do you believe we can (somewhat) accurately predict the trends of future today?
We can very easily, just draw the linear line a bit further. The trick is to realize that the line is a circle, and the future was yesterday. And that predicting is remembering.

• In 50 years, how far into the future do you think we will be able to see into the future trends? 2 years? 6 months? 1 week?
I think trends will come and go at the speed of one's life cycle.

Very cool, i get excited reading this stuff. I hope the society transitions and aligns with this model of emergent change. Static models won't do anymore.

• Do you believe that there is a direct correlation between "The great awakening" and the average lifespan of human beings?

Well I think when it comes to life spans, its the conditions human beings need to live long lives that create long lives. The capabilities were already there because to my knowledge, we are no different then were 10000 years ago in terms of our biological/genetic make up. The mental and physical needs being met as well as the technological capability to enhance our lives are what create the long life spans. In other words, not a genetical evolution but one of environmental conditions. The Awakening imo is probably just a response to the conditions.

• Do you believe that we can integrate technology, or that it will supersede us?

That depends upon us. Unless we recognize that nature,technology and resources with a common human goal, are the most important factors in our lives, i don't think we will make it. Paradise or Oblivion is an excellent short free doco on youtube regarding this.

• How far do you believe we can (somewhat) accurately predict the trends of future today?

At this point, I think we can predict patterns and what we already know but not so much beyond that. Maybe 30 years.

• In 50 years, how far into the future do you think we will be able to see into the future trends? 2 years? 6 months? 1 week? [/quote]

Well i'm not sure. I think more about Terrance here when he talks about the singularity, seeing more change in 1 hour then 10000 years(some big number). I think at that point prediction flies out the window, you don't have time to focus on that.