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The Future Now
A recent day in the life? There really is no typical day. When in Sarasota, I write, give interviews, guest lecture at Ringling College of Art & Design and work on the launch of The Sarasota Institute. When traveling I am usually giving a keynote speech to an audience of 200 to 2,000, speaking to a small group of CEOs or speaking at a corporate retreat.
When you were a kid, you dreamed of . . . Traveling the world, and I did. I have traveled to all 50 states and 56 countries.
A gadget that plays a leading role in your life . . . I can’t think of one. One “gadget” that is truly transformative that I use many hours a day is my iPhone 8+. It is faster and more powerful than the Cray Supercomputers of the 1970s and 1980s, and has 60 times more storage than the IBM mainframes of the early 1970s. I have some 200 books—50 read—on it, lots of TV and, of course, all the life-changing apps and incoming digital periodicals and research newsletters.
For what fault have you been the most tolerant? I am not very tolerant of my own faults. In others, a lack of intellectual curiosity is the hardest thing for me to tolerate. Tolerant in others? Obsession and compulsion because sometimes it is the driver of creativity and invention.
Your favorite virtue . . .
I cannot answer in the singular: honesty, compassion, creativity, empathy, vision.
For what fault have you
been the most tolerant . . . Overworking.
In our hometown, we do
too much self congratulation and too little creating of affordable housing.
Your favorite villain
in fiction . . . None really come to mind, sorry!
Your favorite villain
in real life . . . Politicians and government officials who violate the public’s trust.
Words you use too often . . . “Cool!” “Right?” as in “we all know that the speed of change is in a state of constant acceleration, right?” “Far out!” (as with “cool,” I am a product of the 1960s dig?”)
What is one thing that you will never understand . . . Why people don’t take better care of their health, fitness and well-being.
With 2 more hours in
the day, I would . . . Read
Read Read Read Read.
What social media do you use? I cannot stand nor respect Facebook. I love Instagram as there are so many creative and visually arresting feeds to look at. I like Twitter as a great brand platform and also because a person could be incredibly informed about the world, for free.
An invention from science fiction you wish was real? Teleportation.
If you could undo one invention in the world, what would it be? War.
What’s the difference between technology and magic? Throughout history new, cutting-edge technology is always first perceived as magic. Once we use it for decades, it loses its magic and becomes the norm. What we call magic is what we cannot understand. Religion is full of magical tales as all religions are largely pre-technology. It is important to always remember that technology is morally neutral. It is how humans use it that infuses it with morality.
Would you rather have a rewind or a pause button in your life? Rewind. Of course, who wouldn’t?
Having your brain uploaded into a computer. Would it be fun? We are about 10 years away for finding out.
What song best describes our current cultural
moment? Two from the ’60s: “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire and “Ballad of a Thin Man” by Bob Dylan.
If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Dead: R. Buckminster Fuller, Dr. Alvin Toffler, Marshall McLuhan
Alive: the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Richard Branson
If you could snap your
fingers and appear somewhere else, where would
you be? Today: the high foothills of the Himalayas. Yesterday: the day the pyramids were completed in Egypt. Tomorrow: the first planet other than Earth where there are sentient beings that we find,
Will humans ever catch
up with their tools? Yes,
absolutely. When we merge with them to connect to a higher consciousness. That is the direction we are heading.
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