Articles

The future isn't what it used to be.

Armed with powerful "Big Data" systems, go-­anywhere mobile apps, and more technologies than at any time in human history, we can now evacuate entire cities before storms come aground, anticipate the collapse of a foreign country's economy, foresee the outcome of sugar and fat-­ ladened diets, and predict when the batteries in my flashlight need to be replaced. We know that sociopaths get their start torturing small animals, that we are born with genetic propensities for Alzheimer's and breast cancer, and we can foretell the long-­term consequences of burning fossil fuels, over-fishing the oceans, and burying nuclear waste. Everywhere we turn, there is evidence of humankind's growing technologies and ability to anticipate.

And with that, our ability to preempt.

The ability to look ahead and avoid negative outcomes offers humankind our greatest hope for continuation. For true human evolution to occur, there can be no greater advantage than accurate anticipation -­ no more powerful asset.

That said, years from now, when scientists and historians look back at you and I, how will they describe this period of opportunity and consternation?

According to Harvard Naturalist, E.O. Wilson, they will observe a convergence of "Paleolithic emotions, Medieval institutions and God-­like technology" – a frightful time when technology surpassed our slow-­changing emotions, brains and institutions. Evolution lagged behind the pace of man-made technologies, producing Bonobo monkeys armed with nuclear weapons and pharmaceuticals.

One day our descendants will refer to this period in human evolution as the "Technolithic Era." A period when the rate of change began accelerating at an unmanageable, unsustainable pace -­ a time when technology began its intrusion into every aspect of life; joining continents, races, and religions with the sudden force of a tectonic shift -­ a time when unresourceful, slow adapters were cheerfully manipulated and pillaged.

Recently, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, gave us perspective on big data growth. Every 48 hours we generate as much data as we created from the dawn of human history  to 2003. And as the velocity, volume, variety and complexity of information continues its onslaught, predatory conditions amplify. Only those with the wealth to acquire the experts, and gain access to the data needed to foretell and shape future events, will prevail. Today, a profitable corporation like General Electric Company has the ability to hire hundreds of skilled tax attorneys to legally avoid paying taxes. Whereas the person on the street, who is relegated to self-­filing, pays the highest bracket they fall under. The underlying culprit is complexity . As the U.S. tax code eclipses a whopping 75,000 pages, more regulations are on the way. And with more regulations, inequity rises and compliance becomes more daunting.

What Human History Shows Us 

If human history has taught us nothing, it's that complexity is an invisible, heartless adversary. One which makes facts unattainable, indiscernible and inactionable – except to a few.

Today, there is growing evidence that complexity has started its assault: 8-­10 percent of Americans indicate that they prefer the Affordable Healthcare Act over "Obamacare" and 60 percent believe that climate change will have no effect on their lives. It has become impossible to distinguish foreign rebel factions from future potential allies or a shopkeeper by day from a bomb-­maker by night; we grapple with complex issues such as warrantless surveillance in the name of national security, caring for an aging population, and an education system which can no longer keep pace. Everyday we, along with our leaders, grow more gridlocked, more incompetent.

Millions of years of human evolution has brought us to the brink.

Future generations will characterize this period in human history as a time when the technologies to manifest future outcomes arrived on the scene, while prehistoric instincts prevented us from benefiting from our newly invented technologies. They will look upon us with pity for having squandered foresight in favor of the ninth inning save. They will wonder, with bewilderment, why we made heroes out of those who -­ when given the opportunity -­ failed to preempt. And the 2 percent difference in genetic difference we share with our nearest relative, the Bonobo monkey, will perhaps offer the biggest clue to our quandary.