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In an ideal world ... (ID #001)
Date: 3/6/2009 to 3/26/2009
Duration: 3 weeks
Host: Ann Simon
Topic(s): 3
Overview:
Russel Jacoby wrote in his book Picture Imperfect – Utopian thoughts for an Anti-Utopian Age that "Utopianism suffers from an image problem". Looking back in history, utopian dreams often turned into dystopian politcal nightmares. This left people with a cynical and negative attitude towards utopian ideas, often being related to a naive, anarchist and almost dangerous way of thinking. But, as R. Jacoby rightly puts it, "Utopian thinking does not undermine or discount real reforms … practical reforms depend on utopian dreaming." It´s about a spirit, a spirit that existed in the modern age, where people had a positive outlook towards the future and imagined it to be better in some way.
I want to get get an initial impression of what todays utopian thinking could be. The problem today is how to connect utopian thinking with everyday politics. How can dreams of "what should be" link to "what is", without creating a fixed blueprint version. What do you think?
Topic 1: What are the problems? (week 1)
Einstein once said that if you gave him an hour to solve a problem, and his life depended on getting the right answer, he would spend 55 minutes figuring out what questions to ask. "For if I knew the proper questions," he said, "I could solve the problem in less than 5 minutes."
What is the one thing that most urgently needs some utopian thinking?
If we ask the right questions and point out excactly what the problem it it might be easier to develop effective solutions.
Topic 2: Me or Us? (week 2)
What is it that people really care about, when they think of an improved future?
What do we really care about? Are we just thinking for ourselves or with regards to the greater good. Ultimatly an ideal is always very personal and individual. I wonder though wether there are certain things that are of common interest. Issues that can only be solved with a collective positive approach. What could that be?
Topic 3: Social Networking as part of the process? (week 3)
9 Trends of Social Interaction
1. Ever more of life is pocketable
2. It will always be easier to design something for sole use rather than shared use
3. Connected things talk – so what they will talk about?
4. The question of opting out of adopting a technology becomes one whether to opt out of society (Peer Pressure)
5. Reduced time between asking the question and having the answer
6. Technology is being adopted at a younger age
7. The boundaries such as personal and work life that still exist today will continue to erode
8. Lifetime will be measured in days or hours
9. The emphasis on social cues and how we plan to use them becomes even more important
(from a survey from Nokia Research)
With the increase of social networking all over the world it would make sense to incorporate it into a spiritual shift in peoples perception of the future. The possibilities are endless, yet it seems to be rather hard to make the connections.
Future Perfect
http://www.janchipchase.com/
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