Jamais Cascio
Jamais Cascio
Jamais Cascio is a San Francisco Bay Area-based author and futurist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
arguing change cultural days destined early far force history human internet notion revolution social tool wide writers
The notion of the Internet as a force of political and social revolution is not a new one. As far back as the early 1990s, in the early days of the World Wide Web, there were technologists and writers arguing forcefully that the Internet was destined to become the most important tool for cultural change in human history.
argue china climate cold countries disruption global middle might nuclear ride russia united war warming western
Much as Cold War nuclear strategists could argue about winning a nuclear war by having more survivors, advocates of a Global Warming War might see the United States, Western Europe, or Russia as better able to ride out climate disruption and manipulation than, say, China or the countries of the Middle East.
built course embraced few finished grandson knew massive people projects quite until west
Back in the 1500s, the culture that we had built in the West embraced multigenerational projects quite easily. Notre Dame. Massive cathedrals were not built over the course of a few years, they were built over a few generations. People who started building them knew they wouldn't be finished until their grandson was born.
assume came date information older possibly recognize reflects written
You need to recognize that the copyright date on a book reflects when it came out, not when it was written - assume that the information in the book is at least a year older than the copyright date, and possibly two.
help inform picture possible strategic structured
Remember, the goal of structured futures thinking is to come up with a picture of possible futures that will help to inform strategic decisions.
The Internet is not kind to established institutions.
people played
In entertainment, zombies are so played out. I have a gut sense that people are getting tired of apocalyptic scenarios.
anyone digital easily everywhere except forced form free hosts identities leaves log minds money reveal site speak spend tracks using web
In the U.S., we are free to speak our minds and to spend money without being forced to reveal our identities - except when using the Web. Browsing the Web leaves digital tracks everywhere in the form of log files, and anyone who hosts a Web site can be easily traced.
tunnels wind strategy
Future forecasting is all about testing strategies - it's like a wind tunnel.
wind civilization creating
Human civilization has been changing the Earths environment for millennia, often to our detriment. Dams, deforestation and urbanization can alter water cycles and wind patterns, occasionally triggering droughts or even creating deserts.
cutting data clouds
Cloud computing offers individuals access to data and applications from nearly any point of access to the Internet, offers businesses a whole new way to cut costs for technical infrastructure, and offers big computer companies a potentially giant market for hardware and services.
stress strategy turns
Foresight turns out to be a critical adaptive strategy for times of great stress.
development might information
Most of us who work as professional futurists never really stop gathering information - you never know when a provocative, potentially disruptive new development might appear.
reality enough happenings
The reality is that de-carbonisation is not happening fast enough.