SNS: Looking Back in a Decade

In This Issue
Week of 10/28/2019
Vol. 24 Issue 32

Looking Back in a Decade

1. The Refusal to Nuke
2. China vs. the Rest of the World
3. The Role of AI
4. Biohacking
5. Genetic Realities and Social Acceptance
6. Global Warming
7. The Economy

Quotes of the Week

Takeout Window

• The Epitome of International Crime: The Chinese C919

Upgrades

• The INVNT/IP Digest

Ethermail

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When I first became serious about making accurate predictions, I found a mental device that was surprisingly helpful: rather than ask, “What will happen next ?” I found that zooming forward a decade or so, and then looking back at what had happened, provided a good deal of clarity that didn’t exist amid the noise of the moment.

As SNS members know, we chose an unusual theme for this year’s Future in Review Conference: “Anticipating the Unexpected.” In many ways, this has been Job One for us at SNS since we first started in 1995. In fact, one of our rules about selecting subjects for each weekly issue is that it cannot be something already covered properly elsewhere, and it should be important enough and surprising enough to warrant members’ serious attention.

As we at SNS start looking at our predictions for next year, I thought it would be useful to members to jump forward 10 years and look back on what was about to happen in the interim – and why. We’ll look at a few mid- to long-term issues often not discussed which have major impact, such as nations’ reluctance to date to use nuclear weapons, to see how technology and the global economy may change in anticipated, but unexpected, ways.

Let’s start right there and move forward.