Articles by Richard Worzel
|
|
|
|
Topics: Biosciences, Business, Demographics, Economy, Environment, Society, Technology, General
|
This is a summary of a presentation I delivered to the World Education Congress of Meeting Planners International in Vancouver, Canada at the end of July, 2010. It was part of a series of “Flash” presentations, each limited to 15 minutes, which didn’t leave a lot of time to elaborate. I’ve fleshed some of the points out here, but the most important reason for approaching the future in this way is that it is never shaped by just one thing, but rather by a confluence of forces, many of which are conflicting.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Demographics, Economy, Geopolitics, Society, General
|
Unless America and Americans force a drastic change in the country’s direction, the American dream is dead, and America’s place as the leader of the world is over.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Society, Demographics, Economy, Society
|
There's an epidemic of an unknown disease that can not only force you to change the way you eat for the rest of your life, but may have dramatic consequences for grain farmers and food retailers.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Environment, Geopolitics, Society, Technology, General
|
The next 10 years will effectively settle the climate change debate, but not much else. What's more, we may be making policy in precisely the wrong way. Here's why.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Society, Technology, General
|
In the last article I examined the field of risk management, and did a partial environmental scan to assess some of the current risks that are out there. In this conclusion to the set on risk management and foresight, I look at some tools that can help you ask the right questions, and assess the importance of the answers, then come up with plans to prepare for them.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, General, Society, Technology
|
Technology allows us to support learners with the people and techniques that work best for them. This second part of the discussion explores how we might do that.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, Society, General, Technology
|
With the opening of the school year, I'm re-publishing an article I wrote for the January issue of Teach magazine about the way education could develop from here. I'll reproduce the second part of the article in my next blog.
Meanwhile, please feel free to forward it to anyone you think might find it of interest. They are also welcome to sign up for future Futuresearch articles on my website at
Best regards,
Richard
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Demographics, Environment, Economy, Society, General
|
What follows is a summary of a presentation I gave to a symposium on the future of food. In attendance were farm producers, food processors, food retailers, and research scientists.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Economy, Business, Society, General
|
The risks of a possible collapse of the financial markets, and a resulting panic, continue to rise. Now is the time to devise a Plan B.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, Technology, Society, General
|
The future of education is a matter of survival, both for those directly involved in it, and for the rest of us as well. Here's why.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Education, Society, Technology, General
|
In June of 2000 I wrote an article called “Hi, robot!” in which I said, among other things, that a robot vacuum cleaner for households would be among the first robots available, that a general-purpose robot housekeeper might be available within 7-10 years, and that human-like commercial robots would be generally available within 20 years, and probably sooner. Roomba and Scooba have proven the first prognostication, and Toyota’s work on a household robot, to be brought to market sometime in 2010, looks likely to make the second come true. Accordingly, I thought it was time I revisited the subject, and wrote the following article on a recent plane ride.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Geopolitics, Society, General
|
My fears about systematic vote fraud in the 2006 mid-term elections appear to have been groundless.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Geopolitics, Society, General
|
The up-coming U.S. mid-term elections may be a crucial test of whether America is a democracy, or whether elections are rigged.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, General, Society
|
My, how education has changed! The problem is, it hasn't changed enough – and we're not ready to deal with the much bigger changes ahead.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Biosciences, Economy, Society, Technology
|
This is a summary of a presentation I recently made for the “2006 Life Sciences Industry Summit,” co-hosted by the Long Island Life Sciences Initiative, and the Center for Biotechnology.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, Society, Business, General
|
Whenever you think about any aspect of the future, if you think about it long enough, you'll wind up thinking about education. That's why education is the answer, but that's also why it's one of the major problems we face in preparing for tomorrow.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Society, Technology, General
|
The implications of technology often go far beyond the immediate or the obvious. Although much has been made of the Apple iPod, the implications are even more far reaching than most commentators realize.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Society, General
|
In an earlier article ('Why Service Sucks'), I described the effect of Darwin’s theory of natural selection on service industries as being the extinction of the worst rather than the survival of the fittest. This article describes how to give great service and lower costs simultaneously. But be warned: it's not easy.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Society, Geopolitics, Environment, General
|
The immediate effects of hurricane Katrina - death and destruction - are obvious. The long-term consequences and downstream effects may be more important.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Education, Society, General, Economy, Technology
|
The way students think, and the tools that they use are changing much faster than our education system can adapt. This will result in a clash of cultures between parents and teachers on the one hand, and students and Netizens on the other.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Biosciences, Economy, Technology, Society, General
|
What are some of the potential problems and obstacles biotechnology must overcome if it is to fulfill its promise?
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Biosciences, Technology, Economy, Society, General
|
A look at how biotechnology will change business and society over the next 20 years.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: General, Society, Education
|
Today's children are becoming flabby monsters, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, because of our neglect. The consequences for the future will be nasty.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Society, General
|
Toxic ideas seem to emerge from nowhere, capture the attention and imagination of the general public, and leave destruction in their wake. Here's why - and what you can do if one infects your operation.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Biosciences, General, Geopolitics, Society
|
The coming battle between health care practitioners and the government of Ontario is an important indicator of the problems that all developed country governments are going to have with their health care systems.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Business, Economy, Demographics, Society
|
The Echo Boomers, children of the Baby Boomers, are the Next Big Thing demographically for marketers. Unfortunately, they think and behave differently than earlier generations, so the old ways of marketing don't work. Here's what to do instead.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Society
|
The evolution of society is creating a toxic environment, with the result that we are betraying our children, and our own future.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Society
|
'The two greatest threats to the Jewish people are persecution and prosperity' - Jewish aphorism
The aphorism of my Jewish friends seems to apply to everyone, at least insofar as prosperity goes, and it will, I believe, have significant and negative effects on all our lives in the future.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Society
|
'Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.' - 'The Second Coming' by William Butler Yeats
Shortly before Christmas, 1999, I was contacted by a reporter for a Dallas newspaper. His 'beat' was religion and spirituality, and he was doing an article on the future of morality. He’d seen some of the articles on my website, and an article written about me in a magazine, and called me to ask if I had any thoughts about the future of morality.
|
Top
|
|
|
Topics: Society
|
There is no problem communicating a message today. There is a massive problem with having it heard. Likewise, there is no problem collecting information today, but there is a massive problem in separating valuable information from garbage. In that statement lies the future of our intellectual pursuits, and especially of research and library science.
|
Top
|
|
Search Articles by Keyword(s):
| |
|
|
|
|
