Posts Tagged ‘future’
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A.
This article was originally published in Teach magazine.
For most of the 18 years I’ve written this column, I’ve focused on how education will change. This time, I’m going to focus on why it must change, and it relates to the purposes of education.
There are two major schools of thought about the purpose of education, and for some strange reason, most people believe they are mutually exclusive. One school believes that education should primarily be devoted to the enlightenment of the individual, to equip them with the mental tools to enable them to appreciate the fine and important things of life, and to enable them to contribute to their society and the world. The other school believes that education should provide the individual with the skills they need to get a good job and a vocation, so that they can support themselves, contribute to the economy, and enjoy the material things of life. Both are right, and they are actually mutually supportive, not mutually exclusive – but that’s a topic for another day. (more…)
Tags: America, America's future, American economy, automation, Canada, Canada's future, Canadian economy, education, employment, foreign competition, future, future of employment, future of jobs, jobs, labor force, teachers
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
What follows 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. This 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.
The next 10 years will dramatically change your life and almost everything in it. And while there are lots of things likely to change, I’d like to focus on 10 that will be of particular importance to you personally, to our society, and to the meeting planners generally.
Someone always benefits from change – and those who will benefit most will be those who prepare most successfully for what’s to come. Since I’m necessarily going to have to be brief, I would encourage you to contact me if you’d like to discuss any or all of these 10 points. (more…)
Tags: America's future, ascent of women, automation, automotive industry, Canada's future, climate change, computer intelligences, economic uncertainty, electronic health records, employment, energy, energy revolution, everyday robots, future, future of energy, future of health care, future of oil, future of pharmaceuticals, green economy, health care, health care revolution, health care threats, increased productivity, longevity, meeting industry, meeting planning, MPI, oil, peak oil, pharmaceuticals, political turmoil, robots, sex trade, social turmoil, status of women, the next 10 years, the purpose of life, transhumanism, women
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Monday, March 29th, 2010
by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A.
‘America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.’
– Abraham Lincoln
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. I find this intensely distressing and worrisome, and have hopes that the situation may yet be retrieved, but the time available is short. Americans have repeatedly overcome fearsome odds throughout their history to survive and thrive, but if there were ever a time when they needed true grit, self-sacrifice, and a willingness to cooperate with other Americans of different backgrounds, politics, and beliefs, it is now. (more…)
Tags: America, America's future, American economy, American politics, Bush, demographics, education, financial disaster, future, government finance, Medicare, Obama, Social Security, Tea Party movement, teachers, teachers unions
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Friday, March 5th, 2010
by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A.
This is a collation of a number of presentations I’ve made in the last few months to groups involved in health care, pharmaceuticals, and even food processing. It encapsulates a lot of what I believe will happen in health care over the next 25 years. Because it’s over 6,000 words in length, I’ve cut it into two parts. This first part will deal with what health care is likely to look like in 25 years’ time. The final part will deal with how we might get there from here.
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To begin, I need to impart a sense of the dramatic changes that are going to occur in health care over the next quarter-century. Intellectually, we all know that there are going to be a lot of changes, and significant ones to boot. Emotionally, though, I really doubt if any of us believes, in our heart-of-hearts, just how dramatic these changes are going to be. (more…)
Tags: 2035, biotechnology, future, future medicine, future of health care, future of medicine, future of pharmaceuticals, future of the pharmaceutical industry, future scenario, health, health care, medicine, pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceuticals, scenario, technology biosciences, year 2035
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
The world is experiencing another pandemic, this time of a relatively little-known disease. While most people have never heard of celiac disease, they may wind up contracting it, and if enough people get it, it may spell the end of the pizza industry, as well as commercial disaster for the sale of normal breads, cakes, pastries, and other baked goods, plus it will deliver an enormous financial blow to grain farmers[i]. Allow me to first explain, and then speculate. (more…)
Tags: autoimmune, autoimmune diseases, celiac, celiac disease, Crohn's, Crohn's disease, disease, epidemic, future, futurist, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, pandemic
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Two topics that are consistent hot buttons in the corporate world are innovation, and leadership. Both are in high demand for conferences, seminars, and workshops. Yet, what is not quite as apparent is that the two are related: one can lead to the other. (more…)
Tags: corporate management, enthusiasm, excitement, future, innovation, leadership, motivation
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