1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. This 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: is a part two. In our previous episode, we kicked 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: off the idea of Future Shock. We talked about this 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: groundbreaking um book by Alvin Toughlin and his wife Heidi 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,279 Speaker 1: and uh, and we really broke down what the book is, 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: what the resulting documentary is, what the the idea of 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: Future Shock is all about. We're going to rehatch a 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: little bit here, but this is definitely a situation where 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: if you didn't listen to part one, you really should 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: listen to part one before you jumped in with parts Yeah, 13 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: because we are using Future Shock as as kind of 14 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: time capsule um of the twentieth century fear and anxiety 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: about change, the malaise about future, of fretting that has 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: now followed us into the twenty one century. So we're 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: looking at sort of like this time caps is quaint 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: um in this kind of retro futurist way, but it's 19 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: also really humbling because many of the concerns are prescient 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: and thoughtful. So let's launch right into him because one 21 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: of the things that the Toddlers talk about, and what 22 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: they got right, I think, in at least in my mind, 23 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: is some of the reproductive technology, or what they call 24 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: birth technology. UM Now Toddler says. Dr E. S. E. 25 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: Half As, an internationally respected biologists at Washington State University, 26 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: has publicly suggested, on the basis of his own establishing 27 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: work on reproduction, that within a mere ten to fifteen years, 28 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: a woman will be able to buy a tiny, frozen embryo, 29 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: take it to her doctor, have it implanted in her uterus, 30 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: carry it for nine months, and then give birth to 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: it as though it had been conceived in her own body. Now, 32 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: back in the day, this was what Yeah, what are 33 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: you talking? I remember the time magazine covers were they 34 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: were shocking and start is it really had a lot 35 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: of future shock to them. Yeah. And now he takes 36 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: this idea and he says, okay, so that that's an idea, 37 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: and he basically says, at some point it may be 38 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: possible to do away with the female uterus altogether. Babies 39 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: will be conceived and nurtured and raised maturity outside of 40 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: human body. Now, George Davarsky, writing for Ionine in an 41 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: article titled how to Build an Artificial roomb um. This 42 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: was published in He says it were still a couple 43 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: of decades away from this, but um there has been 44 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: the development of an artificial endometrium and that's been created 45 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: from real tissue. And he says that depending on the 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: technology is available, of placenta could either develop naturally on 47 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: that endometrial wall, or it could take the form of 48 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 1: an external device that performs some of the same functions. 49 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: For instance, a dialysis machine could actually help with waste disposal. 50 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: And then he says, you add a little bit of 51 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: synthetic ambiotic fluid, you regulate the temperature, you create some 52 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: sororeal stimulation for the baby, and add a few microbes 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: and boom, we'll be there. Well, even that as complex 54 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: of that sound also it's kind of an oversimplification, I think. 55 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: I I I researched the the artificial womb notion a 56 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: little while ago, and I remember being struck by just 57 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: how it's It's a far more complex event that's happening here. 58 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: It's not as simple as just squired the right fluids 59 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: into the baby vote and uh, and the right kind 60 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: of creature will emerged later he didn't like my car 61 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: wash analogy, just kind of spirt some stuff. They emerge 62 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: on the other side. Uh, no, you're right. The environment 63 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: of the womb is completely specialized, right. Um, So of 64 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: course it would take a lot of work to even 65 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: get to that point where you could do it. But hey, 66 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: I would say that steps are being made in that direction. Um. 67 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: But one of the things that that Toffler or the 68 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: Topplers really picked up here is that this would change families. 69 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: This would change the face of families. This would change 70 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: the way that people decided to have children or become parents. 71 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: And he said that he thought he expected a lot 72 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: of people in future to remain childless or make that decision, 73 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: and that would allow them to both have robust careers 74 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: and to sort of navigate life in an easier way 75 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: as opposed to people who were saddled with a lot 76 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: of children. Because again, but at the same time, here 77 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: we're seeing birth control in place, and this is giving 78 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: women a lot more power and options in terms of 79 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: regulating their own careers and making decisions. And so he 80 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: does say, hey, there could be a compromise here, There 81 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: could be the postponement of children and He says that 82 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: instead of just being childless, people could decide that they 83 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: could freeze those embryos and then later on she's to 84 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: become parents. Now, he's correct in this sense that a 85 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: lot of people have delayed parenthood. If you look at 86 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: this historically, people are choosing to have children in their 87 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: thirties in their early forties as opposed to what we 88 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: would think of as the childbearing years in the twenties. 89 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: And of course there have been implications in this, but 90 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: he takes us a step further and says, hey, why 91 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,799 Speaker 1: even worry about doing this while you're having your career. 92 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,159 Speaker 1: Why not become parents when you retire. Well, yeah, that's 93 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: that's an idea too. We have. I don't know that 94 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: we've seen that that vision exactly pan out, but we 95 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: do see later in later stages of of of parenthood. Sure. Sure, 96 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: But what I'm thinking about is at this point, the 97 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: Tolfers don't even know about bio gerontology or Aubrey de Gray, 98 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: who is saying, hey, guys, we got it. We've got 99 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: we have got the mechanics to begin to preserve the 100 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: human body. I can't say it in a different way, 101 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: or maintain the human body in a way that will 102 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: extend our lives. And so if if the two could meet, 103 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: perhaps you know, in the near future, you would see 104 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: that people are beginning to have children in their sixties 105 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: or the seventies. Yeah, but that also kind of sounds 106 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: like you're you end up pushing the deadline out, and 107 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: then people still wait until right up to the deadline 108 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: to do things. So would you say, oh, now I 109 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: have more time to to enter the family stage of 110 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: my life, we would say, would you say, oh, well, 111 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: this is great for my career, and I'll just push 112 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: off the child thing just a little longer. It's possible. 113 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: But I just I really think that this analysis is 114 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,359 Speaker 1: very interesting. Um and the Toddlers also talk about childless marriage, 115 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: professional parenthood, which was sort of like seeding your parenthood 116 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: responsibility to someone else post retirement, child rearing, corporate families, communes, 117 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: geriatric group marriages. Okay, And then he said they talked 118 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: about homosexual family units, polygamy. Than they say, these then 119 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: are a few of the family forms and practices with 120 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: which innovative minorities will experiment in the decades ahead. Well, 121 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 1: you definitely see a lot of that. I do feel 122 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: like the definition of family has has changed a lot 123 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: over the past few decades, and even even the definition 124 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: of a child and parenting, you know, I mean, because 125 00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: you have so many different models there. Now you have 126 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: again to their point that you have the test two babies, 127 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: you have the virtual fertilization, you have surrogate months, you 128 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: have adopted parenting, and I mean even something as simple 129 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: as adoptive parenting has really come a long way as 130 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: as this because back back in the year the seventies 131 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: and before, there was still that idea that you would 132 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: adopt a child and then maybe never tell them that 133 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: they were adopted. And we have a we have a 134 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: far more advanced and uh and I think, you know, 135 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: more truthful and healthy um idea of what adoptive parenting 136 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: is now and how that fits into this into our 137 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: new and evolving idea of what a family is. You know. 138 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: Some of that I think plays into this idea of 139 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: how we regard um one another at different stages in 140 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: our lives, because and in the book they were talking 141 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: about how before the seventies, it was either that you 142 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: were a child or you were an adult. There was 143 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: no teenager, there was no becoming an adult or acknowledging 144 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: that there are different stages, so I think they're to 145 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: that point. There's a lot more insitivity to how children 146 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: are developing, and as a result, people are thinking more about, 147 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: you know, how to form their minds as opposed to 148 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: like you're you, you're termed eighteen, your your men now right, 149 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: go out? And oh yeah, I mean so Like even 150 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: time I watch an episode of mad Men, I often 151 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: reflect on men in in my life, my you know, 152 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: my dad and my grandfather, you know, various uncles and 153 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: as well as Don Draper's example, and think about like 154 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: those past ideas of you know, you're no longer a 155 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: child and now you're a man, and how how that 156 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: that model doesn't really apply so much anymore, Like there's 157 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 1: no against so many of us figure out a way 158 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: way to uh sustain our childhood indefinitely and to put 159 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: off some imagined transformation into a man and definitely. And 160 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: also that model of what a man was culturally and 161 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: say the nineteen sixties us is, I feel, rather than 162 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: what a lot of us would want to be. That's 163 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: sort of you know, don't don't look your family members 164 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: in the eye kind of a thing like work all day, 165 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: support the family and not be there like so many 166 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: of those models you see in in like old films. 167 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: They just like nobody even wants that anymore. It's so stifling. Yeah, yeah, 168 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:18,839 Speaker 1: And that's kind of what they say in here, And 169 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: they say that that one of the things about having 170 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: more fractured society is that you have more freedoms. Is 171 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: that people begin to really embrace individuality in a way 172 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: that allows them to express themselves in a way that 173 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: they hadn't been able to before. Just to bring the 174 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: discussion back around to reproductive technology and future shock, I 175 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: ran across this wonderful quote from Ray Kurtz Flow in 176 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: a two thousand twelve Wired interview. He said, people actually 177 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: adjust to the reality of their technology amazingly quickly. Is 178 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: descriptions of technologies just around the corner that they find daunting. 179 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: But when there's a new treatment for a disease that 180 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: works better, people can wax philosophically. Oh, I don't know 181 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: if we really to extend longevity. But when it actually 182 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: comes to curing curing a disease or treating it better, 183 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: it's adopted without hesitation. The only question is does it 184 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: really work. The same thing with social networks or wikis 185 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: or Wikipedia, all these things, we eagerly adopt them. The 186 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: only question is that do they really help us. When 187 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: it becomes clear that they do, we adopt them very readily. 188 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: They quickly become a part of our everyday world so 189 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: that we can't do without them. That's true. I've read 190 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: um study. I believe that is the sixty plus group 191 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: that are really sort of the biggest users of their 192 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: smartphones because they're beginning to see that there is a 193 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: huge UM. I mean, this isn't a lifesaving thing, but 194 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: this is something that can really simplify their lives in 195 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: some ways. And so then you begin to get this 196 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: idea of well maybe it's you know, necessity is the 197 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: mother of adoption, um, rather than invention. Yeah, and you 198 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: see in some cases that kind of skipping of a technology, 199 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: you know, like uh, you see like a various older 200 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: people in our lives that may have never figured out 201 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: exactly how to program a VCR back when that was 202 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: a thing, but now they're just complete masters of their 203 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: smartphone because the technologies farm are relevant to their existence. Well, 204 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: so much easier to yeah, yes, true with Surrey in 205 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: your life right now, Another topic that Toffler touches on 206 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: is the idea of a disposable society. He says, quote, 207 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: we develop a throwaway mentality to match our throwaway products. 208 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: This mentality produces, among other things, instead of radically altered 209 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: values with respect to property. But the spread of disposability 210 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: through society also implies decreased durations in man thing relationships. 211 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: And that's man thing, not man thing the comic book character. 212 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: If you're wondering, instead of being linked with a single 213 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: object over a relatively long span of time, we were 214 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: linked for brief periods with the succession of objects that supplanted. Um. 215 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: This is this is one of those those ideas that 216 00:11:55,520 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: he brings out that at once rings true. Like there's 217 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: a lot of this that totally rings true. There are 218 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,239 Speaker 1: some of the finer details of it that don't necessarily 219 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: hold up all the way. But but I feel like 220 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: for the most part he got this one right. Um. 221 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: Because one idea that instantly comes to mind here is furniture. Uh, 222 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,559 Speaker 1: you know you mentioned Ikia in the last episode. Like not, 223 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: not only is Ikia a model of build it yourself furniture, 224 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: but it isn't a model of furniture that no one's 225 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: buying expecting it to be passed on to their grandchildren. 226 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: The previous model was, you know, you spent, you put 227 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: a lot of money into a well crafted piece of 228 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:37,319 Speaker 1: furniture and that is part of your heritage. And now 229 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: we we really don't expect most of our furniture in 230 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: the last you know, in the next week. Yeah, there 231 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 1: is definitely a huge aspect of our society that is disposable. 232 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: But I'm also thinking about, um, the fact that we 233 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: tend to just kind of hoard a little bit, and 234 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: you know, there's that part of materialism which allows us 235 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: to do that, to just keep a mass more and 236 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 1: more things. Oh yeah, for instance, self storage units. I 237 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: believe we've touched on this before, but um, the latest 238 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: stats from the Self Self Storage Association, they say that 239 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: they are now over forty eight thousand, five hundred primary 240 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: self storage facilities in the United States as of the 241 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: year in two thousand thirteen, and then there are another 242 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: four thousand secondary facilities. Primary facilities are ones who are 243 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: basically all they do are the main thing they do. 244 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: In storage facilities, secondary there's some other primary business at hand. 245 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: But the self storage rentable space in the US alone 246 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: is now two point three billion square feet. That's approximately 247 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: two hundred and ten million square meters uh. And they 248 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,439 Speaker 1: say that that figure represents more than seventy eight square 249 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: miles of rentable self storage space under one roof, an 250 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: area more than three times the size of Manhattan Island. 251 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: So that's kind of crazy. And I think that that's 252 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: part and personal of a disposable society, or creating goods 253 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: that are so cheaply made or so easy to buy 254 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: or so uh cost effective that you can either dispose 255 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: of them where you just can buying more and more 256 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: of the junk. You know, It's true, it's kind of 257 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: like both both sides of it. Yes, we're it's a 258 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: disposable culture, but we're not quite so disposable that we're 259 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: going to throw all of that old disposable stuff away. 260 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: We need to put that somewhere because we might need 261 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: it again. Like we're still clinging to some of those 262 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: sort of post depression ideas and and and the old 263 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: fashioned ideas that we need to hold onto the things 264 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: we own. We need to hold onto well crafted materials 265 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: because they are their usefulness will continue in the decades ahead. 266 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: We're still holding onto some of those ideas, but we're 267 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: holding onto it with disposable materials, and so we're kind 268 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: of getting the worst of both worlds. And then you 269 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: have some people in extreme cases who are have huge 270 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: amounts of anxiety connected to those things because their their 271 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: own sorts of uh psychological states are playing out in 272 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: terms of objects. And of course I'm saying hoarding here, 273 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: which is closely related to obsessive compulsive disorder. But this 274 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: was also making me think about um our relationships be 275 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: has the top us also point out that in the 276 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: future UM people will be so mobile and spread out 277 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: so much um that we will begin to have very 278 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: surface relationships, disposable relationships, will have what they call the 279 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: nine to five or the workday relationships, where you know 280 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: you're having these relationships through coworkers, but it's not necessarily 281 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: going deeper than that. And that we've begun to move 282 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: away from family in terms of social bonds and more 283 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: toward one another in in these very superficial ways. Yeah, 284 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: and I feel like you do see a lot of 285 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: that in life. Yeah, although if you want to play 286 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: Devil's after get here, you could say that people maybe 287 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: are a little bit more isolated because Uh. Technology has 288 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: put us in that position. And you know, a Facebook 289 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: front is different than a face to face friend. But 290 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: they would say that communities have sprung up uh in 291 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: the void, right, and that there is a connection that 292 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: people feel, even if it is as abstract as an 293 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: avatar that you create to communicate with another person. There's 294 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: a wonderful moment in the documentary version of Future Shock 295 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: where a little girl has has taken her doll back 296 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: to the shop UH and exchanges it for a new, 297 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: shinier doll, and then the store owner throws the old 298 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: doll and the garbage and the music is very ominous 299 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: and then UH. And then Orson Welles tells us even 300 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: friends don't last in this future UM, which which was 301 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: you know, again very much overstating the case there. But 302 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: again you do see shades of that in our modern society. 303 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: You do do. And they also talked about simulated environments, 304 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: this idea that we would begin to create these um 305 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: environments that we would move through in a more abstract way. UM. 306 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: But we haven't seen that completely yet. We we know 307 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: that the Internet of everything is on the horizon. We 308 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: know that nearly every surface can become interactive, but We're 309 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: not quite there yet. But on the other hand, simulated 310 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: environments in the form of video games still remain a 311 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: very big business. People are putting themselves in these environments. 312 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: Not quite in the virtual reality UH idea that became 313 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: prevalent in the in the nineteen eighties and and and 314 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: part of the nineties. But still they are immersing themselves 315 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: in a virtual world uh an unreal world and spending 316 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: a lot of time and energy there. But I am 317 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: still waiting for that travel lodge of Remember that report 318 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 1: we saw from futurists Ian Pearson who said, like, one 319 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: day you can go that travel lodge and you can 320 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: call up any sort of background environment that you want. 321 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: You could have your sheets outfitted with sensors that might 322 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: interact with someone else. You could have contacts active contact 323 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: lenses that would put retinal images on your eyes and 324 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: into your brain, so that you could be staring at someone, 325 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: but they could be completely different than than than who 326 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:01,360 Speaker 1: you are actually staring at and transforming your reality into 327 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: this artificial reality. Yeah, and that was definitely a study 328 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: that gave me a little future shock, Like maybe not 329 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: like the crippling level of future shock, but very much 330 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: that that in all level of future shock where you 331 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: really have to think, wow, things could in the future 332 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:19,160 Speaker 1: significantly change in a way that it shakes culture itself. Yeah. 333 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: And if you think about that model too, that changes 334 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: the economic model too, because everything in that that that 335 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: space is for sale too. I mean, if you like 336 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: the dresser, you can just go tap on it or 337 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: scan it and that could be delivered to you in 338 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:36,439 Speaker 1: one hour via a drone. Yeah, thank you Amazon. On 339 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: the subject of a disposable culture, something we're talking about 340 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: recently in our very own break room here, how stuff 341 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: works cups because we have one of those k cup machines, 342 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: they're Curi Curig. We put a little the little plastic 343 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: cup in and then you pop it and it shoots 344 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: hot water through there and makes you a cup of coffee. 345 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: And then what do you do with the little plastic 346 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: cup You throw it away? Right. Well, it's become quite popular. 347 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: Just in our office. According to a survey by the 348 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: National Coffee Association, nearly one in five adults drink single 349 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: cup brewed coffee yesterday, so it makes it the second 350 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: most popular way to brew coffee, right after your normal 351 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: hum Mr coffee type coffee machine. Sadly, my method to 352 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: eropress hasn't quite made his way to the top yet. 353 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 1: But but here's where he gets the Erroopress is a 354 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: wonderful device, even though it is sometimes mistaken for either 355 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: a drug paraphernalia or some sort of a sexual device. 356 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: But still it's a wonderful way to make coffee. According 357 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: to Seattle Times, uh U S consumers bought one thirty 358 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: two million dollars worth of coffee pods in two thousand 359 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: eight four October, three point one billion for them last year, 360 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: and that was compared to six billion uh for roasted 361 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: coffee and two point five billion in instant coffee. This 362 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: is all from two thousand fourteen Mother Jones article Your 363 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: coffee POD's dirty secret and where it gets really dirty 364 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: is we can consider this. In two thousand thirteen, Green 365 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: Mountain produced eight point three billion cake cups, enough to 366 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: wrap around the equator of the planet ten point five times, 367 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: do we, liamb You will not quit telling me that's 368 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 1: that until I quite using the cake cups, will you. 369 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: I know they're fast, I know they're a little faster 370 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: than the other machine, but but yeah, ten point five 371 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: times around the uh The the equator of the point. 372 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: Now we should mention that that Kurig just released a 373 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: sustainability report announcing that the company plans to make all 374 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: their coffee pods recyclable by So there's a silver lining 375 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: the right. So if you can see the lining beyond 376 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: the belt of k cups that are now orbiting the plant, 377 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: So in six years I can feel good about having 378 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: a cup. Yeah, there you go, all right, or just 379 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 1: get the little my mom has one and she uses 380 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,400 Speaker 1: a little uh disposable or not disposable, but the little 381 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: reusable thing you get like a little cake cup. Yeah, 382 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: and just fill it with you just put coffee grounds 383 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: in there and kind of treat it like a you know, 384 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: a grown ups coffee maker. All right, Yeah, it can 385 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: be done. You don't have to you don't have to 386 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,239 Speaker 1: abandon your device. You just a little convenient it is. 387 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: It is, alright, So again something that the Dolfers could 388 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: not have anticipated. We're gonna take a quick break and 389 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: when we get back, we're going to talk about what 390 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: else they didn't anticipate. All right, we're back. Before we 391 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: get it into the next section, I do want to 392 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: mention real quick that another area that I feel like 393 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: they maybe not got right, but are getting right, Like 394 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: they're they've successfully forecast some of what's happening in the world. 395 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: As they mentioned possible technological backlash h quote protests against 396 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: the ravages of irresponsibility used technology, and they said that 397 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: they could crystallize in a pathological form a future phobic 398 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,400 Speaker 1: fascism with scientists quote substituting for Jews and concentration camps. 399 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: That's an extreme vision of what the future could hold. 400 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: But I instantly thought of, for instance, the the German 401 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,119 Speaker 1: backlash against nuclear power, current backlash against in as a 402 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: spine of all the anxiety surrounding heart bleed. I feel 403 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: like we we are seeing seeds of maybe not the 404 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: extreme vision of where this could had, but we see 405 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: some of the some of those currents already in our 406 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: culture well. And again I think that speaks to the 407 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: topplers pointing out that we don't have the structure in place, 408 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: and that they're saying this in the seventies. Is two 409 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,479 Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, and we still have not caught up 410 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: with the technology in terms of how to manage it. 411 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,159 Speaker 1: Um from from different sectors, whether or not it is 412 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: from the government or from private corporations. Um. But let's 413 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: let's talk about some things that they didn't anticipate. Um. 414 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: And one of the things I'm thinking about is the 415 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: way our memory systems would change. Indeed, the way that 416 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: we think has been completely changed by our technology. Yeah. Now, 417 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: another thing that didn't come up much is this idea 418 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:02,640 Speaker 1: that we're pretty adaptable, and with a aptibility comes creativity. 419 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: There's an article from I O nine and it's by 420 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,679 Speaker 1: Charlie Jane Anders, and she writes it in terms of 421 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: culture shock, not necessarily future shock, that researchers William Maddox 422 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: and Adam Dlinsky have done a lot of work showing 423 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: that people who had a multi cultural experience, like living 424 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: in a foreign country for several months, they score higher 425 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 1: on various tests of creativity. And she said that you 426 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: could assume that people who have overcome future shock would 427 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:32,479 Speaker 1: similarly score higher on those tests, because what is future 428 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: shock but uncertainty about what's going on in anxiety. As 429 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: a result, if you are dumped into a place that 430 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: you are not familiar with, where the language is completely 431 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: foreign to you, and the systems are different systems where 432 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: you operate just day to day, then it's sort of 433 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: the same thing. Yeah, I mean, it's very much a 434 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: situation of worldview, you know, this which which you often 435 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: encounter when you're discussing religion. In the way that we 436 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: we view ourselves within a cosmology, you know, we have 437 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: this bubble around us, and in that bubble, within that 438 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,400 Speaker 1: bubble or ideas about who we are, how we fit 439 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: in with the universe, what makes sense, what the rules are, 440 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: who who is the us in the sentence, and who 441 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 1: are the others? Certainly religion can be a part of that, 442 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 1: but technology as well. I mean, technology is part of 443 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: your worldview, and if you are ever forced to step 444 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: outside of it like that, I feel like stepping outside 445 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: of your worldview is is a vital, uh means of 446 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,399 Speaker 1: gaining a larger understanding about what it is to be 447 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: human and what it what it is to exist on 448 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: this planet. Yeah, I mean that's stepping out of your 449 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: normal cy bias. Yeah, stepping out of what you take 450 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: for granted as the normal world and realizing, hey, there 451 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: are other equally valid ways of looking at the universe. 452 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 1: They're equally valid ways of dealing with day to day 453 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: life and they and they may involve drastically different technology. 454 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 1: They may involve significantly less technology. Another thing that they 455 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: didn't anticipate is that there would emerge out of this 456 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: kind of future shock, or are all these different different 457 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: systems that were coming online a kind of retail homogeny 458 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,919 Speaker 1: um and researcher Shigahiro Oyshi with the University of Virginia 459 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: writes about the idea that greater mobility is partly responsible 460 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,159 Speaker 1: for the rise in the number of chain stores. So 461 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: no matter where you go, you see the same handful 462 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,199 Speaker 1: of shops and restaurants, and this is reassuring in an 463 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: age where people are moving around a lot. And actually, 464 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: if you want more on this, you can see the 465 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: article why Americans love chain stores in Atlantic cities. Yeah, 466 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: you do fall into that situation where there's going to 467 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: be a part of any certainly American city that looks 468 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: just like it's uh, the same colony of commercialism in 469 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: another city. No matter what the actual environment is, no 470 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,680 Speaker 1: matter what the actual cortial cultural demographics are, you're gonna 471 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: find that same strip mall land spreading out around the 472 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: earthen center like some sort of a mold. So ultimately, 473 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, what can we still 474 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: learn from future shock, Why is this, Why is this 475 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: still relevant? You've got to use technology to build a decent, 476 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 1: democratic and humane society, right, Yeah, certainly. I mean most 477 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: of our really scary ideas of technology affecting the future, 478 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: uh tend to involve a loss of rights, the loss 479 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 1: of humanity, and some sort of totalitarian flavoring to the 480 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: ice cream. But we we've also seen plenty of examples 481 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: of say social media being used in the last few years, 482 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: where the technology is at least being used with the 483 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,120 Speaker 1: intention of pushing um freedom. Yeah, and you do see 484 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: also in developing countries where this becomes really important. Um, 485 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: you know, Twitter is used there in a way that 486 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: it's not used you know, say and and Sudan. It's 487 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: being used there in the way that's not being used 488 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: in the United States, and is able to report things 489 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: in a way that people did not know what was 490 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,159 Speaker 1: going on. So it's really important that way. But I 491 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: was just thinking that in terms of struct sure that 492 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: something like the city of Portland, Oregon or Portlandia is 493 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: a great example. It's a microcosm and it doesn't barely 494 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: cover the issues that we're talking about today. But here's 495 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 1: the city that in the nineteen seventies, was like, man, 496 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: what do we want to look like in twenty years? 497 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 1: And they actually invested a ton of money in their 498 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: transit system and in other ways that they thought would help, uh, 499 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: the economy and the people grow there and then well 500 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: and behold it becomes this grand city to to live 501 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 1: in and everybody flocks to it. And in the same way, 502 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: you know, you feel like you you hear this all 503 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 1: the time, like you're we're going to invest in the future, 504 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 1: and it's just lip service because a lot of it 505 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: is just maintaining, um this this sort of same structures 506 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: and power structures that have been in play. Yeah, there's 507 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: a again in Future Shock, there's the overall theme of 508 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: the future is coming? Are you ready for it? And 509 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 1: one of the sort of a physical example of that 510 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: that I that I encountered my previous job where I 511 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,679 Speaker 1: worked at a newspaper out in Covington, Georgia, which is uh, 512 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: significantly outside the perimeter. But Atlanta is a big urban sprawl, 513 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: so communities to sprawl outward like the like a blob, 514 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,120 Speaker 1: like a big urban amiba. And there's a city between 515 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: Covington and Atlanta called Conyers, and Conyers was always sort 516 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: of this example of this is what happens when you 517 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: were not ready for the future to expand into your area, 518 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: because it's kind of an area where this urban expansion, 519 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: this urban sprawl has just completely uh overflown everything, and 520 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: it covers both the infrastructure, I mean the streets, and 521 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: then just also a personal identity of the town. So 522 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: I remember there being a lot of talk like how 523 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: are we gonna how is this town going to meet 524 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,640 Speaker 1: the future? We're gonna be washed over as well. Well. 525 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: Now think about something like a city like Beijing, how 526 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: is that city going to meet the future? Because that city, 527 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: in many ways is a snapshot of what many large 528 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: cities in the world will look like in twenty thirty years. 529 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: Because we know that we're migrating more and more and 530 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: more to cities, so we've got larger populations, and so 531 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: then it really becomes very important as to how you're 532 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: going to manage that and use technology in a way 533 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: that helps support everybody as opposed to creating a greater 534 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: divide in wealth. Yeah. Yeah, Well, indeed, some of the 535 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: larger Chinese cities are a great example of like what 536 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: what can we learn from these cities? What have they 537 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: done right? What are they doing wrong? How are their 538 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,479 Speaker 1: steps to correct matters? Now? What should we learn from 539 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: all these examples? And finally another issue that the top 540 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 1: wars of course at the point out and I mentioned 541 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: that this briefly talking about protests against technology revolting against technology. 542 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: Part of that is the fact that we need to 543 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: realize when technologies are too dangerous, When or when is 544 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: our approach to it or handling of it, uh just 545 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: too much? When should we back off? Because certainly we 546 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: shouldn't be afraid of technology, we shouldn't be afraid of 547 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: the future, we shouldn't bar any doors. But arguably we 548 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: need to have an understanding of what the risk are 549 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: as well. Well. I think some of it too is 550 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: like why would technology be dangerous? Well, it would be 551 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: dangerous because it would infringe, some people would say, on 552 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: your rights as a person. It would be dangerous because 553 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: it would be used in nefarious ways. And we see 554 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: that again with the n essay and accumulation of data 555 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: to try to get a foothold in the world scene 556 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: in terms of staving off any sort of threats that 557 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,040 Speaker 1: the United States might think it has against it. Now, 558 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: Toffler has a book called War and Anti War, and 559 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: he says that in terms of war and these power 560 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: structures and danger, he says that the thesis is very 561 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: simple of his book, the way you make war is 562 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: the way you make wealth. If you change the way 563 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: you make wealth, you inevitably change the way you make war. 564 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,479 Speaker 1: And if you change the way you make war, you 565 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: ought to be thinking about changing the way you make peace. 566 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: So I thought this is very interesting to to put 567 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: it that way, because a lot of the strife that 568 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: we feel is because there's a bunch of people douking 569 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: it out power wise and trying to either accumulate wealth 570 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: or stature, or arms or all the above. Indeed, all right, 571 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: so there you have it, future shock, what they got right, 572 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: what they got wrong, some of the various bits in between, 573 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: And certainly there's a lot of room for discussion here 574 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: regarding those those bits and pieces that haven't been accounted 575 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: for yet, some of these predictions that haven't come true, 576 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: but they haven't come true yet. Some of these problems 577 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: that with technology that we're not really having to grapple 578 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 1: with now, but perhaps we're gonna have to grapple with them, 579 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: uh in the next ten years. In the next twenty years, 580 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: And wouldn't would be great to see a suite of 581 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: studies about future shock in places like Japan or other 582 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: places in Asia where you have a more robust AI presence, 583 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: and you know, to really try to put actual figures 584 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: to this idea of anxiety. Yeah, you know, it would 585 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: be interesting. Indeed, I mean they really should be just 586 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: straight up future shock studies. I like it all right, 587 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: So we're gonna close this one out. As usual, We'll 588 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: go to Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com for 589 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: all of our podcast episodes, are blog episodes, are videos, 590 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: links out to our social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, 591 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: Google Plus, YouTube, Mind Stuff Show that is our name. 592 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: Now you can follow us on YouTube, subscribe to our channel, 593 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: stay up to date on the video content that we're 594 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: pumping out. And yet there is still another way to 595 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 1: get in touch with it. Yeah, please email us at 596 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: well over the Mind at Discovery dot com for more 597 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. 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