Future Salon

May Future Salon with Kenyan Maasai Warrior and Chief

In a time of accelerating change it is of great importance to decide which of our traditions we will keep and which ones we throw overboard as not fitting into our new environment. It is also really important to understand others in our global community, to account for cultural differences, and find ways to ease people into this changing environment.

We are really fortunate to host Kenyan Maasai tribal warrior and chief Salaton Ole’ Ntutu to shed some light on these questions.

Thursday 22nd of May 6-7pm networking 7-9pm talk. Please RVSP: http://snurl.com/284i3 

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Neuroengeneering Future Salon this Wednesday 30th

Let's assume someone develops the pill, that makes you twice as intelligent. Small side effect is, it shaves off 10 years of your life. Will you take it?

What if everyone you know is on it? You come to work and your boss is calling you into the office and says: "I am concerned about your output. If I compare your to the performances of your colleagues, they just get so much more done."

It is the stadium effect, if everyone is standing up, you are forced to stand up too, just to  level the paling field. You will be forced to pop the pill too.

You may think, that this is a dark future scenario, but check the Revving the brain article about Ritalin use to enhance your concentration.

I fear that we are like the sorcerer's apprentice the spirits we called will take over and soon we will ask ourselves how to get rid of them.

I once talked about this with John Smart and he said that our brain over the years has been finely tuned via biology, there is not a lot of room for improvement left.

It is for sure a very interesting field and I am really happy to have Dr. Pete Estep presenting the latest research regarding Neuroengineering at our Future Salon this Wednesday the 30th of April.

If you can't join in person we will webcast the event and tape it too. Point your Quicktime viewer to the following address: rtsp://207.105.30.90/salon.sdp

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Neuroengineering Future Salon

Wednesday April 30th at SAP Palo Alto
Hosted with Silicon Valley H+ Meet Up

Please RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/6oxlzr

Dr. Pete Estep will discuss the InnerSpace Foundation (IF), a new nonprofit being developed to promote and support neuroengineering approaches for the enhancement of memory and learning – biomedical goals that have the potential to improve not only the lives of those suffering from a specific malady, but everyone's life.

Estep earned his Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard Medical School, performing research in the lab of genomics pioneer Dr. George Church. He is an inventor of several technologies, including universal DNA protein-binding microarrays (PBMs). He serves as an advisor to the Personal Genome Project, an open source project at Harvard Medical School.

Future Salons have the following structure: 6-7pm is networking with light refreshments proudly sponsored by SAP; 7-9+pm is the presentation followed by discussion. SAP Labs North America, Building D, Room Southern Cross or Cafeteria depending on number of RSVPs. SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304. Free and open to the public. Spread the word and please RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/6oxlzr

This should be a fresh, engaging discussion. I hope to see you there. -Tyler

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The InnerSpace Foundation and The IF Prize: Why and How We Should Transcend Our Evolved Limitations

Biological evolution is a somewhat haphazard and non-optimizing process that has produced many undesirable artifacts. Among a large number and wide variety of such artifacts, two stand out as the underlying causes of the most pervasive and extreme human suffering: mental and lifespan limitations. Mental inabilities are universal, and they must ultimately serve to explain our ongoing failures to end human warfare, crime, poverty, and famine, and to completely cure diseases, disabilities, aging and death; therefore, these inabilities are fundamentally even more harmful to humanity than the categories of biomedical dysfunction we currently labor to cure. The overall goal of the InnerSpace Foundation (IF) is to accelerate the development of biomedical technologies for transcending these limitations. IF Chairman Dr. Pete Estep will outline specific steps the foundation is taking toward dramatic enhancement of memory, learning and cognition, and will describe how these near-term goals should ultimately help us to eliminate or transcend other unwanted artifacts of Darwinian evolution.

Yuri's Night Tonight

One of the coolest events ever is/are happening tonight: Yuri's Night commemorating the 50th anniversary of maned flight in space.

In some earlier time zones of the world parties are happening already. The Bay Area has an amazing line-up of speakers for their Yuri's Night: Jaron Lanier for example who once ramped up the McLuhan Ramp at the Future Salon (video of the event at the Internet Archive).

He will talk about one of the most out there ideas I came accross in a long while: Let's rearrange the stars to let people know that there is intelligent life out here in this dot of the universe. He closes his article with: Crazier things have happened. I am scratching my head thinking about what that could have been?

It is happening at Moffett Field a blimp hangar in Mountain View, that intrigued me for ages when driving by on 101. Today I will be able to see it from the insight. So cool.

Hope to see you there, oh and it starts already at 2pm this afternoon.

Tomorrow: Green Tomorrows Future Salon

Tomorrow's Future Salon speaker Jamais Cascio posted about Green Tomorrows: The Scenarios on his blog.

Jamais: The four boxes represent a variety of "response" scenarios, each embracing elements of the prevention, mitigation, and remediation approaches to solving the climate crisis. Certain approaches may receive greater emphasis in a given scenario, but all three types of responses can be seen in each world.

It is going to be really interesting tomorrow. [more details]

A Future Salon has the following structure: 6-7 networking with light refreshments proudly sponsored by SAP. From 7-9+ pm presentation and discussion. SAP Labs North America, Building D, Room Southern Cross or Cafeteria depending on how many people sign up. SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304 map As always free and open to the public, spread the news.  Please RSVP: http://snurl.com/2252c

If you can't join in person we will webcast the event and tape it too. Point your Quicktime viewer to the following address:
rtsp://207.105.30.90/salon.sdp

IRC chat as always:
Server: irc.freenode.net
Channel: #futuresalon

Green Tomorrows Future Salon Thursday 27th

Update: Jamais wasn't able to do it last month, this is why we moved it to next Thursday 27th 6pm SAP Labs Palo Alto. He wrote me: Yes! Barring the zombie plague or meteor strike or military coup, of course.

World Changing used to be one of my favorite blogs. I would guess who wrote the post while reading it. The most insightful ones where always written by Jamais Cascio. He moved on to post on his own blog: Open the Future. His most famous post is the calculation of the carbon footprint of the production and consumption of one cheeseburger.

He was also one of the first regulars coming to the Future Salon, when we were just a couple of people sitting in a circle at the Barnes and Noble in San Mateo. After a while the long drive from a bit beyond East Bay was to much.

This is why I am super happy that Jamais will be talking about Green Tomorrows at our Future Salon on Thursday the 28th of February. Abstract of his talk:

With global warming and ongoing climate disruption posing a leading
threat to how the next century unfolds, it's useful to look at the
implications of how we might choose to respond. Adopting a "scenario
planning" approach, Jamais Cascio looks at four different possible
ways we could tackle climate risks -- and the kinds of worlds that
these choices might create. From geoengineering to distributed power,
hyper-efficient buildings to reimagined cities, the various possible
strategies we might employ offer a diversity of complex risks and
transformative benefits.

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Update: Future Salon Tomorrow is Open Mike

Update II: We are Webcasting at the following address:
rtsp://207.105.30.90/salon.sdp

IRC chat as always:
Server: irc.freenode.net
Channel: #futuresalon

Jamais Cascio who wanted to talk about Green Tomorrows just pinged me. He is not feeling well and in all likelihood will not be able to make it tomorrow :-(  We wish him well and hope to have him speak another time. Update: Just talked to him and he really sounded bad, we decided if he doesn't feel better by tomorrow morning, we will try at least a 5 minute session via Skype and have him back later this year.

But we will not let this opportunity to meet and exchange great ideas pass. Let's do an Open Mike Future Salon, which we have done twice before and it was very popular.

How does it work? If there is an idea or article that you feel passionate about and would like to share with your fellow futurists, sign up at the beginning of the evening for a slot. (Unconference Style) You have 5 minutes to present and there is another 5 minutes for discussion with the audience. (In exceptional cases where the interaction level is high, we may extend it by another 5 minutes) then we give the mike to the next passionate participant.

The good news is, that John Smart and Iveta Brigis have moved up from Southern California recently. Many of you know them as they organized the Accelerating Change Conference at Stanford. They are helping me with the Future Salon and will participate tomorrow too. It is going to be an interesting evening. Sorry for the short notice. Please don't be shy, present for 5 minutes and spread the word. See you tomorrow Thursday 28th 6pm at SAP in Palo Alto. Sorry for the last minute change.

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SAP Salon: Social Media and Online Communities

Next week we will have two amazing events at SAP Labs. On Thursday evening we have the Green Tomorrows Future Salon with Jamais Cascio.

Microsoft veteran Sean O'Driscoll who started his own consulting company will present on Tuesday morning from 10:30am to 11:30am. He has brought the Microsoft MVP program from 1000 to 4000 members. Of all the people I met, he is the one that understands and communicates best what the opportunities and challenges are regarding communities in a business environment.

Social Media and Online Communities:  If you could only leverage what your customers know.

Abstract:

We've been inundated with a wave of new buzz words...Web 2.0, Social Media, Communities, Social Productivity, Influencers, Marketing 2.0...This session will provide a business explanation of what Social Media is, why it matters to a business and most importantly how to operationalize it in a global business environment.  We'll explore a strategy development model for engaging with Social Media  and a framework for establishing a long term approach to ROI.  And finally, we'll look at the Microsoft MVP program as a best practice and framework for tapping into the influencer/enthusiast population to drive word of mouth, brand affinity, product quality and online success.

If you are in Silicon Valley please join us on Tuesday the 26th of February from 10:30-11:30am at SAP Labs in the Co-Innovation Lab 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto. You can also join the WebEx and audio conference: https://sap.webex.com/sap/j.php?ED=91409712&UID=45623552 Meeting number: 741 648 207 Meeting password: sapsalon Audio Conference: US & Canada: 866-331-0889 International: 803-477-2002 Participant Code: 899684

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Digital Dharma Future Salon Tomorrow Friday 18th

A colleague of mine reading about our next Future Salon: Digital Dharma The Path of Consciousness in the Age of the Infosphere said: "I know every single word, but together? I have a tough time to make sense out of it."

He may not be the only one, but isn't that intriguing? Don't you want to find out more? This is not your ordinary Silicon Valley talk about the latest gadget. This one is looking at the bigger picture, is there consciousness in our daily madness, a bigger purpose in the things we are doing?

I am totally looking forward to our Future Salon tomorrow Friday 18th of January, 6pm at SAP Labs 3410 Hillview Avenue in Palo Alto.

This week I got the following email when I send my details to the Blogger Council:

After reading your bio, I just made the connection about what Future Salon is.  For several years, I've been a faithful reader of Evelyn Rodriguez's Crossroads Dispatches blog, and it didn't hit me at first that your organization is the same one she's been blogging about all these years.

So please allow me to say that I'm a huge fan of the work you guys have been doing the past few years.  I wish there was a similar group here in Chicago, as the type of progressive, forward-thinking conversations you are hosting out west are sorely needed here as well.  I would love to talk with you further at some point about that, and if it makes sense, getting involved somehow.

That made my day and if you join us tomorrow, you can be part ofthe magic. Our speakers often tell me that we ask the best questions.

See you all there. More details to event in my last post: http://www.futuresalon.org/2007/12/digital-dharma.html

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Digital Dharma Future Salon

Digital Dharma The Path of Consciousness in the Age of the Infosphere

Aren't we all interested in expanding our consciousness, at least when we are not amusing ourselves to death ;-)

Steven Vedro has written a user's guide into Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere: Digital Dharma.

I am happy that he will present his findings at our next Future Salon on Friday the 18th of January 6pm at SAP Labs in Palo Alto. (more details further down)

Abstract of his talk:

An electronic web surrounds the planet. In the last decade communications networks have advanced from wires to fiber optics, from interconnected radio and television grids to a world of billions of wirelessly communicating sensory devices – each with its own address in cyberspace. Emerging from what French philosopher-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin called the shared noosphere of collective human thought, invention and spiritual seeking, the Infosphere – our collective systems for sharing thought, is now a field that engulfs our physical, mental and etheric bodies; it affects our dreaming and our cultural life. Our evolving nervous system has been extended, as media sage Marshal McLuhan predicted in the early 1960’s, into a global embrace.

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Forsight Vision Weekend ...

One of the original inspirations for the Future Salon were the Vision Weekends that the Foresight Nanotech Institute held a couple of years back.

There I met John Smart who was doing the LA Futurists group. There was this little startup, PayPal somewhere in the corner, I wish I had paid more attention back then.

They had a running prediction market I think back in 2002, something that is only slowly getting more traction in the business world.

A gathering of really smart people that have thought way into the future and talked about Singularity and Nanotechnolgy, that this spell checker even today doesn't recognize.

The next Vision Weekend this time unconference style is coming up on the 2nd and 3rd of November. Christine Peterson is kind enough to reach out to us Future Saloners and offers  us to participate, which usually is only open to Senior Associate members.

I have been gone on business trips so often in the last and coming weeks, this is why I am only tentative. Family first, but you should not miss it:
http://www.foresight.org/SrAssoc/2007

Facebook users can indicate their plans here (though RSVPs here don't guarantee your place): http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5194522980

If you do choose to attend, we've been asked to register early to ensure a seat.

Cybersalon: Politics 101 Meets Web 2.0: Democracy or Demagoguery?

I am taking a move and kid induced longer Future Salon break, hope some of you are missing it, would be sad if no one did.

But don't fret, the beauty of the Bay Area is that there are always other really interesting events happening.

Our Cybersalon friends from Berkeley are going to have another timely and oh so important one. Or have you not heard that the Senate again voted against giving 'war on terror' prisoners the right to challenge their detention in federal courts. It is one of the basic human rights and a shame that it even is a question besides that it is in the constitution: Article 4, which states that habeaus corpus shall not be suspended unless in cases of rebellion and invasion when the public safety may require it.

With the new technologies in the making, and we are not talking about voting machines here, no, can Web 2.0 help with better networking, organizing possibilities, easier ways to get involved ... tip the scale? Remember the Howard Dean campaign, and how the established media squashed it like a little fly? Have the times changed in the last 4 years? Answers to these questions this Sunday:   

September 23. "Politics 101 Meets Web 2.0: Democracy or Demagoguery?" 4 to 6 p.m., Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., $15 at door for food, drink, and open mike discussion for digital and analog political activists. Political candidates of all stripes now have web sites, participate in social networks, and can respond to folks via YouTube. So are we closer to democracy?

I am a bit bummed that I can't join as I will enjoy the last days of summer, or so we hope,  camping up north.

August events

Mark is taking a break for August, there will be no Future Salon this month. Happily, though, there is a Long Now Seminar scheduled for the usual Future Salon evening, so you all can get your heady conversation fix there. The speaker is Alex Wright, and the topic is Glut (specifically, of information).

I've also just become aware that there's a Palo Alto Future Meetup Group, originally named the Silicon Valley Strategic Foresight Meetup Group. It's not associated with Mark Finnern, or the Accelerating Studies Foundation; I actually suspect they're not even aware of the Future Salon. But their next meeting is Thursday, August 23, and the topic will be: What are your perceptions of the biggest, most important challenges facing the world in the next 10 years? Let's go introduce ourselves, and make some new friends! Visit Meetup for details, and to RSVP.

BTW, for those of you wondering, yes, I am still living in NYC. But I'll be in Berkeley next week, and will do my best to get down to Palo Alto by 7pm on Thursday.

Longevity Test in Preparation for Longevity Future Salon

Check out this Longevity Test. I filled it out late last night. I wasn't totally precise, for example I didn't measure my waist and hip ratio. According to this test my life expectancy is 75. Around 1900 that would have been amazing. Today, it is just about average North American life expectancy. I guess I work too much and worry that peak oil is around the corner and the sky is falling any minute. Aubrey, you better hurry up with your research ;-)

One more reason to check out the Science and Ethics of Longevity Research Future Salon this Friday the 20th of July.

Aubrey de Grey will present, who has dedicated his, if he is right long long life to longevity research. We are also happy to have Stanford Neuroscience Professor William B. Hurlbut to look at the science as well as some ethical concerns around living forever. Please join us. [More Info]

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Future Salon Speaker George Yu Died

Sad news, Eric Wood just emailed me that the avant-garde architect and professor George Yu has passed away. Little google news search brought out the following details from Archinect:

Husband, father, educator, and architect George Yu has passed away after a long and painful battle with cancer. George is survived by his wife, Carole, and his two daughters, Elena and Dara.

You may remember him from his excellent presentation at the Future Salon: Style is out of style I named my little writeup.

We have taped his Repeat as Needed Future Salon and you can watch the video on the Internet Archive.

My little hope is that someone will bring back his Blow Up art Installation (check out the second video to get an impression). For me it personifies his creativity, warmth and playfulness. Miss him already.

I am glad that the video is there, as it is covering his work in his own words. Hope this is O.K. with the family, otherwise let me know.

As they write on Archinect:

... but for now please consider making contributions to the educational trust recently established for Elena and Dara ...

We have never charged for the Future Salon. So if you ever got something out of it, consider to give the equivalent of a movie ticket with popcorn.

Will let you know once I have details.