Future Salon

Thrivable Future Salon 14th of October

The wait is over. I am super excited to see many of you again on Wednesday 14th of October at Pivotal Labs in San Francisco for the Thrivable Future Salon. Register today!

So much has happened. Elon Musk thinks dropping some nuclear bombs on the poles of Mars may make that planet livable. That is super fascinating and exciting. Yet, let's not forget to make earth more livable for more people. Everyone please step up. Come out and create a thrivable future for all. 

I left SAP and under the umbrella of Playful Enterprise am now implementing ideas by playfully tapping into community passion. Happy to infuse a culture of excellence into your organization. Ping me if you are interested. 

I met, fell in love and married a wonderful woman Jean Russell. Her focus on Thrivability was what intrigued me from the beginning. The tag line on Jean's Thrivability book is: Breaking Through to a World That Works. Future Salon's tagline is: Boldly Creating A World That Works For All. Coincidence? We think not :-) 

What a sunrise over the Bay Area this morning. How appropriate for this announcement. 

Leaders In Software and Art Conference 16th October 2012 New York

Update: LISA is not at the Library but even cooler at thr Guggenheim Museum :-) 
Bonus link: ELIZA one of the first AI coutionary programs  

One of the most interesting places to be is where art and technology intersect. The tech enables new form of expressions that the artist fill with their creativity. That art inspires the techies to push the envelope of the currently possible. 

My friend Isabel Draves is organizing a one day conference that is focusing exactly on that intersection: 

LISA Leaders in Software and Art Conference October 16th 2012 NYC Public Library. 

I will be super busy with SAP TechEd this fall, otherwise I would be at the confernce to be inspired and may be even participate. It will be a place of wonder in the beautiful New York Public Libray.

They are having a KickStarter campaign running that just reached its goal, therefore the conference will happen, which makes me really happy. 

Some may remember our Hard Science and Smart Art Future Salon from 2004? Scott (Spot) Draves was introducing us to his Electric Sheep art. Man those Sheep have grown in the last 8 years ;-) Check it out at the LISA Conference as they will be mingeling there too.

Future Salon: 10th Trimtab with Dino Karabeg July 16 @ SAP Palo Alto

In a May 2010 Future Salon, Dino Karabeg, Associate Professor Institute of Informatics University of Oslo, brought us his approach to making global changes (see Future Salon video).  He has returned from Norway for a  brief visit to the Bay Area and we have him for an update with the 10th Trimtab.  Join us July 16 at SAP Labs North America, Building 1: Please follow signs to our room. SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP. 6pm Networking 7pm talk/game. 

Here is Dino's description:

"It is absolutely necessary to find a way to change course," wrote Aurelio Peccei, the first president of The Club of Rome, based on a decade of research and this think tank's view of the global condition in 1980. The Game-Changing Game (a real-life, collaborative game-like strategy), which we will begin playing together at this event, is offered as a prototype solution—a practical way to change course—which is already being implemented in practice.

Two years ago I orchestrated a dialogue at the Future Salon about `trimtabs for systemic change,' where I introduced nine ongoing projects with course-changing potential. I am now coming back with the tenth systemic trimtab; but this final trimtab is generic—The Game-Changing Game is a practical `machinery' for systemic change in any domain, or for systemic innovation, as I prefer to call it.

The Game begins by offering a choice of eight career or life goals. Each choice is followed by a reflection, inviting the player to aim high. A hint is offered why uncommonly high achievements are reachable within The Game. The rest—the substance—of The Game consists of a Vision Quest, where the players find a strategy to be followed along which such high achievements can be reached; and of an Action Quest, where a collection of already active projects, ready to be joined, is discussed and offered.

A salient characteristic of The Game-Changing Game is that information technology is being used in its projects as an enabler. The Game offers a vision of a mature Information Age, where `making the world work for all' is a business niche for information technology; and where a way to get there is offered by creating a synergy between business and humanistic interests.

Blind Spotting Future Salon with Peter Marks

We all have blind spots, not only in our vision, but also in our thinking. This Future Salon will help you spot your own blind sides. Please join us on Wednesday the 30th of June RSVP http://bit.ly/9Bny5B.

Imagine if programmers were stuck with the Intel 4004 architecture (perhaps the first microprocessor) and had to write better software to work around its many limitations in memory and speed.   At the least, they'd bitterly complain.  Many would despair of creating modern applications.    Yet, in a sense, that's the situation we face with using our cognitive hardware (our brains) to make modern decisions.   The physiological hardware of our brains has been essentially unchanged for 35,000 years.  

The limits of human cognition are especially apparent with conscious decision making and social or group decisions.   This month's speaker, Peter Marks, has conducted significant  research in what he calls "Blind Spotting."   It turns out that we have more than a hundred documented cognitive and perceptual biases that often hide aspects of reality from conscious examination.  The last decade's stunning research on mirror neurons and imitation figures in this as well.

Reality Mining Future Salon: Understanding Information Flow In The Mobile Corporation

Please join us on Thursday 25th of March for Mining Future Salon: Understanding Information Flow In The Mobile Corporation with MIT Professor Sandy Pentland. Please RSVP http://bit.ly/amkhve

Abstract: Mobile phones, laptops, and other digital devices form a network of sensors, recording their user's location, time, who else is nearby, as well communication patterns.  We can `reality mine' this data to better understand and predict human behavior within the corporation, and improve coordination, job satisfaction, and productivity.  In more than a dozen case studies we have found that this `reality mining' approach to management often uncovers dramatic possibilities for improvement in both job satisfaction and productivity, by allowing more effective combination of face-to-face and digital communications.

Of course there is the flip side to this development: George Oswell's 1984 constant supervision nightmare finally arriving. We the Future Salon audience is known for our interesting questions and dialog during the Future Salon. Therefore it is going to be a super interesting evening, not to be missed.

Alex (Sandy) Pentland Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Alex (“Sandy”) Pentland is a pioneer in organizational engineering, mobile information systems, and computational social science. Sandy's focus is the development of human-centered technology, and the creation of ventures that take this technology into the real world.  He directs the Human Dynamics Lab, helping companies to become more productive and creative through organizational engineering, and the Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program, which helps translate cutting-edge technology into real-world impact around the world. He is among the most-cited computer scientists in the world, and in 1997 /Newsweek/ magazine named him one of the 100 Americans likely to shape this century.

SAP Labs North America, Building D, COIL (Co-Innovation Lab). SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304[ map ]. Free and open to the public. Please spread the word and invite others, but be sure to RSVP http://bit.ly/amkhve so we know how many people to expect.

We will do our best to webcast the event again via Ustream.tv on the Future Salon Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Future-Salon

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/futuresalon
Follow all twittering Future Salon speakers: http://twitter.com/futuresalon/futuresalonspeakers.

The Science and Technology of Cooperation Future Salon with Steve Omohundro

Update: Finally finalized the date of the event: Friday 22nd of May please RSVP http://budurl.com/3f8h as always at SAP Labs in Palo Alto.

Steve spoke to a couple of people after Zan Gill's excellent Evolving Collaborative Intelligence Future Salon and revised his talk since. In his own words: I enjoyed the Future Salon last night! Based on the discussions I had with people I've decided to emphasize the more near term aspects of cooperation in my talk. So I wrote yet another abstract (sorry!). It's actually been great for helping me find the best way of framing the ideas so t hey will be relevant to the greatest number of people.

Fine tuning for the Future Salon audience is very welcomed. Here his revised abstract:

The Science and Technology of Cooperation

Steve Omohundro, Ph.D.

 

A new science of cooperation is arising out of recent research in biology and economics. Biology once focused on competitive concepts like "Survival of the Fittest" and "Selfish Genes". More recent work has uncovered powerful forces that drive the evolution of increasing levels of cooperation. In the history of life, molecular hypercycles joined into prokaryotic cells which merged into eukaryotic cells which came together into multi-cellular organisms which formed hives, tribes, and countries.  Many believe that a kind of "global brain" is currently emerging.

Evo Devo Universe Future Salon with John Smart Webcast Link

We are webcasting via Ustream again: http://tinyurl.com/6776ry  Sound may be a problem as the aplification is not working. If you are coming and have a portable amp, please bring it. Otherwise John Smart and I will do Opera projection ;-)

Evo Devo Universe Future Salon with John Smart Friday April 17th

Update: Here are the videos from the great event.

Evo Devo Universe? Part 1 (55 mins)
http://www.vimeo.com/6013211

Evo Devo Universe? Part 2 (52 mins)
http://www.vimeo.com/6153233

Slides:
http://accelerating.org/presentations/EvoDevoUniverseBAFS2009.ppt

For many of you Future Salon regulars John Smart doesn't need an introduction. The Bay Area Future Salon is modeled after John's LA Futurists meetings that he was hosting for many years. Actually he came up from L.A. to kick off the first Future Salon and helped populate it with many of his connections.

Lately he had his head down writing his book. This is why I am extra happy that he takes a brake to introduce his current big picture thinking at our next Future Salon on Friday the 17th of April. (6-7 networking 7-9pm talk/conversation). Free and open to the public please RSVP http://budurl.com/jcp7/d so we know how many people to expect.

P.S. Extra special treat: Iveta and John are having a Post-Talk Party at their place in Mountain View (216 Mountain View Ave) "from 9:30pm to Whenever" for any folks who want to hang out on couches after the Salon and get to know their fellow futurist friends on a more informal basis. We will have drinks and some snacks but people are always welcome to bring more if they would like.

Evo Devo Universe? A Framework for Thinking About the Future

Abstract: Biological systems evolve, and they also develop. These two processes are very different, but they are both necessary for life and intelligence to exist. While evolution (“evo”) is famously unpredictable, many aspects of development (“devo”) are quite predictable. For example, if you have a sense of what stage a developing system is at in its ‘replication’ cycle (birth, growth, reproduction, aging, or recycling), you have a pretty good idea what stage is coming next. Organic molecules also evolve and replicate/develop. So do stars, and their dependent planets. In fact, that’s how our own life-generating solar system came to exist, through a long process of stellar “evolutionary development” (reproduction of progressively more chemically complex solar systems) in our galaxy. Ideas or ‘memes,’ which replicate between human brains, also evolve and develop. So do technologies, which replicate in cultures. There is some evidence that even our universe itself may replicate, evolve, and develop, according to some of the new cosmologists.