“What are people going to do for a living when their muscle power is no longer valued because we have all kinds of muscle accelerators and then their mental power is not as valued anymore because we have these astonishing digital technologies that can do mental things, cognitive things that we used to previously require people to do?” -Andrew MacAfee excerpt from Most Likely To Succeed
The rapidity of change can often blur our modern world. Too much, too quick can lead to overload as we attempt to keep up with its accelerating pace. We can spin our wheels endlessly and reactively as it shakes our very foundations from the uncertainty and unknowns it causes and creates.
In this turbulence and chaos of change, major shifts can pass us by quietly and unseen. And all too often, this speed of change leaves us little time to reflect and even consider the ramifications of change and the new world it is creating. Or as Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park explicates, “They were so preoccupied with whether they could, they did not stop to think if they should?”
There has been no other time in history that necessitates the need for creative, innovative and critical thinking as the one we are being ushered into. We had a long time to adjust to the industrial economy, that same luxury will not be afforded to us in the knowledge economy. We can already see signs that we are innovating ourselves out of it.
We have dissolved the need for basic muscle power and we are in the midst of doing the same for basic mental power. Which evokes more questions than answers (or at least it should).
How are we preparing our children for a world that is more entrepreneurial, more creative, and more innovative? A world that is evolving and shifting in ways we are yet to even recognize, let alone even understand.
But the one thing we can’t do, is sit idly by until the rug is pulled out from under our feet (as well as the future of our children). And while we might not have all the answers, we do need to step into the fray, into the arena, and begin to better prepare and equip ourselves with the knowledge necessary to navigate the way forward.
“What we are living through right now is an equally big transition because our digital technologies are allowing us to overcome the limitations of our individual minds, to at least as big an extent as the technologies of the industrial revolution let us overcome the limitations of our muscles.” -Andrew MacAfee excerpt from Most Likely To Succeed
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