2008 World Future Society conference
“Seeing the Future Through New Eyes”

Mike Treder will speak on “Radical Technologies, Rapid Change, and the Real World.”

Here is the abstract I submitted:

What happens when science fiction becomes science fact? When rapid change meets the real world? In the coming collision between radically powerful new technologies and the messy world of military conflicts, culture wars, and globalization, who will win and who will lose? In this talk, Mike Treder, executive director of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, will present the findings of a Global Task Force on Implications and Policy, a group that recently produced eight future scenarios of rapid technological change.

Picture the Washington D.C. of 1808 being suddenly introduced to any of today’s highly developed technologies—in medicine, aerospace, communications, you name it—and imagine the tumult that would result. Now consider that our world may face the equivalent of two centuries worth of industrial and technological revolutions, all packed into just the next few years. Are today’s institutions prepared for that level of change? Are you?

Who should attend?

Anyone with an interest in the future of the world over the next two decades, particularly those concerned with managing change. Educators, policy makers, and business leaders may find it especially enlightening.

What will they learn?

They will learn the results of a unique project bringing together thought leaders from around the world to craft plausible scenarios of rapid change over the next 20 years. They’ll discover several different depictions, some pessimistic and some optimistic, but all believable, all thought-provoking, and all potentially action-inducing.

How can this new knowledge be applied?

All attendees will receive a CD-ROM containing the eight future scenarios developed by CRN’s Global Task Force on Implications and Policy. Studying, comparing, and contrasting the scenarios can assist both organizations and individuals to evaluate their present approach to change and make adjustments for the revolutionary disruptions that could be triggered by the coming collision between radical technology and the real world.