Science Fiction writer Ray Bradbury has died aged 91
Few books (and a subsequent film) influenced my desire for knowledge in the way that Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 did. The black and white film adaptation still holds much in my memory almost 30 years later. As a youngster I’d sat up late and seen original The War of the Worlds on TV and a few months later watched the ‘madness’ of Fahrenheit 451. The book drew an even darker picture of a world in which thought control took place by denial of knowledge – a well worn path taken by religions and ruling elite alike through the millennia. To a great extent, Ray’s Martian Chronicles helped prime my brain in alignment for my future career – as a futurist! It certainly gave me an appreciation of books, reading and a thirst for knowledge.
Ray’s book ‘Fahrenheit 451’ is perhaps one of the most prescient works looking at the rise of knowledge management and knowledge curation as practised by the political elite. This ‘message management’ theme extended on Orwell’s 1984 ‘Big Brother’ by adding a more sinister layer. Where Big Brother watched your every move and provided messages for consumption, the ‘FireBrigade’ in Bradbury’s ‘451 actively sought to remove the existence of alternative knowledge sources.
In that way, Bradbury identified the wide spread practise of media manipulation not only by corporate entities, but also by Governments of all kinds who attempt to re-write history or deny it existed. Even today the mid 1960’s film adaptation stacks up as chillingly bleak yet representatively familiar of today’s times.
It is not surprising that Hollywood has not sought to remake the film for a modern audience. given tht Hollywood itself would be a likely central target of any update.
Thank you Ray; Vale Ray
Most everything. The various papers, presentations, radio interviews, magazine articles, books and newspaper references have been reformatted in alphabetical order for easier access. Click on the ‘Future Of…’ tab and find what you are looking for under the headings listed, with links to each relevant item. You’ll find the future of Australia, food, technology,…
Read More >I came up with the term Enoughness in late 2008, and early 2009 as a result of some research I was assessing looking at emerging consumer behaviour. The manufacturing companies I presented to at the South East Business Networks session on Managing a Diverse Workplace discovered, Enoughness was a very different approach to the idea…
Read More >Business Insider has a story today of 7 jobs you’ve never heard of and why they’re awesome which is delightfully amusing for two reasons: One – ‘Futurist’ makes the list at number 7; and Two – I’ve been employed in full time futures for over a decade (and part time for about ten years before…
Read More >In this article on the LifeBoat Foundation’s website, Laurence Baines discusses the loss of languages around the world and the increasing shift toward the major five tongues. From a futures perspective we appreciate that a language often contains within it, a way of knowing that is missing in someone who may have learned to speak…
Read More >Few books (and a subsequent film) influenced my desire for knowledge in the way that Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 did. The black and white film adaptation still holds much in my memory almost 30 years later. As a youngster I’d sat up late and seen original The War of the Worlds on TV and a few…
Read More >Ah well, you’d be surprised at how easy it is for someone to steal a piece of you! This info-graphic from Veracode explains in more detail some of the actions you can take and things to be aware of when using WiFi You can go stright to the InfoGraphic and
Read More >Have just spent a few hours discussing the Future of Money, hosted by James Bibby at Microsoft in Sydney and facilitated by Peter Vander Auwera from SWIFT/Innotribe. I’d like to flag that everyone understood that the session was way too short for such a big topic and everyone would agree that we just scratched the…
Read More >Ernst & Young and GreenBiz have completed a survey of business executives looking at the development of Corporate Sustainability around the world. The report shows that there has been a clear rise in awareness; that employees are a core source driving sustainability actions; that reduction of costs is a core appeal and that return on…
Read More >On the eve of ANZAC day here in Australia ABC Radio Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist Marcus Barber on the future of war – what the future triggers of war might be and how war will be fought Increasing technology or less technology? Haves versus the have nots? On a pretty serious topic…
Read More >In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin, we chat about workplace design and the need to create functional workplaces – something the ‘open-plan’ model fails utterly at delivering. Click on the link below Futurist Marcus Barber on ABC Radio Darwin discussing the future of workplace design and the challenges of dysfunctional workplaces…
Read More >