The next great space age – inside the human brain
n a recent piece in the New York Times, Thomas L Freidman’s article ‘If I had a hammer’ discussed the new book by Erik Brynjolfsson & Andrew McAfee’s new book ‘The Second Machine Age’ and the development of computing power now making even complex employment positions redundant. Whereas in the first machine age, human muscle was supported and enhanced, the second age depicts work without the need for human intervention. Which though fascinating, sounds a bit bleak for the large majority. And at the same time, the computation advances are opening up the next space race – the area inside your brain.
Freidman’s article can be found here and it’s a great read.
But onto the next space race. We’ve had the ‘space out there’ race, the big search for extra terrestrial life and alternative planetary homes. The latest imaging confirms the existence of exo planets quite some way away. We’ve known about but really have barely touched the hydro-space: the seas and oceans at depth and the expectation of new species or alternative locations for civilisation. And now with the additional of better instrumentation and imaging, we’re delving into the human brain in ways barely though possible just a couple of years ago.
To an extent, this development is spawning ‘neuro-marketing’ along with the greater insights into the way our brains work and function, especially when they overcome the limitations our biology imposes upon us. The early claims of neuro-marketing were really claims about the human mind – a different structure from the physical operation of the brain. The early images displayed far greater understanding of activity areas of the brain in action. Personally I think we have a way to go before we’re able to delve quite as far into the ‘mind’ of every individual and I’m wondering whether the brain imaging shows a ‘shotgun’ approach to activity, rather than a laser like level of activity, and I digress.
What the next space race indicates in its initial stages is that our awareness of our own decision making can not only be identified, it can be predicted with relative accuracy. For those who’ve read some of Leonard Mlodinow’s work, you’ll see how he suggests that not only can we now work out what you’re thinking, we can know it before YOU are consciously aware that you do. It’s an amazing idea, not yet supported by simple wearable mechanisms, but we’ll get there soon enough.
For now though, appreciate that the information you seek, access and engage with (and that includes information in product, services and in digital forms) says more about you than you could ever understand in simple terms. For recruitment, people management, decision making and marketing, the space race is well and truly on
One of the current affairs TV programs did a story recently on the efforts by NSW police to crack down on ‘hoon’ drivers through a specific squad targeting them. The Victorian Police recently announced a similar project with the squad headed up by one of Victoria Police’s most effective senior officers, Inspector Bernie Rankin. Unusually…
Read More >Lewis Hamilton, the former automotive Formula One ‘number one’ had his car impounded on Friday night for alleged ‘hoon’ driving, having been spotted by police spinning his wheels at a busy intersection in St Kilda. Whilst many character witnesses have already jumped to his defence, with one interesting observation from Mark Webber suggesting we have…
Read More >Following on from the highly rated ‘Skimming the Cream’ forum in Brisbane on the 9th of February, members of the Young Dairy Network and SubTropical Dairy groups reconvened to consider the impacts of Climate Change on the dairy sector in Australia using the high-impact ‘Accelerated Scenarios process’. The ‘2030 Dairy Scenarios’ brought together the members…
Read More >Queensland is one state that leverages its weather to the hilt – and the fact is the ‘Sunshine State’ earns its reputation. The odd thing is that in the past week I’ve spent in the Gold Coast experiencing the warm, humid and often wet weather it has occured to me that Queensland might be missing…
Read More >In a recent article in The Age, Clive Williams of Macquarie University’s Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism suggested that athletes booked in to attend the Commonwealth games in India need to consider a terrorist attack as a potential wildcard. Whilst an interesting perspective, I’d like to suggest that a potential terrorist attack at…
Read More >If my information is correct, the 14th of February is the start of the New Year and instead of the usual flowers and chocolates, you might be wise to invest in another gift for your heart’s desire Because Feb 14 is the start of the Chinese New Year – the year of the Tiger. So…
Read More >Had any thoughts yet? I have – plenty and judging from the number of media inquiries it appears lots of other people are also curious to know what might lie ahead in the next year or next decade. I’m putting my thinking hat on so that we can consider what 2010-2019 might hold, the second…
Read More >I’m tipping that Consensus will be reached at Copenhagen this week. Alas it will be a consensus for more talking, thinking and commitments to agree to a proposal to set a time for a discussion around more concrete targets. In otherwords, a commitment to not commit. The politicians waver whilst our planet is being poisoned.…
Read More >The cycle of consumption rears its head as it has done for quite some time. Consumption is neither good, nor bad, it ‘just is’ and right now the majority of media exposed potential consumers are being lured, enticed and occasionally conned into parting with their hard earned money to satisfy needs and whims. Some consumers…
Read More >Our son has just celebrated his fifth birthday and although we don’t make a huge fuss about milestones (the kids get a party every second year), there’s no doubt that he is learning about desired future outcomes and goals. I doubt he is different from most kids in his ability to spot something and declare…
Read More >