Acceleration : the forces driving human progress

""Acceleration is an upbeat philosophical perspective on humanity's past, present, and future. Audiences from all walks of life will find it thought-provoking and inspirational.”-The Futurist“Be prepared to be taken on an amazing ride filled with eye-opening detail that will change the way you view the world. Here is an upbeat, optimistic view of the world. With a positive outlook on life and the world, he describes in eloquent English just how the world can be saved. He does this without condescending remarks or a preachy attitude. His is a work that will endure and set realistic goals for the benefit of mankind.”-San Francisco Book Review The fact of human progress The idea of progress Parables of progress : groundhog day & Xmas carol Forward vs. backward function : who are we? where did we come from? Measuring progress in human terms Life, liberty, & happiness; levels & types of happiness & unhappiness Calculating value : net H-u : summing value across lives The case for progress Population explosion and what it means : knowledge-know-how explosion Positive mega trends : some negative trends The six forces Animal learning Stimulus-response; language acquisition; evolutionary guessing; Learning errors; learning dies with the learner Externalizing learning How it works; tools: using and making; behavior modeling Ancient devices: poems, pictures; writing: the significance of the invention Destruction of stored knowledge Social connections Networking; cooperative problem-solving; leadership, power, and labor division Knowledge platforms How knowledge platforms come into being; holy texts; tolerance and dualism Know-how platforms; working across platforms Scientific problem solving Naming, connecting, quantifying; causal thinking; P-S cycle synthesis The research project; know-how development process: evolution of R&D Modern global diffusion Accept, adopt, utilization; diffusion research; multi-step diffusion Inter-group diffusion; diffusion in the 21st century Where forces are taking us Emergence ethical humanity Paradigm for moral advancement; strange roots of morality; killing prehistoric norm Proactive morality; warfare; liberty-democracy; morality & self-interest Competing platforms; chronology of ethical progress; relevance of applied social science chapter eleven: fears for the future Death & suffering; disparities: intra-societal, global; tribal thinking Misuse of technology; ignorance of science & sci. method; pessimism Pop, energy, natural resource depletion; climate change What will the future bring? 21st century progress in particular areas. It's trendy to be pessimistic about the future. We hear daily about the looming threats from global warming, terrorist plots, nuclear proliferation, overpopulation, and other frightening possibilities. It's also easy to point to the unprecedented toll of destruction during the two world wars of the twentieth century and conclude that the prospects for global civilization rest on pretty shaky ground In a book that is optimistic about the human race, the author describes that he believes to be the six forces that have driven human progress and explains the ultimate key to the past--and future--success of the human race lies in out ability to pass on important information to future generations. By the author of The Change Agent's Guide to Innovation.