Imagine this…
In 2010, 1.8 billion people were connected. Today, 3 billion, and by 2022 – 2025, that number will expand to include every human on the planet, approaching 8 billion humans.
Today Solar and renewable energy have become cheaper than coal. 25% of the World’s Power Comes From Renewables. Today Stem Cells grow new eyes, help stroke victims walk again, and give paralyzed
victims use of their arms. Autonomous Vehicles will lower highway deaths, eliminate the DUI industry, change auto insurance, and kill car ownership.
We are nearing the end of Cancer & Disease and the extension of human life. Using patients immune system studies produces unbelievable results in fighting cancer. We are on the cusp of extending life significantly. Artificial Intelligence will solve our greatest challenges. AIs can already read your lips, facial identification of millions of people in moments, predict elections and sporting events better than humans, and they have beat human pilots in air combat.
The world is on an exponential curve of constant improvement in literacy, poverty hunger and most
every measurable for all mankind.
Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers…, They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo…They push the human race forward. — because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.
– Steve Jobs (narrator)
Perspective on the Future
Regardless of what you see on the news, you have good reason to be optimistic about the future. Just look back, and see how much better it is today than it was 10 years ago, 50 years ago, or 500 years ago. This is the greatest time in the history of the planet, to be alive. The only better time is the future. Not to undermine the big problems today: Nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled. 8.2 million die from cancer, 3 million die from vaccine-preventable diseases, half are children under 5. 9 million people die of hunger. Big problems like third-world poverty, water scarcity, food production, incarceration rates, homelessness, climate change, unemployment, polluted local environments, carbon fuels, traffic congestion, cancer, premature death are all major problems.
Yet, we are on the verge of solving all of them.
Bet on this; the answer to all of our major problems will not come from government. They will come from innovators in the private sector who will create driverless cars, renewable fuels, cure cancer, and other diseases, solve hunger, water scarcity and a host of other problems.
Most of this is being driven by the cost and the speed of processing data. The continuance of Moore’s law will change everything. Today, entrepreneurs have access to more capital, greater technology, more information, greater talent then the CEO’s of the world’s biggest companies just a decade ago. We are only challenged because we think along linear lines, in a world where things are changing in an exponential way. Technology is the way to move from the world of scarcity to a world of abundance. And technology is creating abundance in healthcare, energy, transportation, education, and every major industry. Those products are becoming more affordable or even free with a dramatically higher quality.
The biggest threat to this progress of mankind will come from our politics. Government can assist its growth, or it can threaten it. Release the ability to create, innovate, and trade with one another, and you will create a massive improvement to human progress. Restrict free markets, free trade, freedom of choices, you will effectively restrict human progress, and the bad guys will have an advantage.
The US has become the greatest power in the history of the world because we created environments that foster trade, incentivize innovation, creativity, forming and operating business, and providing outstanding educational and research capabilities that will dominate the world markets. This has given us revenue to provide exceptional quality of life for our citizens. Clearly free markets and social progress are tied together. Phoenix is well-positioned to be at the front of these innovations. ASU is one of the best research facilities in the US fostering creativity, innovation, and an educated workplace. We have one of the better regulatory and tax environments for business in the nation. Our workforce is younger than the national average.
And most of all, our citizens still believe we can fix these problems. They are pro-business, pro-growth, pro-education, and believe in the future.
