Hyperspace

Imagine looking down on earth and seeing all these building blocks waiting to be assembled.  Most people on earth don’t recognize these building blocks for the future, just lying around.  However, from up above you can see the building blocks and the people navigating around them, as if they were obstacles.  Memes look like jargon to keep insiders in and outsiders out.  A proliferation of protocols and standards is complicating what was once a simple world.   Opposing viewpoints look like gridlock instead of synergy.

The people on earth just keep going further and further out of the way to avoid these obstacles.  Life just keeps getting harder, as a growing number of building blocks continue to clutter the landscape.

What if—operating from hyperspace, above the earth—you could manipulate these massive obstacles with ease, as if moving them around with a giant crane? What if you knew exactly what you were building on earth, even though the inhabitants of earth were still unaware of this future that you were building?

What if you could describe this future that you are building to all the inhabitants of earth? What if this future was so fantastic that everybody wanted to be a part of it, as long as it came with certain guaranties? What if you could tell them what you were building, step by step, so that they could live inside this structure, as you are building it?

If you could…, then you would have America 2029!

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Building Block #6: Edutainment

Our nation has been driven by television, radio, and print advertisements for so long that the thought of changing the business model is staggering.  Many businesses are scrambling to find out what works, experimenting with a variety of Internet advertising tools, reinventing television advertising, using the latest computer graphics tools, designing elaborate product placement campaigns, and so on.  The long-term answer is edutainment.

Americans are tired of being lied to in ads.  Americans are learning to shop the Internet to find quality and value.  Advertising simply doesn’t work anymore, and clever marketing programs aren’t doing much better.

Companies must learn to find ways to entertain their customers while offering genuine educational—and marketing—value.

Americans are growing up.  Tech-savvy Millennials are literally growing up—and with them, their needs and wants.  At the same time, all Americans are craving more intellectually interactive content, and for now reality programs and occasional docudramas are all we have.

Advertising was the 20^th century.  Edutainment is the 21^st century.

Building Block #5: Cooperative Game Theory

Both because of global effects and because of the Fast Money business model, over the course of the next couple decades, things will be happening so fast that humans won’t be able to keep track of them.  How do you know that you are winning or losing at this new game?

Sophisticated Game Theory software will drive your computer to make certain that businesses are playing by your rules, and not the other way around.  You will set up rules in your favor, and businesses will compete according to your rules.

These strategies will be used defensively, so that individuals can protect their personal interests.  In this sense, the Game Theory is being used cooperatively.  This is distinguished from the competitive forms of Game Theory, where companies try to put each other out of business by getting the upper hand.

Inevitably, the SEC, the FTC, and other regulatory agencies will feel the need to step in with additional requirements for businesses, in order to protect everyone from fraud.  Ideally they can do so using the safeguards built into the Game Theory software.  Nevertheless, the creation of regulations actually generates more jobs, as everyone figures out how to work through the federal requirements to make money even faster.

Game Theory is so complex that you need to be a mathematical whiz to compute the equations.  Nevertheless, even laypeople can understand the basic strategies, and instruct their computers to adopt specific ones.  The computers will handle the rest.

Building Block #4: Fast Money

Only a small percentage of people in this world fully appreciate how money is “made” on the stock market.  As much as we hate the rollercoaster ride, the stock market as we know it would not exist if it weren’t for the ups and downs.  That’s because the people who make the serious money (including, to some degree, large institutions that invest your 401(k) money) know how to make money on the ups and the downs.

Here’s the problem: If the “big guys” are making money on every up and down, but the stock market is mostly going sideways, that means that the rest of us are having a difficult time not losing money.  If someone “makes” money as the market goes up and then sells, the person who buys those shares will lose money when the market goes down.  I keep quoting the word “makes” since no money is really being made.  When a company’s earnings are flat and stock experts “take profits,” everybody else loses.

The economics of business would totally change if businesses all adopted a new business model to “guarantee” their results.  The entire investment world would stabilize and most people would be happy that they were now virtually guaranteed gains of 10-20% or more per year.  The only people who would be unhappy were those who make their fortunes on the rollercoaster ride, since the ride would now be relatively boring.  Although there would still be market risk, the stock market would start to behave more like the bond market.

The problem, of course, is that those who currently profit from the system would not permit the existence of an alternative system, if they thought that they would lose money because of it.  They would expose this new business model as a “fraud” and bury it before it ever took hold.

However, they would gladly adopt this new business model if they made more money, right?

The secret to this new business model, which is already being tested through an innovative website that you may have heard of, would operate under the principle of fast money.  You make more money the faster the money changes hands.

Milton Friedman’s equation of exchange clearly established that people are wealthier when money moves faster.  By moving money faster and decreasing risk, everyone—both the very wealthy and the rest of us—will have more wealth than before.

As a positive side effect, the need to print additional money would be removed.  Again, this is due to Friedman’s equation.  This will benefit everyone except for serious precious metals investors, who benefit from the devaluation of the dollar.

America 2029 will need several visible spokespeople to convince pioneering companies to use the new model, since many old “rules” and “laws” of economics will now be broken.  However, after initial trials, the model will rapidly gain acceptance.  Is your company ready to explore this new business model and profit now, instead of waiting until later?

Remember: America 2029 is all about defining the future.  We know that the laws of economics are changing all around us due to the ever-increasing global nature of the economy.  America 2029 seeks to restore stability to an increasingly unstable system.

Building Block #3: The Collective Mind

The world is now severely splintered into binary camps: Republicans and Democrats, the haves and the have-nots (money, education, computer literacy, and more), globalists and nationalists, pro-life and pro-choice, …  The list goes on and on.  The media and hardcore advocates seem to denounce any form of a middle ground.  The chasm between opponents grows even further with the spread of propaganda by extremists.

No human being can accomplish anything if filled with indecision.  As a society, humans are torn by indecision—often called gridlock in political circles.

Behind the scenes, however, open-minded people work fervently to narrow the gaps, in order to bring our collective mind to some resolution.

The problem is that the available tools are primitive.  With traditional web sites, outrageous claims draw large numbers of people, and the voices of reason go unnoticed.

Major breakthroughs will happen in rapid succession when tools allow people to quietly problem-solve together without publicly showing weakness by making apparent concessions.  The key is for individuals to work towards their personal goals without all the labels that the media and extremists insist on applying.  Collectively, all opposing camps will be achieving their most important goals.

America 2029 is developing these advanced tools for building the quiet collective mind.

Imagine a world… where the wealthy and the economically disadvantaged consistently get ahead together, … where those who have not can offer significant value to those who have, … where America triumphs by helping the world, … where abortions are reduced by respecting the rights of women, … where every obstacle turns into a new opportunity!

This is not just a poetic John Lennon-style imagining.  It is the logical consequence of developing the right technologies.  The America 2029 program is not about changing politics.  However, just as Twitter and cell phones have transformed oppressive regimes by getting the word out, America 2029 will create a domino effect that will ultimately make traditional politics obsolete.  Political posturing will disappear just as surely as the telegraph machine—not because of any law or lobbying, but because the incentive for political posturing will be gone.  We are approaching a crossroads in history.

Building Block #2: Protocols and Standards

Many companies are reluctant to agree to protocols and standards, instead striving for competitive advantage by standing out from all the competitors.  Certainly it’s good to offer something “extra,” but in today’s rapidly changing world, customers want to know what they can count on.  Will your device, software, or approach work with other devices, software, or approaches, now and in the future?

Protocols and standards remove uncertainty and accelerate the pace of change.  Perhaps your company would rather slow things down.  If you do, it will be at a cost.

Protocols and standards are a valuable building block for handling all the inevitable changes occurring.  Not implementing protocols slows down the rate at which you solve problems.  It does not slow down the rate at which problems occur!

Remember to use as many protocols and standards as possible, as building blocks on your next major project.  If protocols and standards don’t exist, work with industry leaders to create them.  Tell the industry leaders this message: Creating protocols and standards makes you a leader; waiting for others to create them makes you a follower.  One way or the other, talk up protocols and standards, and get as much consensus as possible.  Make it clear you’re working on behalf of your customers, to deliver what they need.

The following protocols and standards will create major breakthroughs in commerce:

• Broad adoption of many OASIS standards, like OASIS DITA.
• A wide range of standardized mobile apps for students to learn and use in the real world.
• High-level application tools for end users to design and run their own applications, in the same way that they now use spreadsheets and simple database queries.
• An XML extension and HTML adaptations to permit smart TVs to classify and broadcast Internet content, creating “unlimited channels.”
• Any protocol or standard where U.S. companies in an industry agree to come together and collectively win their share of the global market.

Building Block #1: Memes

The concept of a meme—“an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture” (Merriam-Webster, 2012; in other words, something that “goes viral”)—has been around since 1976, coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (Dawkins, 1989, p. 192).  Not surprisingly, the concept of memes has gone viral, with students everywhere passing pictorial memes from the popular meme websites.  At the moment, though, everybody sending and receiving memes has no idea of their true power.

Pictures with text are an ideal form for a meme, although single-word and short-phrase concept titles also work well, like evolution, the Green Movement, diversity, and so on.  Just saying one of these phrases—in a positive way—lets you belong to a vast global movement.

Memes are driving forces in society.  Richard Dawkins created the term to explain sociological evolution.  To date, however, I don’t believe that anyone has tried to engineer social forces using memes—until now.

• What if memes could be used as a universal communicator throughout the world?
• Even within a nation, jargon creates language barriers.  A common meme-based vocabulary of words, phrases, and images, however, could break down those barriers.
• Memes let you think across disciplines.  You don’t have to understand the underlying engine for an idea to refer to it.  You can talk about the Green Movement without even understanding its major components and ideals.  For example, you can speak about getting the Green Movement and advocates of diversity together to create a new global Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.  Memes let you think “big picture.”

Let us consider how memes might work as a social engineering force.

The ubiquitous smiley face has become overused (that’s a hazard of something that goes viral), yet most people still translate the image as “Have a nice day!”  Of course it also connotes happiness.  For that matter, emoticons and icons everywhere become universally recognized.

Consider the following statement:

If people around the world could agree to a simple formula like this, it would go viral, and millions of people could work together, independent of their mother nations, and their respective laws.  Naturally, the words would be translated by a translator into respective languages.  Once someone learns this meme, however, they can recognize it on a website regardless of the language.  What’s more, people of different languages can then carry on a simple dialog to agree (or disagree) on other principles based on other memes.

Consider the ramifications for the workplace.  Executives, industry experts, technology experts, trainers and mentors, administrative staff, salespeople, and more will be able to converse freely in memes.  Memes will serve as mantras to unite, while keeping core values front and center.

Do you see how memes will accelerate thinking and communication? If not, fasten your seatbelt.  If you thought ideas and events were happening too fast already, get ready for the meme-driven world.

Do you like this idea? Why not tell others about America 2029? The website is America2029.com.  Let’s see if the America 2029 logo can go viral!

References

Dawkins, Richard (1989). The Selfish Gene (2 ed.).  Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Merriam-Webster (2012).  Meme.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  Chicago, IL: Britannica Online.  Retrieved 10 October 2012 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme

Building Blocks

The key to productive innovation is to identify, label, and use building blocks, rather than building from scratch.  At this point, the number of tools, standards, protocols, and other building blocks is growing at an unmanageable rate.  The key is for innovators to access this information efficiently.

Most of these building blocks are accessible only by technology gurus, with little written guidelines for application experts.  Experts in all domains should be planning how to incorporate such tools as RDF (Resource Description Framework), OASIS DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture, FOAF (Friend of a Friend), the HTML “link” element, and an entire alphabet soup of other building blocks.  These tools let developers create “smart” systems that are easier for humans to use, yet ironically, the tools themselves are not accessible to mere mortals.

As soon as CEOs and other corporate strategists can use these tools to talk to various levels of management, and have the domain managers instruct developers to use these tools within their specific domains, then the true power of these building blocks will become evident.  Right now, the building blocks are mere toys for technologists to play with.

Henry Ford took all the knowledge of the garage tinkerers and formalized it into the modern assembly line.  We are at the point in history where the world is ready for us to automate knowledge creation using these building blocks.