NECC: Five Regions of the Future

Buenos dias! Just sat down in the ballroom, getting ready to hear Joel Barker’s keynote about the Five Regions of the Future: A New Way to Think About Technology. I hadn’t sat down for more than five minutes before people around me began talking about how frustrated they were by the lack of WiFi during presentations. It really is a shame. It’s a technology conference for Pete’s sake. As I’ve stated before, I learn more efficiently when I have access to the internet while I’m typing my notes. Yes, sometimes it can be a distraction (email, IM, eBay), but I feel incredibly frustrated that I’m not able to pull up web sites or look up information throughout the course of a given session. It’s my learning style. You talk to reach auditory people, you have PowerPoint to reach visual people, give internet to the digital people.

Onwards, keynote is starting. Joel Barker also write the book Paradigms. I read somewhere that he coined the term Paradigm Shift, so hopefully he won’t send a cease and desist to Eric Jeffcoat (host of the show formerly known as Teachnology).

His website is www.FiveRegionsofTheFuture.com. Gee. Wouldn’t it be nice to check that site out right now and bookmark it?

“It is imperative that we become more precise in our descriptions of what our technologies accutlly do. We cannot be clear about our economic direction unless we are clear about our technological direction”.

Def of Technology: Tools, techniques and knowledge that can be used in combination or separately to solve problems. Technology is all about solving problems, I do dig that. I’m not 100% sure I agree, but I like the idea.

We live in a society with more solutions than problems, and tech is behind most of these solutions. Hmmm…. When someone wants to present information to someone, there are that’s a problem. There are a bazillion solutions. Makes sense. Problem: I want to build a house. There a bazillion solutions as well. I’m not quite sure I agree that technology is behind most of them. In fact, I think that statement could apply 200 years ago just as well as now.

Technological ecoysystems, “TechnEcologies”. Each TechnEcology offers a different vision. General characterstics of an ecosystem: a diversity of elements, diversity of interactions, self-organizing and dynamic stability. Has the ability to hold itself together in the face of adversity.

Regions
SuperTech: Mislabed as ‘high’ tech. Dominated 20th century, best known region. Superabundance is just around the corner. “Everyone will have a handheld tomorrow”. Given enough time and money, science and tech will solve all problems. Given the choice, humans will always choose leisure over work. Robots are a big theme because they take care of the work. Slogan: “Bigger is beautiful” He’s listing off many other characteristics, you can fill in the blanks. Take anything to extreme and you have the SuperTech field. Still dominates the news stories.

Limits Tech: Started as a criticism of SuperTech. Points out issues with taking everything to extreme. Believe scarcity is right around the corner. We’ve been using science and tech for short term benefits and the expense of long term issues. “Mother Nature knows best”. Humans are going to have to work hard just to survive. Slogain, “Efficiency is beautiful”. All about reducing what we use, trying to be more efficient. Where SuperTech would try to ‘fix’ the Ozone problem by addressing it with technology, Limits Tech is about reducing the things that we do to cause the Ozone problem. L.E.D. lights, half the energy, no maintenance, last 35 years. (is that true? I’d love to look that up right now). Argon labs has designed a house made of Styrofoam pallets, spray on grancrete (granite concrete), and it’s only $15 per square foot. Health, prevention, education and wellness. Avoid unnecessary chemicals. Interestingly, they want large array computer simulations so that they can be careful before moving forward. Education is a huge focus of this group.

Local Tech: There is enough in the world for everyone. Science are tech are alright so long as they are ecological and to scale. Humans need to work in order to be fully human. Work isn’t about money, it’s about the growth of the person. Work is a spiritual activity. Small and local is beautiful. Energy: Windmills, Wave power, solar power, geothermal, depends on the area that you’re in. Tech is specific to the local. Housing depends on what you have in the area. You should build your house with your friends and neighbors. Food should be grown locally, home greenhouse, fish ponds. Health, community hospitals, shamans, midwives, indigenous plants and medicines. Computers are more simple, used to monitor ecosystems. Denmark, Kirala India, Mondargon Spain are all doing this.

Nature Tech: Oldest and newest region. All human needs can be fulfilled using Nature’s systems. Since nature has already solved all our problems, the job of science is to find the solutions that nature has created. Our work is to learn to live well with nature. Slogan is “Natural is beautiful”. Energy, ethanol, hydrogen producing bacteria, diesel tree. There’s a tree in Africa that can be tapped and it’s sap can be poured directly into a diesel engine and it will run. Food, caffeine, amaranth, ostrich, insects. We can grow colored cotton. Ok, here’s a new one. He’s saying that we have the tech to take the DNA from Spider Silk, throw it in to a goat and milk from the goat material that is almost exactly the same as spider silk. Very strange. I really really really wish I had wifi right now. Communications, trees communicate with each other somehow. When an insect attacks a tree, within 72 hours trees on the other side of the forest begin producing a toxin that will protect them against that very same insect. Somehow they are communicating very efficiently. Computers, DNA computing. Using living material for computing tasks.

Human Tech: WE have only recently begun to understand human technology. The real needs of humans are not material. You don’t care whether you live in a straw house or a condo on a spaceship. God/Nature has endowed humans with extraordinary powers. The real work of humans is to know ourselves. NO genetic manipulation is necessary in order to maximize our potential. Energy, mother’s milk and enthusiasm. Pupoluation, all about quality of individual life. Communications, pheromones, facial symmetry. Health, laughter makes you healthier, stem cells, the effect of placebos. Human Tech is at the base of all the other regions.

Universal Technologies:
Computers, every region will make use of it in different ways.

Wrapped it up with a quote from William Blake and some semi-inspirational words.

Presentation is over, I’m now in my usual spot: sitting on the floor in a hallway outside the exhibitor hall that has great wifi reception and an outlet. Ahhh, the glamorous life of an educator!

Just a few quick impressions from the presentation before I go check out the student spotlights. It was a solid presentation. He is a very skilled public speaker and his PowerPoint accented his presentation well. No demerits on that account.

However, I wasn’t that impressed with what he had to say. Basically he broke different aspects of technology and humanity down into his regions. He never got into what the implications for doing so were. What are we to do with that information? As an educator, how does this information impact me? Why should I care how he classifies technology? To me, the entire thing felt like an introduction that never led anywhere. Now that I’m armed with knowledge of his five regions, I am at a loss as to how I am supposed to use that information.

He really pushed his book big time as well. I understand, it’s a major source of income for him. However, one of the slides in his PowerPoint was direction to where people could buy the book from when the keynote was over! Wow.

I might be in the minority though. As I left the ballroom and went down the escalator, there was a huge line just to buy copies of the book. Then once you bought it, you would be able to stand in another line in the exhibitors area to have him sign it. No thanks. I’ll wait for the movie. I found the idea interesting, but woefully incomplete. It seemed to set the stage for a play that never got written. Let me know if you picked up on something that I’m missing there.

2 Comments

Brett Moller
6/29/2005

Love your blog and podcast here!! I just subscribed to teach42 podcast on iTunes…. Just wondering how you post your podcast? I want to start one up in my classroom…. Probably after we get our blogging project on the way. Our weblink is http://www.brettmoller.com

great podcast, blog etc….

Brett

hamlet
7/1/2005

yes , i agree with your critical comment on the classification is not that important to pracital appllication.

Listen to this kind of presenation help people to remind some one still concern for fututre. ^_^

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