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"Houle breaks down big ideas into easily digestible, entertaining small bites...Crack this book open whenever globalization's gotten you down."-Slate.com.
"The Shift Age lifts us out of the rapids of techno-change and helps us see the course of the river we've been rafting on."-Howard Bloom, author of the GOD PROBLEM and GLOBAL BRAIN
"[The Shift Age] is must read for anyone who is interested in where humanity is headed in coming generations. This book provides an overview of how our progeny will live, work, and play in coming decades."-Bob Citron, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Foundation for the Future
"David Houle's Shift Age offers an astounding proposition: the Information Age is ending with emergence of an age of constant change. Read this book!"-Reese Schonfeld, Cofounder of CNN, CNN Headline News, and Food Network
"America needs a new educational vision. Shift Ed provides a clear vision that emphasizes the essential ingredients of a twenty-first-century education based upon creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. Houle makes a great case that nothing less than transformation will be enough."-Daniel H. Pink, author of A WHOLE NEW MIND: WHY RIGHT-BRAINERS WILLL RULE THE FUTURE and DRIVE: THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES US
"The New Health Age offer a succinct primer on how we got here and where we should be taking the health of our nation" -Mehmet Oz, M.D., host of The Dr. Oz Show
The Information Age? Think again.
Change is everywhere: how we communicate, what we do for a living, the values we hold, the way we raise our children, even the way we access information. Thanks to a global economy, the force of the Internet, and the explosion of mobile technology, we have—almost imperceptibly—been ushered into a new era, the Shift Age, in which change happens so quickly that it's become the norm.
Man-made developments—such as tools, machines, and technology—defined previous ages, but the Shift Age will be defined by our own power of choice. In Entering the Shift Age, leading futurist David Houle argues that we are going through a major collapse of legacy thinking, eroding many of the thought structures that have defined the last two hundred years of humanity. Houle identifies and explains the new forces that will shape our lives—including remote workplaces, the cloud, "24/7" culture, speed-of-light connectivity, creativity, and the influence of Millenials and Digital Natives—for the next twenty years.
In this eye-opening book, Houle navigates this pivotal point in human history with clarity and anticipation, focusing on the power of human consciousness and the direct influence we can impart on everything from healthcare to media to education. According to Houle, we are more independent than ever before. We are in control.
There's no "going back" to the way things were. Reality is changing ever faster, and ENTERING THE SHIFT AGE is your guide to keeping up.
From the Introduction
Are you unsettled? Do you feel anxious about the future? Why does everything that used to work no longer work and the way that things used to be now feels long gone? Are things getting better or getting worse? Are your children coming of age at a wonderful time or a horrible time?
Well, the reason you may be feeling uneasy and asking these questions is due to the time we live in and the fact that we are at a major inflection point in human history. We have left the Information Age and have entered a new age, the Shift Age. The Shift Age is and will be one of the most transformative times in all history. Almost everything in your life and every part of your life is in some relative rate of shift.
No wonder you are worried and anxious! Or you may be incredibly excited by the future rushing toward us. Either way, Entering the Shift Age is the book to better help you understand all the incredible change swirling around you. Consider this book your road map to the future.
PART 1: WELCOME TO THE SHIFT AGE
Introduction
WELCOME TO THE SHIFT AGE
A Very Brief History of Humanity Leading to the Shift Age The Four Ages of Humanity
THE THRESHOLD DECADES
Major Transformations in the Threshold Decades Summary of the Threshold Decades
PART 2: THE THREE FORCES OF THE SHIFT AGE
Introduction
THE FLOW TO GLOBAL
Population Economics First Culture and Politics The Global Stage of Human Evolution
THE FLOW TO THE INDIVIDUAL
Free Agents Choice and Control The End of Alienation The Micro-Micro The Global Individual
ACCELERATING ELECTRONIC CONNECTEDNESS
Accelerating The Transformation of Communication The Internet The Two Realities The Evisceration of Ignorance
PART 3: THE TRANSFORMATION DECADE 2010-2020
Introduction
THE FIRST DECADE OF TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY THOUGHT
THE COLLAPSE OF LEGACY THINKING
Areas of Legacy Thinking Collapse Ideas and Concepts That Will Take on New Meaning and Acceptance in This Decade
GENERAL TRENDS AND FORECASTS
The Concept of Place Continues to Be Eviscerated A Major Generational Shift Takes Root Biology and Technology Merge Ever More Spaceship Earth Becomes a More Widely Held Mindset Creativity Is a Dominant Value Globalism Ascends, Nationalism Declines Governments Shake Loose Many of Their Industrial-Age Structures Energy Moves into Its Systemic Stage A Shift in Every Field
PART 4: THE FUTURE OF THE SHIFT AGE
Introduction
THE EARTH CENTURY
A Quick Look Back Helping to Shape the Thinking The Current Reality The Anthropocene Era
RETROFITTING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
A Time-Lapse Photographic Sequence of Change The Need to Let Go of the Twentieth Century Retrofit the Twentieth Century
THE CONCEPT OF PLACE HAS CHANGED FOREVER
The History of Place The Concept of Place Is Being Eviscerated Screen Reality Changes Place to Space Utopia?
BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY MERGE
Biology and Technology Merge
AN EVOLUTIONARY SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS
The Three Forces of the Shift Age Generations Technology
THE SHIFT AGE GENERATIONS
The Millennial Generation Digital Natives
THE ASCENDENCY OF WOMEN
Current Realities Generations Screen Reality Structures and Hierarchies to Nets and Nodes Summary
TECHNOLOGY
Emerging Transformative Technologies Transformative Technologies of the Future
ENERGY
Twentieth-Century Energy A Systemic Global View Retrofitting the Use of Energy Twenty-First-Century Energy Breakthroughs
MEDICINE AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT
Medical Miracles around the Corner Dynamic Flows Health Management
EDUCATION
Pre-School K-12
Higher Education Major Shifts in Education
THE ARTS
A Look Back A Look Ahead Accelerating Electronic Connectedness and Art New Business Models
BRANDS AND MARKETING
Brands through the Ages Marketing Memes and Conscious Consumerism
IP IS THE WEALTH OF THE SHIFT AGE
IP in the Information Age IP in the Shift Age The Future of IP
THE ERA OF BIG DATA
The History and Future of Information and Data A New Level of Mapping Business and the Era of Big Data
SOCIETY AND ECONOMICS
Retirement Consumerism Investing and Economics Politics Marriage Birthrates Cities and Urbanization
POWER
Human Power Influence Power Intellectual Property and Influence Power Accelerating the Speed and Power of an Idea Whose Time Has Come The Direction Is Clear
NATION-STATES?
The Global Stage of Human Evolution The Nation-State Forces and Contexts Initiating the Global Stage of Human Evolution A Transition Time
THE GLOBAL AGE OF MIGRATION
Unprecedented Migration The Forces at Play Global Mobility
EPILOGUE: WELCOME TO THE 2030s!
NOTES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX
Overview
"Houle breaks down big ideas into easily digestible, entertaining small bites...Crack this book open whenever globalization's gotten you down."-Slate.com.
"The Shift Age lifts us out of the rapids of techno-change and helps us see the course of the river we've been rafting on."-Howard Bloom, author of the GOD PROBLEM and GLOBAL BRAIN
"[The Shift Age] is must read for anyone who is interested in where humanity is headed in coming generations. This book provides an overview of how our progeny...