Exponential Disruption and Organizations – A Futurist Talk by Ramez Naam

The Brooklyn Futurist Meetup hosted a memorable presentation by Ramez Naam on Exponential Disruption & Organizations. We had 145 RSVPs, a testimony to his drawing power. Here’s my summary of his June 8 talk:

We’ve evolved as a species, but are still wired to be threat-aware instead of opportunity-aware.

-Complacency/Currency Bias prevents faster progress in many areas.

4 Information Layers: Digitize, Dematerialization, Demonetization, Democratize.

Exponentiality Examples:

-There are more digital photos taken this year than all the analog photos in history.

-Digital government in India reduced bribery substantially.

-Disrupting healthcare: Mobisante’s mobile ultrasound costs $500 vs traditional device at $35,000   https://www.mobisante.com/  https://www.scanadu.com/

-Energy: 200x drop in hardware cost to 3 cents/kil hour in Dubai, Mexico, Palo Alto.

-Tesla: 10,000 vs 500,000 annual sales projections. The “conventional wisdom” was wildly off.

-SpaceX prints metal engines in space via 3D Printer.

-Amazon’s “Default Yes” = Try almost everything, Data rules vs just asking the most senior person in room.

Recommended Exponential Author: Salim Ismail  https://www.salimismail.com/

Is there a Filter Bubble? No – there’s more diverse voices than ever.

Autonomous Cars: The law says you need a rear-view mirror, but not a steering wheel.

Social Implications of Exponential Disruption: More empathetic society, Basic Income getting more policy consideration

More on The 4,400 member Brooklyn Futurist Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/BLKNY30/

More on Ramez Naam:  https://promenadespeakers.com/futurist-meetup-speakers/