An Optimist's Tour of the Future

An Optimist's Tour of the Future PDF Author: Mark Stevenson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847654339
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Mark Stevenson has been to the future a few years ahead of the rest of us - and reckons it has a lot going for it. His voyage of discovery takes him to Oxford to meet Transhumanists (they intend to live forever), to Boston where he confronts a robot with mood swings, to an underwater cabinet meeting in the Indian Ocean, and Australia to question the Outback's smartest farmer. He clambers around space planes in the Mojave desert, gets to grips with the potential of nanotechnology, delves deep into the possibilities of biotech, sees an energy renaissance on a printer, a revolution in communications, has his genome profiled, and glimpses the next stage of human evolution ... and tries to make sense of what's in store. Insightful and often very funny, An Optimist's Tour of the Future is a book that tracks one curious man's journey to find out what's in store.

An Optimist's Tour of the Future

An Optimist's Tour of the Future PDF Author: Mark Stevenson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847654339
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
Mark Stevenson has been to the future a few years ahead of the rest of us - and reckons it has a lot going for it. His voyage of discovery takes him to Oxford to meet Transhumanists (they intend to live forever), to Boston where he confronts a robot with mood swings, to an underwater cabinet meeting in the Indian Ocean, and Australia to question the Outback's smartest farmer. He clambers around space planes in the Mojave desert, gets to grips with the potential of nanotechnology, delves deep into the possibilities of biotech, sees an energy renaissance on a printer, a revolution in communications, has his genome profiled, and glimpses the next stage of human evolution ... and tries to make sense of what's in store. Insightful and often very funny, An Optimist's Tour of the Future is a book that tracks one curious man's journey to find out what's in store.

An Optimist's Tour of the Future

An Optimist's Tour of the Future PDF Author: Mark Stevenson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781583334140
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
A lighthearted and informed guide to the future of civilization describes the author's travels in various world regions where he learned about climate-proof farming practices and breakthrough technologies with a potential for helping the world.

No Time Like the Future

No Time Like the Future PDF Author: Michael J. Fox
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250265622
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A moving account of resilience, hope, fear and mortality, and how these things resonate in our lives, by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox. The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the world’s leading non-profit funder of PD science. His two previous bestselling memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up, dealt with how he came to terms with the illness, all the while exhibiting his iconic optimism. His new memoir reassesses this outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges. In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Thoughtful and moving, but with Fox’s trademark sense of humor, his book provides a vehicle for reflection about our lives, our loves, and our losses. Running through the narrative is the drama of the medical madness Fox recently experienced, that included his daily negotiations with the Parkinson’s disease he’s had since 1991, and a spinal cord issue that necessitated immediate surgery. His challenge to learn how to walk again, only to suffer a devastating fall, nearly caused him to ditch his trademark optimism and “get out of the lemonade business altogether.” Does he make it all of the way back? Read the book.

We Do Things Differently

We Do Things Differently PDF Author: Mark Stevenson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782830863
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Our systems are failing. Old models - for education, healthcare and government, food production, energy supply - are creaking under the weight of modern challenges. As the world's population heads towards 10 billion, it's clear we need new approaches. Futurologist Mark Stevenson sets out to find them, across four continents. From Brazilian favelas to high tech Boston, from rural India to a shed inventor in England's home counties, We Do Things Differently travels the world to find the advance guard re-imagining our future. At each stop, he meets innovators who have already succeeded in challenging the status quo, pioneering new ways to make our world more sustainable, equitable and humane. Populated by extraordinary characters, We Do Things Differently paints an enthralling picture of what can be done to address the world's most pressing dilemmas, offering a much needed dose of down-to-earth optimism. It is a window on (and a roadmap to) a different and better future.

Transformative Approaches to New Technologies and Student Diversity in Futures Oriented Classrooms

Transformative Approaches to New Technologies and Student Diversity in Futures Oriented Classrooms PDF Author: Leonie Rowan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400726414
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
In this book we outline an optimistic, aspirational and unashamedly ambitious agenda for schooling. We make cautious use of the concept of ‘future proofing’ to signal the commitment of the various authors to re-thinking the purposes, content and processes of schooling with a view to ensuring that all children, from all backgrounds are prepared by their education to make a positive contribution to the futures that are ahead of them. The book focuses on issues relating to technology and social justice to re-examine the traditional relationship between schools and technology, between schools and diverse learners, and between schools, children and knowledge. Drawing from examples from around the world, the book explores practical ways that diverse schools have worked to celebrate diverse understandings of what it means to be a learner, a citizen, a worker in these changed and changing times and the ways different technologies can support this agenda.

The Psychology of Thinking about the Future

The Psychology of Thinking about the Future PDF Author: Gabriele Oettingen
Publisher: Guilford Publications
ISBN: 1462534457
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 569

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Book Description
Why do people spend so much time thinking about the future, imagining scenarios that may never occur, and making (often unrealistic) predictions? This volume brings together leading researchers from multiple psychological subdisciplines to explore the central role of future-thinking in human behavior across the lifespan. It presents cutting-edge work on the mechanisms involved in visualizing, predicting, and planning for the future. Implications are explored for such important domains as well-being and mental health, academic and job performance, ethical decision making, and financial behavior. Throughout, chapters highlight effective self-regulation strategies that help people pursue and realize their short- and long-term goals.

Triumph of the Optimists

Triumph of the Optimists PDF Author: Elroy Dimson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140082947X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Investors have too often extrapolated from recent experience. In the 1950s, who but the most rampant optimist would have dreamt that over the next fifty years the real return on equities would be 9% per year? Yet this is what happened in the U.S. stock market. The optimists triumphed. However, as Don Marquis observed, an optimist is someone who never had much experience. The authors of this book extend our experience across regions and across time. They present a comprehensive and consistent analysis of investment returns for equities, bonds, bills, currencies and inflation, spanning sixteen countries, from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first. This is achieved in a clear and simple way, with over 130 color diagrams that make comparison easy. Crucially, the authors analyze total returns, including reinvested income. They show that some historical indexes overstate long-term performance because they are contaminated by survivorship bias and that long-term stock returns are in most countries seriously overestimated, due to a focus on periods that with hindsight are known to have been successful. The book also provides the first comprehensive evidence on the long-term equity risk premium--the reward for bearing the risk of common stocks. The authors reveal whether the United States and United Kingdom have had unusually high stock market returns compared to other countries. The book covers the U.S., the U.K., Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, and South Africa. Triumph of the Optimists is required reading for investment professionals, financial economists, and investors. It will be the definitive reference in the field and consulted for years to come.

You Can Be an Optimist

You Can Be an Optimist PDF Author: Lucy MacDonald
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1508175861
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Optimism is a key ingredient for happiness and success in life. Optimistic people have more fun, they're healthier, and they achieve more of their potential. Unfortunately, many people believe it is impossible to learn optimism. However, optimistic thinking is a skill anyone can learn. In this simple, practical title, readers will find twenty engaging exercises – including simple practices such as journaling, affirmation, and physical exercises – that will teach them to be optimistic. Readers will learn how to recognize and deal with problems as they arise, nurture a positive outlook, and be happier and more successful in life.

International Futures

International Futures PDF Author: Barry B. Hughes
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128134224
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
International Futures: Building and Using Global Models extensively covers one of the most advanced systems for integrated, long-term, global and large-scale forecasting analysis available today, the International Futures (IFs) system. Key elements of a strong, long-term global forecasting system are described, i.e. the formulations for the driving variables in separate major models and the manner in which these separate models are integrated. The heavy use of algorithmic and rule-based elements and the use of elements of control theory is also explained. Furthermore, the IFs system is compared and contrasted with all other major modeling efforts, also outlining the major benefits of the IFs system. Finally, the book provides suggestions on how the development of forecasting systems might most productively proceed in the coming years. Helps readers understand the IFs system, not at a detailed equation and technical level, but in terms of the important decisions made that dominate the structure and long-term behavior Presents information on the universe of long-term global forecasting systems, key decisions made, and the range of similarities and differences in the systems Covers the relationship between long-term forecasts in a variety of global issues and the forecasting systems and assumptions that underly them (essential information for forecast consumers)

Creative Dialogue

Creative Dialogue PDF Author: Robert Fisher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113472165X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Creative Dialogue is an essential guide to dialogic learning for every trainee and practising teacher. It presents practical ways of teaching children to be more thoughtful and creative, and to learn more effectively through speaking and listening in school and at home. The book includes: practical ways to develop dialogic learning across the curriculum a guide to developing talk for thinking in the classroom more than 100 activities for stimulating talk with children of all ages and abilities advice on using dialogue to support assessment for learning ideas for developing listening skills and concentration. Written by a leading expert in teaching thinking, Creative Dialogue is essential reading for all who wish to understand and develop dialogic learning in education today.