My daughter, Giordana, 15, and her boyfriend, Emil, 18, wanted to go to Lucca Comics. A couple of mistakes turned their trip into a day-long adventure involving trains, police, banks and a lot of laughter. With the use of common sense, empathy and technology, they went through the challenges of the day unscathed and learned quite a […]
Common Sense and Technology Turn Problems into Fun Challenges Read More »
Is it best to be perfectly adapted to a given environment? Or, rather, is it better to be able to adapt to the changes in that environment or to a completely new one? Adaptability is a more useful characteristic in a rapidly changing world. For the last five years or so I’ve almost never stayed in
Adaptability is the Key, not Being Well Adapted Read More »
The next generation information devices are going to seamlessly display video content, not restricted to a simple window within the browser. The entire screen will be a video, with smart elements that must be understood by the computer in order for the user to fully interact with them. When the Web was born, even support
Google’s robotic cars learn from each other when they are back in the garage, and train in simulated worlds at an accelerated pace. Our future will be inhabited by smart machines using their time much differently than we do. Robotic cars may pose many challenges, but if they deliver even a fraction of what they
Do Robotic Cars Dream of Electric Sheep? Read More »
A set of simultaneous technologies is growing exponentially, with the common feature of being decentralized, and organized in a network. This contrasts with the centralized and hierarchical organization of today’s traditional society and its basic functions. The shift from the old to the new structure will subject the Nation State to an unprecedented pressure. After
The Empowering Future Of Decentralization Read More »
The conversation around technological unemployment, which assumes that we will see increasing amounts of social tension due to automation replacing human work in all sectors, hides a more fundamental issue. Technology must be designed and deployed in order to support human dignity, the building of sustainably meaningful lives, and the creation of resilient communities. I delivered
Technology And Human Dignity Read More »
Long election cycles, and slow legislation are a natural part of representative democracy, and are inadequate to the needs of a world that is rapidly changing. Analyzing, proposing, discussing, approving, implementing measuring and updating laws and regulations must be possible today using technologies with orders of magnitude finer grained feedback than previously. Invited by Intergruppo
Exponential legislation Read More »
Bitnation (disclosure: I am an Advisor) uses the Blockchain to help refugees to Europe, allowing them to take part of the modern flux of technologies. There are many low tech needs that those who help refugees can provide. From food, to shelter, advice, and support. Many of the displaced have smartphones, as has been maliciously noted
Hi-tech emergency help to refugees Read More »
Richard Saul Wurman, the founder of the TED conference, uses to say that he topples silos of knowledge. His strategy of allowing cross-fertilization of previously isolated domains can be very successful, especially in times of rapid change. Search strategies can’t be fixed, but must adapt to the prevailing conditions to be successful. Did you
Cross fertilization is a winning strategy Read More »
Your brain is surprisingly adaptable, and capable of taking advantage of new conditions it is exposed to. Simple sensorial experiments in vision, motion, and auditory input allow you to reveal the unexpected consequences of neuroplasticity. Can the changes that we induce provide clues for better memory, faster learning, and higher degrees of intelligence? The following
Everyday neuroplasticity Read More »
