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Past meetings jul- Dec 2013

Page history last edited by Brian K Toren 8 years, 2 months ago

January 2 - No Meeting - Happy New Year

 

December 26 - No Meeting

 

July 5 - NO MEETING - Happy Holiday

 

July 13

Economic Futures

Title: Economics of Internet Security (Part II)

Moderator: Roger Rydberg

Speakers: Arnold Kwong & Bruce Healton

REF:Abstract Web Infections and Protections WIPP: Personal Privacy and Perfect Security

 

 

Aug 10, 2013

Title "The Future of Food"

Moderators

Hank Lederer Brian Toren

 

This meeting is comprised of a series of short Ted Talks presenting various Futures on Food. Some possible sub topics: Genetically Modified Foods (GMO, the new lab grown hamburger, sustainable farming, aqua farming, Greenhouse farming, hydroponics
Water shortage, preservation of food, etc. in between the showings. Discussions
after each showing out the subject presented will be held to get thoughts of the
attendees.

From 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM any attendee can forward to the other members of the group internet URLs or copies of articles or other information on innovations, concepts, or strategies they feel may be important in any area as we consider possible, probable, and preferable futures.

 

Ref:http://www.nationofchange.org/world-trade-organization-forces-russia-import-gmo-seed-1375969748

 

 

Aug 17, 2013

Title   "The Future of Nuclear Power"

Presenter: Brian Toren

Abstract: This presentation addresses the state and future of Nuclear energy. As you know nuclear energy was the energy of the future. There are presently  400 plants  in the world . Deservedly or not, nuclear energy nuclear energy is not as welcome as it once was. It has been plagued by cost, a nuclear waste problem and a few disastrous nuclear accidents. I will discuss the present technologies briefly. I am going to address the future and status of the next generations. Only early Generation 3 reactors have been built. More versions await acceptance. I will discuss some of these and some newer processes that look promising. Some are scheduled in the near future and some 20 to 50 years down the road. I will look at the status of  fusion and the various approaches, this includes cold and near-cold fission. It is possible some things that are on the drawing board will be viable long before projects in which billions have already been spent. Three or four videos are included in this presentation.

Ref:
Future of Nuclear Energy.ppt

 

Generations of Nuclear Reactors  https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/publications/researchpapersmonographs/nuclearReactors.pdf

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-18/the-u-dot-s-dot-nuclear-power-industrys-dim-future

 

Moderators

Hank Lederer, Roger Rydberg

Be prepared to contribute - we need to keep the Futurists " Proactive"!

This is your organization - make the best of it!

Come with Research topics E.G.  "Energy", GM  Foods, Robot cars...etc

Presentation PowerPoint video links

 

Aug 24, 2013

Title:"Anticipatory Governance and the Future of American Governance"

Presenter: George Kubic

Abstract:

The world and the events that shape it are complex and uncertain. In this rapidly evolving milieu, the government of the United States shares a trait in common with other governments around the globe. Its hierarchical system of governance is “systemically myopic.” Its focus is primarily immediate and short-term in nature, and largely excludes oncoming events and developments. Its reliance on a future that is mythically shaped by character and “Yankee ingenuity” is increasingly out of touch with the rapidly accelerating world around it.

 

Leon Fuerth, Founder and Director of the Project on Forward Engagement (in conjunction with ex-president Al Gore, George Washington University, and others) has responded to this challenge by advancing two powerful and forward focused conce

Sept 7, 2013

Title “Sleepwalking into the Future – the Anthropocene (Geologic Age of Humans)

Presenter: David GriderTopic: “Emerging Global Megaforces: Implications for Possible Tomorrows”

pts: “Anticipatory Governance” and “Forward Engagement.” Fuerth’s efforts are intended to promote systemic longer-range thinking and the injection of futures components into government policy development and decision-making. Fuerth has created “Anticipatory Governance” and “Forward Engagement” as two robust alternatives to the dangers of myopic U.S. governance and straight-line extrapolation of trends. He documents the need of U.S. governance to exploit a wide-spectrum of methodologies for probing alternative futures.

 

Join us this Saturday (August 24, 2013) as we explore the exciting concepts of “Anticipatory Government” and “Forward Engagement.” Be prepared to actively envision and debate the future(s) of American governance, and ultimately—the future of
America. See you Saturday!

 

Oct 5, 2013

 

Title :merging global megaforces and their implications for the future

 

Presenter/Moderator: George Kubik, PhD (President-Anticipatory Futures Group, LLC)


Join us Saturday, October 5, as we explore the topic of emerging global megaforces and their implications for the future. The purpose of the presentation and subsequent discussion will be twofold: 1. To identify leading global megaforces that are developing around the world; and, 2. To stimulate strategic thinking about the future implications of these megaforces across multiple dimensions of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and scientific variables. Join us as we examine some of the global megaforces that will influence the alternative worlds of tomorrow, and the choices that they present us with in the present.

Abtract:

We will talk about some of the reasons Geologists are considering the present to be the age of humans, and some of the possible and probable (unintended) consequences of current trends. We may be able to manage to discuss future scenarios that we would prefer. Capitalism, peak oil, new technology, and limits to growth will all be likely to come into the discussion.”

 

The Following has been posted on Meetup for Oct 26 2013 

Title: Zero Sum Applied to Progress, Mortals and Politics; given time, Innovation will be discussed

 

Abstract:

Progress is not a zero sum game - 19 minutes

http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_wright_on_optimism.html

Author Robert Wright explains "non-zero-sumness" -- the network of linked fortunes and cooperation that has guided our evolution to this point -- and how we can use it to help save humanity today. The best-selling author of "Nonzero," "The Moral Animal" and "The Evolution of God," Robert Wright draws on his wide-ranging knowledge of science, religion, psychology, history and politics to figure out what makes humanity tick -- and what makes us moral.

 

Discussion

 

Milton Friedman - The Zero-Sum Political Game - Nine minutes

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OoSzrgMNx8s

Politics does not function as a zero sum activities, like economics, politicians seeks rewards.

 

Given time, then following will be discussed

The death of innovation, the end of growth -12 minutes

http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_gordon_the_death_of_innovation_the_end_of_growth.html

The US economy has been expanding wildly for two centuries. Are we witnessing the end of growth? Economist Robert Gordon lays out 4 reasons US growth may be slowing, detailing factors like epidemic debt and growing inequality, which could move the US into a period of stasis we can't innovate our way out of. Be sure to watch the opposing viewpoint from Erik Brynjolfsson. Robert J. Gordon is among the most influential macroeconomists in the world. And the big picture he sees is not altogether rosy.

 

Discussion

 

The key to growth? Race with the machines innovation not dead - 11 minutes

http://www.ted.com/talks/erik_brynjolfsson_the_key_to_growth_race_em_with_em_the_machines.html

As machines take on more jobs, many find themselves out of work or with raises indefinitely postponed. Is this the end of growth? No, says Erik Brynjolfsson -- its simply the growing pains of a radically reorganized economy. A riveting case for why big innovations are ahead of us if we think of computers as our teammates. Be sure to watch the opposing viewpoint from Robert Gordon.

 

Erik Brynjolfsson examines the effects of information technologies on business strategy, productivity and employment.

 

Discussion

 

The Following has been posted on Meetup

 

Meetup Message from: Hank Lederer, Member of Minnesota Futurists

This coming Saturday, Oct. 19th, I'll present a video of a talk from Gustavus' recent Nobel conf. on particle physics

This presentation talks about CERN's LHC and it's findings and future possible information that we hope to gain when it starts up again in a year or so. This video lasts about an hour.


Call it the Future of the String Theory, the Multiverse and Symmetry. Plus talk of dark matter and dark energy.

 

Hank Lederer will show video on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) presentation from the  last Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter MN. The speaker is Tara Shears, Ph. D. Tara has worked on The Large Electron-Positron collider (LEP), the Collector Detector collider at Fermilab (CDF) and the LHC at CERN.

Tara Shears, a particle physicist, started her career investigating the behavior of fundamental particles and forces for the OPAL experiment at CERN (the European organization for nuclear research), in Geneva, Switzerland. Her experiments now center on researching the properties of bottom quarks using hadron colliders, testing the Standard Model theory in the electroweak sector, and seeking answers for why there’s so little antimatter in the universe."

Discussion will follow the video.

https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2013/

 

Nov 2, 2013

http://www.meetup.com/MN-Futurists/events/148258122/

 

Title: Minnesota Futurists Rank 25+ Doomsday Scenarios

 

Presenter: George Kubik, PhD

 

Abstract: Are we in danger of being eliminated from the universe? Join us this Saturday (02-Nov-2013) as we look at the scenarios that could doom humanity: natural disasters, human-triggered cataclysms, willful forces of self-destruction, and forces beyond our understanding. This close to Halloween, and in the spirit of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds,” we could not resist looking at some of the popular doomsday’ rumors that have been proliferating recently—fueled by recent books, talk shows, and films. During this meeting the audience will rank 25+ global catastrophes and doomsday scenarios. Join us for the fun and the intellectual stimulation as we discuss the “End of the World”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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