Aldous Huxley - History of Tension (1957)
Intro
Mr. Huxley is a distinguished British journalist and novelist. This article is based on an address given at the Conference on Meprobamate and Other Agents Used in Mental Disturbances at the New York Academy of Sciences, 18 Oct. 1956. It is reprinted here by Permission from the monograph Meprobamate and Other Agents Used in Mental Disturbances.
Info
Written by the pioneering scientist, theorist and activist J. D. Bernal, this futuristic essay explores the radical changes to human bodies and intelligence that science may bring about, and suggests the impact of these developments on society. Bernal presents a far-reaching vision of the future that encompasses space research and colonization, material sciences, genetic engineering, and the technological hive mind. In his view, it will be possible for the conditions of civilization to reach a state of materialist utopia. For all three realms—the world, the flesh, and the devil—Bernal attempted to map out the utmost limit of technoscientific progress, and found that there are almost no limits.
UK Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency - DVSA’s vision to 2030 (2023)
Foreword
We’re delighted to share with you our vision to 2030. It sets out what we must do to make transport safer, greener and healthier. It’s also an invitation to you – our customers, our people and our partners – to join us on this journey. The economy, the environment and health are high priorities, and our relationships with you are vital to success.
Herman Kahn - What will life be like in the year 2000? (1973)
Introduction
Would you like to know how the majority of Americans like their sex? Or what the yearly per capita income for the average Indian peasant is? Or when, if ever, the world’s energy supply will reach a critical low? Or why Japan is destined to exercise hegemony over the eastern half of the globe in the decades to come?
If so, Herman Kahn is the man to talk to. He could provide you, not only with the factual data to support his answers, but, if you so wished, could even interrelate all of those seemingly disparate questions into one, sweeping, meaningful projection — possibly the survival potential for the Judeo-Christian ethic in Western Europe for the next thirty years.
Jacques Attali - A huge financial crisis is looming (April, 2023)
Intro
A huge fnancial crisis is looming. Unless we act quickly, it will strike, probably in the summer of 2023. And if, through general procrastination, it is postponed, it will only be more severe later. We still have everything we need to really overcome it, provided we understand that our entire development model is at stake.
John B. Calhoun - Death Squared The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population (1973)
Info
John Calhoun’s colony was a mouse utopia—a giant pen with everything a mouse could ever desire: plenty of food and water, a perfect climate, and reams of paper to make cozy nests. But the thing is, this wasn’t the first rodent heaven that Calhoun built. And by this point, he knew not to expect a happy ending. Because he also knew just how quickly mouse heaven can deteriorate into mouse hell.
James E. Pitt - Adventures In Brotherhood (1955)
Foreword
"A great deal of good can be done in this world if you do not care who gets the credit/'
The sense of mission suggested in those words perhaps conies closer than any other single sentence could in expressing the reason why the National Conference of Christians and Jews has become a tremendous force for brotherhood in American life. It is for this reason, too, that it seemed especially worthwhile to undertake this effort to assess the impact and influence during the past quarter century of this oldest and largest agency dedicated to the improvement of human relations. Millions of Americans know NCCJ'S name and have participated in its many and varied activities. But because the Conference has gone about its task of attacking the virus of hate and bigotry quietly and without fanfare, comparatively few people are aware of the scope and effectiveness of its endeavors. It would, in fact, take several volumes simply to list the vast number of thoughtful citizens who have given of their time and money to help make the Conference goal of the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God a reality. There are many richly deserving of credit whose names and accomplishments are not recorded here because of the limitations of a work of this nature.
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Bill Joy - Why the Future Doesn't Need Us (2000)
Preface
Our most powerful 21st-century technologies—robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech—are threatening to make humans an endangered species.
Herman Kahn & Irwin Mann - Ten common pitfalls (1957)
Info (RAND)
A draft of a chapter of a proposed book on military planning in an uncertain world. The present study identifies and discusses some of the common mistakes made by operations analysts and systems analysts. The authors summarize such pitfalls as modelism, statistical and real uncertainties, overconcentration, phasing, overambition, fanaticism, and hermitism.
RAND (Security 2040) - Brain Computer Interfaces (2020)
Summary
Brain-computer interface (BCI) represents an emerging and potentially disruptive area of technology that, to date, has received minimal public discussion in the defense and national security policy communities.
This research considered key areas in which future BCI technologies might be relevant for the warfighters of tomorrow. It sought to explore the operational value of current and future developments regarding man-machine neural communication, the associated vulnerabilities and risks, and the policy levers that should be in place before the technology is deployed.
Hans J. Morgenthau - War With China? (1965)
Info
Professor Morgenthau is one of the most eminent critics of American foreign policy today. Here he suggests that the United States is on the verge of embracing a policy in Vietnam which will lead either to humiliating defeat or to a much wider war.
Reprinted from The New Republic,
© 1965, Harrison-Blaine of New Jersey, Inc.
Abstract
Undoubtedly this 21st century is the century of peak of modern sciences and media war. With every passing day the concept of conventional war is getting obsolete. In modern methodology war rooms are actually consists of super computers spreading information of your choice whether factual or not. In fact it’s all based on narrative building and changing public perception. We have seen in recent history how media was used/misused to achieve desired results in narrative building across the world.
In this thesis I have tried to research the effectiveness of Propaganda on global level. How different countries have actively used tools of Hybrid war or may also be called 5th generation war to achieve geo political and strategic targets. Despite of knowing the consequences and catastrophic damages of such propaganda. In most cases it resulted in mass losses of human lives and complete destruction of Infrastructures. While in some cases it started wars between countries (Yemen & Saudi Arabia, Ukraine & Russia) and others. Also hybrid war brought many nations on brink of big conventional wars like Pakistan & India, and Standoff between China & India. Even in some cases it could have caused Nuclear wars between two countries for example North Korea & USA, Pakistan & India.
As case study I have studied Iraq war (US & NATO Invasion) which was legitimized by United Nations approved on reports about presence of Weapon of Mass Destructions (WMD’s). Which was later proven all false and all reports , Media reports , documents everything was proven fabricated to build certain narrative to mislead the entire 170+ Member Nations of the world in UNO. Hence it’s not only one of the most recent and classic example of White Propaganda. This might be considered as biggest successful propaganda campaign of 20th century which resulted into millions of Iraqis undue massacre, A complete destruction of oil rich economically stable country which caused loss of trillions of dollars and complete infrastructure demolition.
Furthermore in this thesis I have discussed fatal impacts of false propaganda, types of propaganda. Importance of knowing and countering propaganda and hybrid war tools to secure national interest. A chapter of thesis explains how a state can use propaganda for multiple uses to divert attentions from its failures and achieving success in certain narrative building.
A brief critical study of Strategic affairs based on media warfare is also part of this thesis. Every state desire to secure its strategic interests, which type of methodologies being used in modern day policy making of strategic affairs is also a part of this research. There’s no doubt every country like to achieve best for its strategic interests but what kind of illegal, unethical, unlawful, inhumane & ill methods are used as state agenda is also discussed. Since our planet is already facing many challenges of its destruction ( environmental issues, Covid-19 Type Pandemics & others ) than why this risk of world war , nuclear wars due to illness of controlling or conquering the world. All that is happening on the name of strategic interests.
Maurice Strong - Managing for Global Survival (1988)
About Maurice Strong
Maurice Frederick Strong, PC, CC, OM, FRSC, FRAIC (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Strong had his start as an entrepreneur in the Alberta oil patch and was President of Power Corporation of Canada until 1966. In the early 1970s he was Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and then became the first executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme. He returned to Canada to become Chief Executive Officer of Petro-Canada from 1976 to 1978. He headed Ontario Hydro, one of North America's largest power utilities, was national president and chairman of the Extension Committee of the World Alliance of YMCAs, and headed American Water Development Incorporated. He served as a commissioner of the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1986 and was recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a leader in the international environmental movement.
He was President of the Council of the University for Peace from 1998 to 2006. More recently Strong was an active honorary professor at Peking University and honorary chairman of its Environmental Foundation. He was chairman of the advisory board for the Institute for Research on Security and Sustainability for Northeast Asia. He died at the age of 86 in 2015.
David C. Glass - Biology and Behavior Genetics (1968)
Preface
Contemporary social scientists no longer adhere to a simplistic environmental determinism, just as contemporary biologists no longer embrace a genetic determinism. In both fields there is increasing recognition of the importance of an interaction between the organism and the environment. Neither the genetic parameter nor the environmental parameter alone can account for more than a portion of behavioral variability. With the development of this interactional approach, a revitalized interest in the genetic basis of social behavior has been witnessed. On November 18-19, 1966, Russell Sage Foundation and The Rockefeller University, in collaboration with the Social Science Research Council, sponsored a conference on genetics and behavior in Caspary Auditorium on the Rockefeller campus in New York City. The organization of the meeting was guided by the premise that recent advances in genetics portend serious social, ethical, and legal consequences. It is important that both biological and social scientists study these consequences. Social scientists, in particular, are equipped by training and are implicitly committed to make substantial contributions in this area. However, they often lack the knowledge of behavior genetics necessary for sophisticated analysis of the social consequences of new knowledge resulting from research on genetics. The specialist in genetics, on the other hand, often lacks the interest or skill necessary for examination of the broad implications of this research. The purpose of the conference was to enable participants drawn from both groups of scientists to benefit from exposure to the work of representatives of the other.
- DAVID C. GLASS
Russell Sage Foundation and
The Rockefeller University
Jeremy Farrar - A new twenty first century science for effective epidemic response (2019)
Intro
With rapidly changing ecology, urbanization, climate change, increased travel and fragile public health systems, epidemics will become more frequent, more complex and harder to prevent and contain. Here we argue that our concept of epidemics must evolve from crisis response during discrete outbreaks to an integrated cycle of preparation, response and recovery. This is an opportunity to combine knowledge and skills from all over the world—especially at-risk and affected communities. Many disciplines need to be integrated, including not only epidemiology but also social sciences, research and development, diplomacy, logistics and crisis management. This requires a new approach to training tomorrow’s leaders in epidemic prevention and response.
Jacques Attali - Millennium: Winners and Losers (1991)
Description
A look at the future world order forecasts a dramatic reordering of geopolitical and economic forces, high-tech economies, and a world of privileged elites surrounded by a vast array of impoverished nomads.
Intro
The advent and power of connection technologies—tools that connect people to vast amounts of information and to one another—will make the twenty-first century all about surprises. Governments will be caught off-guard when large numbers of their citizens, armed with virtually nothing but cell phones, take part in mini-rebellions that challenge their authority. For the media, reporting will increasingly become a collaborative enterprise between traditional news organizations and the quickly growing number of citizen journalists. And technology companies will find themselves outsmarted by their competition and surprised by consumers who have little loyalty and no patience.
Description
The rapid pace of emerging technologies is playing an increasingly important role in overcoming fundamental human limitations. Featuring core writings by seminal thinkers in the speculative possibilities of the posthuman condition, essays address key philosophical arguments for and against human enhancement, explore the inevitability of life extension, and consider possible solutions to the growing issues of social and ethical implications and concerns. Edited by the internationally acclaimed founders of the philosophy and social movement of transhumanism, The Transhumanist Reader is an indispensable guide to our current state of knowledge of the quest to expand the frontiers of human nature.
Jacques Attali - Europe on the world stage in the 21st century (1993)
Info
Jacques Attali was born in France in 1943. He studied at the Ecole Polytechnique, the Ecole des Mines, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques and the Ecole Nationale de l’Administration. In 1972, Attali received a PhD in economics from the University Paris Dauphine. He then taught economic theory at the Ecole Polytechnique, the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and the University of Paris-Dauphine.
In 1973, Attali directed François Mitterrand's unsuccessful presidential political campaign and then became his main chief of staff in the opposition. In 1981, Mitterrand was elected President and named Attali as his special adviser.
Attali co-founded the international NGO Action Contre la Faim in 1979 and in 1980 he founded Eurêka, the European technology focused programme. In 1989, he launched an international programme of action against the disastrous floods in Bangladesh. Attali also advised the Secretary General of the United Nations on the risks of nuclear proliferation.
In 1991, Attali became the founder and first President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. He is currently CEO of A&A, an international consulting firm in strategy, based in Paris, and President of Positive Planet, an international non-profit organisation assisting microfinance institutions all over the world.
Attali delivered the Beatty Lecture on March 5, 1993 titled "Europe on the World Stage in the Twenty-First Century".
Carl Gustav Jung - Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (1951)
Description
Aion is one of a number of major works that Jung wrote during his seventies that were concerned with the relations between psychology, alchemy and religion.
He is particularly concerned in this volume with the rise of Christianity and with the figure of Christ. He explores how Christianity came about when it did, the importance of the figure of Christ and the identification of the figure of Christ with the archetype of the Self. A matter of special importance to Jung in his seventies - the problem of opposites, particularly good and evil - is further discussed and the importance of the symbolism of the fish, which recurs as a symbol of both Christ and the devil, is examined.
As a study of the archetype of the self, Aion complements The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, which is also published in paperback.
Paul Scharre - Robotics On The Battlefield (2014-2015):
Part 01 (Range, Persistence and Daring)
Summary
The U.S. military’s conventional superiority is eroding. Anti-access weapons threaten traditional modes of U.S. power projection, and non-state nactors are acquiring advanced technologies that will increase their lethal capabilities. On its current trajectory, the U.S. military faces a future in which its freedom of maneuver will be curtailed and where precision strike weapons from state and non-state actors will make the operating environment increasingly hazardous and lethal. Uninhabited and autonomous systems have enormous untapped potential to help the U.S. military address these challenges. Because of their increased endurance and ability to take risk without placing human lives in danger, uninhabited and autonomous systems can give the military greater reach and persistence into denied areas and can enable more daring concepts of operation.
Uninhabited systems have been used to great effect in current operations but are still in their infancy in terms of their full potential. Like the tank and aircraft at the end of World War I, their use to date has been limited to niche roles, but they have tremendous
potential in future conflicts. Cultural and bureaucratic obstacles within the Department of Defense (DOD) are limiting development, however.
Just as the Navy initially resisted the transition from sail to steam-powered ships and elements of the Army dismissed air power and fought against the shift from horses to tanks, some parts of the military continue to resist the expansion of uninhabited systems into traditional combat roles. As a result, the DOD is failing to invest in game-changing technology that could increase efficiencies and save lives. Strong department leadership will be required to overcome these obstacles and ensure that DOD is investing today in these vital capabilities to counter future threats.
Alexander King - The Future as an Academic Discipline (1975)
This chapter contains section titled:
Reasons for the New Interest in the Future
Categories of Futures Studies
The Futures Approach in Science and Technology
The Institution of Futures Studies
Is Futures Research a Suitable Subject for Academia?
Are Disciplines Really Necessary?
Discussion
References Cited
Wendell Bell - The Sociology of the Future (1971)
Info
Concerns itself with the future of sociology, and of all social science. The thirteen authors―among them Wendell Bell, Kai T. Erikson, Scott Greer, Robert Boguslaw, James Mau, and Ivar Oxaal―are oriented toward a redefinition of the role of the social scientist as advisor to policymakers and administrators in all major areas of social concern, for the purpose of studying and shaping the future. This book contains research strategies for such "futurologistic" study, theories on its merits and dangers, as well as an annotated bibliography of social science studies of the future.
Marshall Mcluhan - Education in the Electronic Age (1970)
Information
The following article is an address delivered by Dr. McLuhan on January 19, 1967 to the Provincial Committee on the Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario.
Natasha Vita-More - The New Genre -- Primo Posthuman (2005)
Introduction
Many trends never catch on. They remain thoughts without a future. It is a lexicon of culture that takes hold and finds its way across generations and circumstances. Thus is the story of human nature, as it is
diced and sliced over the millennia by theoreticians, philosophers, artists and scholars. With theories tripping effortlessly onto blank slates, the cyclic changes of social progress move proudly forward and humbly backward judging our passions—the causes and effects of existence.
Human nature and its metaphorical attribution toward the evolution of humanity play a leading role in the identity of society. Worn like a badge reflecting how we see ourselves, our nature prescribes what we want others to see in us as well. Humans have gone so far as to impose on human nature, that they have even written a treatise to its cause. Hume (1739) Others develop new biosocial fields advancing the methodological investigation of biology and society which underlie human behavior. One thing can be certain, no matter the erudition invested in capturing its essence human nature changes over time, as will the image of how we see ourselves.
Vance Packard - The Naked Society (1964)
Abstract
Originally published in 1964, The Naked Society was the first book to discuss how then-new technologies such as hidden microphones, concealed cameras, modern filing systems, and the polygraph lie detector could be used by government, employers, stores, credit bureaus, security personnel, and other officials to invade our civil liberties. Such activity, which represented the most flagrant of the many assaults upon individual rights, was only part of Vance Packard's truly shocking book, which also considered the ominous implications of loyalty investigations, passport and travel restrictions, and overzealous police actions. In the end, according to Packard, new technologies, manipulated by government and business, were eroding our freedoms, creating a world akin to something out of George Orwell's 1984.
Timelier than ever in today's world, where our civil liberties are under constant threat from technology and the actions of government and business, this all new edition of The Naked Society features an introduction by noted historian Rick Perlstein.
Jonas Salk - The World we Will Live In (date unknown)
Introduction
Every sentient human being is aware of the dangers as well as of the opportunities that now confront man. He is also aware of the pressure of forces within himself and the pressure of forces around him. Caught between his inner world and the outer world, he feels dissonant more often than consonant. He feels stress, longing, and frustration. His soul feels weary, and he yearns to find, and to express, the meaning of his life. Some among the most “successful,’’ and many in the midst of “great riches,” appear to hope for something else. Science and technology are indicted by some as the cause of this malaise, and some even recommend antiscience and antitechnology remedies. However, in the absence of a true understanding of the current syndrome, it is unwise to ascribe the causative role to something that may not be the cause or to prescribe as a remedy the elimination of something that could even help in the development of remedies. Although science and technology are unlikely as a cause they are, nevertheless, a force with which man must cope.
Joseph F. Coates - Crime. Science & Technology (1967)
Introduction
The next decade may see the systematic application of science and technology as a dominant theme in law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. Progress seems imminent on every front. The application of systems science, operations research, and contemporary economic techniques may restructure approaches and develop criteria to assess progress and guide the efficient organization and effective study of the criminal justice system. On the more technological level, new opportunities are increasing for the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension, correction, and rehabilitation of the criminal. Technology applicable to police operations (especially computers, communications, transportation, and nonlethal weapons) is creating major opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness in day-to-day law enforcement.
Paul & Anne Ehrlich - Population, Resources, Environment: Issues in Human Ecology (1970)
Content
1 The Crisis
2 Numbers of People
3 Population Structure and Projection
4 The Limits of the Earth
5 Food Production
6 Environmental Threats to Man
7 Ecosystems in Jeopardy
8 Optimum Population and Human Biology
9 Birth Control
10 Family Planning and Population Control
11 Social, Political, and Economic Change
12 The International Scene
13 Conclusions About This Book
Introduction
In April 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) cautioned that “cyber incidents pose a threat to the stability of the global financial system.” The FSB went on to warn that the last few years have seen “a number of major cyber incidents that have significantly impacted financial institutions and the ecosystems in which they operate. A major cyber incident, if not properly contained, could seriously disrupt financial systems, including critical financial infrastructure, leading to broader financial stability implications.”18 The potential economic costs of such events can be immense and the damage to public trust and confidence significant. Cyber incidents could potentially undermine the integrity of global financial markets;19 equally important, the exploitation of cyber vulnerabilities could cause losses to investors and the general public. Central to the risk is the fact that the global financial system is a complex adaptive system. It is resilient and able to absorb most of the shocks that regularly occur, but its complexity also means that large shocks, although rare, can quickly ripple in unpredictable ways. The system’s complexity also makes it impossible to predict exactly when or how such systemic shocks will occur.20 But one thing is clear: it is not a question of if a major incident will happen, but when.
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