Engineering Paradise: Are You Ready?

By Sylvain Rochon

Are You Ready?

Artificial Intelligence, automation, gene editing, 3D printing, nanotechnology, quantum computing—technology is all around us. But are you ready to take advantage of them? This book will help your company or organization adapt to the technological revolution. It will reveal the opportunities that exist today.

I want to make the world a better place. No, I want to transform it! I believe that the latest technological innovations can help entrepreneurs, scientists, administrators, and visionaries do it. Together, we can create a world where all our basic needs met and where we can flourish.

Technology evolves at such a rapid pace that humans can't keep up. Or can they? This book answers that question. Are you ready? Don't get left behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Jan 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781773705774

Book preview

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Huge thanks to everyone that has supported my adventures over the years.

I dedicate this book to my mother, Suzanne Benoit, and my father, Richard Rochon, who never failed to support me over the years.

…engaging and entertaining…

Christopher Waddell, Ph.D. Professor at Carleton University, past parliamentary bureau chief (CBC Television News)

… an absolute read…

Josef Stetter. Speaker & author of Congratulations You Are Hired: It Was Easier Than You Thought!

Sit down and get ready to have your eyes opened!

James Mackenzie. Serial entrepreneur & technology guru

… an enlightening read about the Wonder of discovery and human ingenuity.

Jason Daley. Venture catalyst, portfolio entrepreneur, and innovation advisor

… an invaluable asset….

Sherman Chin. Venture capital principal, 1337 Ventures

An amazing takeaway and a great presentation.

Pascal St-Jean. TEC/Vistage Chair & Business Leadership Coach

He really knows how to connect with the public, no question about that!

Joel Velazquez. Agile PM & coach, change agent, Solutions Delivery Inc.

Contents

Foreword by Gerd Leonhard, Futurist

Are you ready?

Living in Science Fiction

The Medium Is the Message

Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The Rise of the Entrepreneur

The Cyber Mental Shift

Housing and general living

Health & Longevity

Education

The Economy and Universal Basic Income

Impact on Government

What now ?

Resources I recommend

Foreword by

Gerd Leonhard, Futurist

Science fiction is becoming science fact.

There is no denying it. Very soon, machines will be able to do things that once were the sole domain of human workers – blue collar and white collar alike – such as understanding language, complex image recognition, or using our body in highly flexible and adaptive ways. By then, we will no doubt be utterly dependent on machines in every aspect of our lives. We will also likely see a rapid merging of man and machine via new types of interfaces such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), holograms, implants, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and body parts engineered with nanotechnology and synthetic biology.

Technological change is occurring at an exponential rate, but most people still think in linear fashion. Thus, if it took 50 years for an era to change, it must take another 50 years for it to change once more. Not so.

For me, this line from Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises describes the nature of exponential change perfectly:

How did you go bankrupt?

Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.

When thinking about creating our future, it is essential to understand these twin memes of exponentiality and gradually then suddenly. Increasingly, we will see the humble beginnings of a huge opportunity of threat. And then, all of a sudden, it is either gone and forgotten, or it is here, now, and much bigger than imagined. Think of solar energy, autonomous vehicles, digital currencies, and the blockchain: all took a long time to play out, but suddenly, they are here, and they are roaring. History tells us that those who adapt too slowly or fail to foresee the pivot points will suffer the consequences.

Wait and see is very likely going to mean waiting to become irrelevant, or simply to be ignored, outmoded, and to wither away. Thus, we need to identify and take these opportunities as they become obvious, and direct our efforts to creating value for the world, not for personal gain, but instead to increase the value of life in the world. We must constantly be very well grounded in human ethics, since I tend to think that markets will not self-regulate and deal with these issues by means of an invisible hand. Rather, traditional profit-and-growth-driven open markets will only escalate the challenges of humanity versus technology because these very same technologies are likely to generate opportunities worth trillions of dollars per year. Opportunities and profitability must not be disconnected from our human desire to do good and make a better world for ourselves and our children.

The following book, written by my friend Sylvain Rochon, talks about how and where technology presents new opportunities but also about the changes within ourselves and societies that need to occur to keep humans doing what humans wish to do. The title is entirely accurate. We can Engineer Paradise if we so choose, but only if we leverage the power of Humanity, Ethics, Creativity and Imagination (HECI) first instead of selfish advancement and personal gain.

In the end, we are talking about the survival and the flourishing of the human species, and I believe it just won’t do to have venture capitalists, stock markets, and the military running the show on their own.

In the near future, we are certain to see some very tough battles between opposing world-views and paradigms with gigantic economic interests facing off against each other, a kind of humanists versus transhumanists’ showdown. Now that oil and other fossil fuels are declining as the driving force of politics and military concerns, the US and China are already at the forefront of an accelerating technological arms race. The new wards will be digital, and the battle is being waged for leadership in exponential game changers such as AI, human genome modification, the IoT, cyber security, and digital warfare. Europe is somewhat stuck in the middle, more concerned with what many would see as lofty issues such as human rights, happiness, balance, ethics, and sustainable and collective well-being.

In fact, I believe those are exactly the topics that we must put most of our efforts towards, and it is actually our big opportunity here in Europe.

There are already global tribes of opinion leaders, serial entrepreneurs, scientists, venture capitalists, and assorted tech gurus (and yes, futurists as well) busy promoting a quick voluntary departure from humanism altogether. These techno-progressives are urging us to transcend humanity and embrace the next step in our evolution, which is, of course, to merge biology with technology, to alter and augment our minds and bodies, and, in effect, become superhuman, ending disease (good) and even death, an alluring yet bizarre quest.

Interest in this transhumanism is on the rise, and to me it is one of the most troubling developments I have observed in my 15 years of being a futurist. It is frankly a rather delusional idea to try and achieve human happiness by seeking to transcend humanity altogether through technological means.

No, we must instead strive to guide technological advancements and social change in such a way that humans reach happiness in collaboration with advancing technologies. Let technology be our partners, our friends, liberating us from labour and tasks we do not wish to do ourselves. Let technology support our weak and disabled, increase our health and ability to educate ourselves. Let technology ensure each man, woman, and child has food, security, a place to call home, and multiple ways to experience life to the fullest.

This is the true task for anyone who chooses to read this book. This is the challenge for the conscientious opportunists who wish to be recognized and change the world (and why not make a bit of money for themselves along the way?).

Whatever happens, this world belongs to all of us, as we are all connected to one another, and more so thanks to more advanced communications systems. We must all strive to contribute morally and ethically to the advancement of this world.

We can all share in eventually calling this blue spherical spaceship we call Earth an engineered paradise.

– Gerd Leonhard, Futurist, Humanist, Author,

www.futuristgerd.com

Are you ready?

I’ve been knee deep in technology ever since I could put my hands on the first thing we could call a computer. It was a Tandy 1000 my parents bought at Radio Shack, of all places. 64KB RAM, no hard drive. Basically, for those younger than I am reading this, we had to use floppy disks (5.25-inch floppy magnetic disks containing the encoded software needed to run the machine). First, we had to boot it up with the Operation System disk (DOS back in the day), and once we did that, we would take the OS disk out and put whatever software floppy we wanted, and through typed-in commands, execute whatever file or software we needed, and away we went.

Turning off the computer would mean we had to go through the process all over again.

It was tedious, but aside from the wall-mounted phone, that was the only real technology we had in our house in the country near a small town of 1,000 souls in Ontario, Canada.

By the way, at the time I am writing this, I’m 42 years old.

Technology-wise, it’s been a wonderful and exciting ride from then to now. And we’re only getting started.

I strongly believe that technology is the best way for humanity to be free of basically every problem we can think of. That’s why I’m fully vested and focused on the development of the most advanced technologies out there and why I am truly pushing for the future to be in our day to day. Are you?

Many are concerned that today’s sciences and technologies will lead to our doom. From my perspective, that’s entirely a choice for my generation and those that follow. Science and technology are neutral elements; it is what we make of them that makes all the difference.

We now have the opportunity, within our lifetime (those my age and younger) to engineer a true paradise on Earth for everybody.

Therefore, I’m calling on you, dear reader, to examine what I have written in this intentionally short handbook and see how you can leverage the current and upcoming technological marvels we’re developing on the planet to transform our society into something truly wonderful. That is your choice, nay your responsibility, as capable professionals, entrepreneurs, and citizens of the world.

This book explores the tip of the iceberg of the most brain-jarring, revolutionary changes that are coming to our society within the next 5-10 years. These are not predictions so much as extrapolations based on current technologies, new scientific discoveries, and current market or societal trends.

You may read some parts of the book and have questions that remain unanswered. This may be a cue to contact me directly and ask specific questions, or explore my blog or video channels to find answers. I will try to give you a broad picture of all the political, economical, social, and behavioural changes that are on their way. Each one of those elements are intermingled and influence each other. I’m sure if I spent the time, I could write a whole book for each one of the chapters of this tiny book.

But looking at the trends of today and how things are moving so quickly, by the time I’d written so many pages, the first chapter would already be out of date!

I’m hoping reading this through will motivate some of you to act on the illustrated trends and accelerate the deployment of new technologies. In so doing, perhaps you will place the building blocks for a truly amazing world we can engineer together as intelligent, conscientious individuals.

You want to use this to make a buck or two? Go ahead! Just make sure the success of your projects is constructive and helps us move in a direction that is beneficial to humanity and our favourite blue spaceship: Earth.

Now, though I’ve been analysing trends and been in the tech industry, firmly lodged, for the past 12 years and a technophile for the past 30, I wanted to make sure the trends and conclusions found in this book had good solid validity. So, I asked a bunch of my professional friends to answer a few questions for me, based on their specific area of expertise, especially when the areas covered were a little less familiar to me. That way, you won’t think the contents of this book are only my opinion but extrapolations supported by experts with more specific experience than I in the subject matter addressed.

So, before we start, I’d like to say thanks to all my expert friends who have taken time out of their busy schedules to help me with this book: Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Don Rosenthal, Mike Schreiner, Professor Bruce Firestone, Cristian Liciu, Professor Daniel Chabot, Joseph Kollar, and Wendy Mayhew. This book could not have been properly written without you.

I hope, dear readers, that like me, you will be driven to passionately position yourselves to transform our world into an amazing place with the information found within.

The socio-economical impacts of innovative and disruptive technologies are already being felt today, and the exponential rate of change will only