But What About People?

The speaker styled himself a Futurist. He explained that futurists think about the future. I was naturally relieved when he clarified that question. Was anyone in his audience was wondering about it? Could it really be that someone thought that a futurist pondered the past, or the present? Oh well, let me move on.

For about an hour he presented us with graphs and statistics demonstrating that the world is changing and changing quickly. Then he was finished. That was it. I wonder how much he was paid for showing graphs and statistics? Most people applauded. I would like to think that they applauded because he was finished. I would not like to think that they applauded because they considered his presentation worth an hour of our collective time.

Let’s see; there were about 100 of us, that’s 100 hours – simple math. Was it worth 100 hours?

People are easily impressed. What does that say about our critical thinking?

Here’s the thing, the futurist apparently envisioned a future without people because he did not address how change affects people. He didn’t talk about stress, he didn’t talk about relationships, he didn’t talk about the quality of life, he didn’t talk about morals and ethics – he simply showed graphs and charts and statistics. I don’t know which was worse, the quality of the presentation or the fact that he was paid for the presentation.

I didn’t clap, I didn’t applaud, I didn’t whistle. Had there been a Q & A I was prepared to ask the first question, “What about people? How does all this affect people?” Alas, there was no Q & A in our futurist’s future nor that of his audience.

But then I wondered about the people who applauded – what were they thinking? Were they thinking? I don’t mean to be harsh, but I see this all the time – people accepting what they’re told without thinking about it. It’s like living in Flint, MI and trusting what you’re told about the drinking water.

We are the servants of technology, let us bow and worship lest we be thrown into the fiery furnace.