As I am blogging my way through the various aspects of a transition to the Information Age I am still keeping in mind that eventually I would like to gather up all the material into a book. So here is possible outline for such a book. Would love to get feedback on what’s missing (or too much), different possible orders and anything else that comes to mind. So please fire away with comments!
1. Introduction / Motivation
— fundamental premise: industrial -> information is a transition as important as hunter gatherer -> agriculture and agricultural -> industrial
— why now? because we can see the beginning of the changes, examples: self driving cars, face recognition, machine translation
— changes build slowly at first but then accelerate, example: up to 1900 almost 50% of people still worked in agriculture
— prior transitions did not go very well and we now have more destructive power at our hands than ever before (nuclear, biological, etc)
— much of the policy debate is stuck in the industrial age and amounts to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
2. Industrial Age Recap
— brought us extraordinary material progress - examples: air conditioners, cars, medicine, life span
— not yet equally distributed but have been making great strides in eliminating poverty globally
— fundamental engine of the industrial age: consumer demand -> products made with capital and labor -> wages to labor -> more demand
— capitalism became the winning model in the industrial age because entrepreneurs created innovative products to meet consumer needs
3. Industrial Age Breaking Down
— substituting machines for labor, so wages declining and eventually going away and with them the demand for more stuff
— initially counteracted this challenge through consumer debt
— already producing more stuff than we need to meet our material needs (hence the rise advertising)
— research shows that stuff doesn’t make us happy, experiences do, biggest growth need is spiritual (not material)
— facing species threats including environment, asteroids, disease that need to be addressed at global (not national) level
4. Information Age Arriving
— first time in human history that everyone on planet is connected instantly at no (marginal) cost
— information is non-rival - we should share as much of it as possible (eg how to build an electric car)
— combined with exponential improvements in compute power and storage
— makes many things possible that were previously impossible, examples: collectively creating and editing an encyclopedia, teaching a machine to translate between languages, find cures for diseases
5. Fundamental Change 1: From Hierarchies to Networks
— increased information flow allows for more cooperation and more motivation
— individuals become peers in networks
— networks are resilient and global
6. Fundamental Change 2: Technological Deflation
— automation, on-demand manufacturing
— asset utilization
— rise of consumer surplus
— importance of the information commons
— attacking healthcare and education
— energy?
7. Fundamental Change 3: Unbundling of the Job
— separating of income, meaning, daily structure, health insurance
— guaranteed basic income in a deflationary world
— educating for motivation
8. Fundamental Change 4: Moving Past the Nation State
— the fall of artificial boundaries
— the rise of cities
— from big government to information standards
9. Threats Along the Way
— incumbents against the Internet (eg re-imposing geographic boundaries, overextending copyright)
— breakdown of attention and money in politics
— digital balkans and lack of empathy
— surveillance versus open sharing
— income and wealth inequality in the transition
10. How to Prepare
— individuals: fight for the Internet, pursue passion
— parents: motivation is paramount
— educators: make connections
— companies: empower networks
— governments: embrace transparency
11. Outlook: Towards Abundance
