Don't Underestimate Virtual Reality
Singularity University's Peter Diamandis discusses one way in which virtual reality — a burgeoning exponential technology — will disrupt unexpected sectors of culture and society.
20 May, 2015
Big Think is once again proud to partner with fellow big thinkers Singularity University to share the news about their 2015 Exponential Finance conference, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City. The conference will feature Big Think Experts such as Ray Kurzweil, Chance Barnett, and Brad Templeton.
<p>--</p> <p dir="ltr">It might shock some of you born after 1995 to learn there was once a time when the Internet <em>wasn't</em> the fulcrum of our social lives. In fact, many voices <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/clifford-stoll-why-web-wont-be-nirvana-185306" target="_blank">loudly rejected</a> the idea that online life would become a prevalent social phenomenon. Yet here we are today, a society pretty much chained to an internet connection. How did those poor prognosticators get it so wrong? Why were they so blind? The reasons are myriad, but a succinct summary would be that these folks lacked vision when it came to exponential technology. They saw the Internet as an infertile ground where dorks would dump globs of unsorted data and <em>Star Trek</em> fanfiction. There's no way, they argued, that a media and commerce juggernaut could ever bloom in that soil. </p> <p dir="ltr">Well, it did.</p> <p dir="ltr">The lesson here, and the one conveyed by Singularity University's <a href="http://bigthink.com/experts/peterdiamandis" target="_blank">Peter Diamandis</a> in the video below, is that you can't underestimate exciting new technologies by judging them based on current perceptions. Those who were imaginative enough to foresee the Internet's potential beyond<em> Star Trek</em> fanfiction eventually reaped the benefits. When it comes to exponential technologies like the Internet, social media, and smartphones, you have to keep an open mind and try to perceive outside-the-box modes of disruption.</p> <p dir="ltr">Take virtual reality, for example. It's obvious Diamandis sees the technology as much more than tools for dorks to act out their <em>Star Trek</em> fanfiction. He imagines, for example, an entire virtual clothing store in which an avatar of the shopper tries on items that then, upon purchase, are constructed via 3D-printing technology and delivered by morning. Diamandis refuses to take virtual reality at face value. Instead, he envisions how emerging technologies could revolutionize industries they're not commonly associated with... sort of like the Internet and shopping for clothes. </p> <p dir="ltr"><iframe frameborder="0" height="318" scrolling="no" src="http://bigthink.com/embeds/video_idea/peter-diamandis-on-virtual-reality-xf" width="564"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Understanding these kinds of exponential changes in advance is a major advantage for individuals and businesses that want to stay a step (or 100 steps) ahead of their peers. And </span><span>Singularity University’s 2015 </span><a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance conference</a><span>, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City</span><span>, brings together some of the top future-focused entrepreneurs in every field — from finance, to law, to computing, to medicine — to share their discoveries and insights into what’s coming next, and how to turn it to your advantage.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Tickets are going fast. Use the code BIGTHINK500 to lock in your seats now, at a $500 discount.</span></p>
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Virtual Brains, Virtual Currencies, Real Revolutions
In collaboration with Exponential Finance
18 May, 2015
Your Brain in the Cloud: Access the Internet Directly with Your Mind
<p>What if we could reverse-engineer the pattern-recognition units of our brains? Technologist and futurist Ray Kurzweil sees this as an imminent possibility, which would enable us to build virtual, cloud-based extensions of our minds with exponentially greater ability to organize and analyze information.</p><hr> <p>Ray Kurzweil is one of many ahead-of-the-curve speakers at 2015’s <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> conference, June 2-3 in New York City. Co-produced by Singularity University and CNBC, <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> provides insight into new technologies that leaders need to understand in order to make the most of the accelerating change happening across business sectors.</p>Peter Diamandis on How to Become a Billionaire
<p>Exponential technologies are rapidly shifting the way we live and do business, says Singularity University's Peter Diamandis. Those who learn to take advantage of them are sure to ride the wave to extraordinary success. </p><p>Peter Diamandis is one of many ahead-of-the-curve speakers at 2015’s <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> conference, June 2-3 in New York City. Co-produced by Singularity University and CNBC, <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> provides insight into new technologies that leaders need to understand in order to make the most of the accelerating change happening across business sectors.</p><hr>Brad Templeton: How Bitcoin Disrupts the Finance Industry
<p>Should you invest in Bitcoin? Maybe not, says Brad Templeton, but that doesn't mean the digital currency isn't amazing in and of itself. Templeton explains what Bitcoin achieves and how it's set to spur further innovation. </p><p>Brad Templeton is one of many ahead-of-the-curve speakers at 2015’s <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> conference, June 2-3 in New York City. Co-produced by Singularity University and CNBC, <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> provides insight into new technologies that leaders need to understand in order to make the most of the accelerating change happening across business sectors.</p>Ray Kurzweil: Can You Read 100 Million Web Pages in a Few Seconds? Your Robot Assistant Will.
<p>Comprehension is the human genius. But in a world where computers can process all of human history in a flash, that genius can be scaled. What possible industries would this eliminate risk from? Could scaled comprehension reliably create new business opportunities, each more efficient and profitable than the last?</p><hr> <p>We are talking about something more than augmenting human abilities with machine efficiency and power. We are talking about creating something that's simply more human: more capable of creativity, of understanding, of love, and of courage.</p> <p>Ray Kurzweil is one of many ahead-of-the-curve speakers at 2015’s <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> conference, June 2-3 in New York City. Co-produced by Singularity University and CNBC, <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> provides insight into new technologies that leaders need to understand in order to make the most of the accelerating change happening across business sectors.</p>
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Ray Kurzweil: Your Cloud-Connected Brain Will Be a Creative Supercomputer
Human intelligence is richer than logic: It includes "being funny, being sexy, expressing a loving sentiment — maybe in a poem or in a musical piece."
18 May, 2015
Big Think is once again proud to partner with fellow big thinkers Singularity University to share the news about their 2015 Exponential Finance conference, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City. The conference will feature Big Think Experts such as Ray Kurzweil, Chance Barnett, and Brad Templeton.
<p><em>--</em></p> <p>If logical thinking is the pinnacle of human intelligence, computers have already bested us, and by a large margin. But human intelligence is richer than logic: It includes "being funny, being sexy, expressing a loving sentiment — maybe in a poem or in a musical piece."</p> <p>We know this, says <a href="http://bigthink.com/experts/raykurzweil">Ray Kurzweil</a>, because of the brain's structure. Our neocortex, for example, is a "metaphor machine" that combines areas of knowledge to create entirely new areas — the way Isaac Newton created calculus, for example. That kind of critical thinking, which computers <em>cannot</em> do at present, depends on what Kurzweil calls hierarchies of intelligence in the brain. These hierarchies, he argues, enabled the evolution of language, technology, art, and science.</p> <p>Kurzweil explains that just as our mobiles devices are gateways to the cloud, where we harness the power of a million computers for a tenth of a second, technology is being developed that will give us access to a wider field of consciousness. We'll be able to command the aggregate thinking powers of millions of humans at once — that's exponential thinking that will power a bold, new world of innovation, design, and an abundance of wealth.</p> <p><iframe frameborder="0" height="318" scrolling="no" src="http://bigthink.com/embeds/video_idea/ray-kurzweil-your-cloud-enhanced-brain-will-be-exponentially-better-at-pattern-recognition" width="564"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Harnessing the power of human creativity is what leads today's most vital businesses. And Singularity</span><span> University’s 2015 </span><a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance conference</a><span>, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City</span><span>, brings together some of the top future-focused entrepreneurs in every field — from finance, to law, to computing, to medicine — to share their discoveries and insights into what’s coming next, and how to turn it to your advantage.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Tickets are going fast. Use the code BIGTHINK500 to lock in your seats now, at a $500 discount.</span></p>
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Brad Templeton, Who Started the World’s First Dotcom, on Why Bitcoin Matters
Bitcoin is just one example of how exponential technology is putting the reins of finance in the hands of individuals and small businesses.
12 May, 2015
<p dir="ltr"><em>Big Think is once again proud to partner with fellow big thinkers Singularity University to share the news about their 2015 <a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs">Exponential Finance</a> conference, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City. The conference will feature Big Think Experts such as Ray Kurzweil, Chance Barnett, and Brad Templeton. </em></p> <p>--</p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Sometimes, in spite of the incredible speed with which we can use the tech at our fingertips to find the information we’re looking for — hail a taxi, book a vacation, and wire money across the world — it’s easy to forget how fast things are changing, and that every day entire industries are being disrupted by some new startup. </span></p> <p dir="ltr">For <a href="http://bigthink.com/experts/brad-templeton">Brad Templeton</a>, the founder and architect of the first-ever entirely web-based business, ClariNet, Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are significant in that they take some aspects of finance that were formerly in the hands of professionals and unlock them for the public at large. Now anyone can be a banker. And in the future, the extent to which this is the case will expand exponentially. Back in 1990, with a four-track home recorder, an aspiring musician could make a few low-fi demo tracks. Today, you can produce an entire album on an iPad. The case of finance is analogous, with Bitcoin and crowdfunding platforms paving the way and even bigger changes to come. </p> <p dir="ltr"><iframe frameborder="0" height="318" scrolling="no" src="http://bigthink.com/embeds/video_idea/brad-templeton-bitcoin-exponential-finance" width="564"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Understanding these kinds of exponential changes in advance is a major advantage for individuals and businesses that want to stay a step (or 100 steps) ahead of their peers. And </span><span>Singularity University’s 2015 </span><a href="http://bit.ly/1IuWpAs"><span>Exponential Finance conference</span></a><span>, happening June 2nd and 3rd in New York City</span><span>, brings together some of the top future-focused entrepreneurs in every field: from finance, to law, to computing, to medicine, to share their discoveries and insights into what’s coming next, and how to turn it to your advantage.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Tickets are going fast. Use the code BIGTHINK500 to lock in your seats now, at a $500 discount. </span></p> <div><span><br></span></div>
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Brad Templeton, Who Started the World’s First Dotcom, on Why Bitcoin Matters
Bitcoin is just one example of how exponential technology is putting the reins of finance in the hands of individuals and small businesses.
12 May, 2015
Tech pioneer Brad Templeton calls Bitcoin just one example of how exponential technology is redefining finance. Understanding these changes in advance is a major advantage for individuals and businesses that want to stay a step (or 100 steps) ahead of their peers. And Singularity University’s 2015 Exponential Finance conference, happening June 2 and 3 in New York City, brings together some of the top future-focused entrepreneurs in every field: from finance, to law, to computing, to medicine, to share their discoveries and insights into what’s coming next, and how to turn it to your advantage. Tickets are going fast. Use the code BIGTHINK500 to lock in your seats now, at a $500 discount.
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