What Lies Ahead: Interesting Observations About the Future
Friday, August 24th, 2007
Our college president shared this video from Youtube with the school ( the video is at the bottom of this post) . I see these changes almost everywhere I look. The world is changing fast and if I don’t make efforts to look ahead then I lose the chance to change with it. Same for you.
Wealth changes its location extraordinarily fast. Look at the rise of some of the largest companies today. They weren’t around when I was a child; they rose from new technology after I’d become an adult. And look at the shift in relative economic power from Europe to Asia, to India and China, specifically, only a short while ago regarded as backwaters and now economic powerhouses.
I’ve had many students at the community college where I work who are struggling to rebuild their lives after the factory where they worked for 30 years shut down, either because the products were outdated and lacked customers or they crushed by competition. These are reliable persons willing to work hard, but no place to work that pays enough to keep the house. Other students have seen the handwriting on the wall and returned to rebuild their skill set and jump to a more stable ship.
They’re back in school, learning new things, stretching their minds like never before. They’re retooling themselves for the future. Education is critical. The earlier we attain it, the better it sticks. The broader it is, the more reliable we’ll find it. Especially math and science. Don’t like it? Get over it!
Video: Shift Happens
