Holidays are a great time to draw breath and get organised 
. I’m in planning mode for the January commute already and featuring heavily on my reading list are a few gems on Future Tech and Public Services Reform.
Future Tech
As the first train of the year leaves the station (Deo Volente) I will be unwrapping Richard Watson’s Future Minds. Richard writes Now and Next and is regarded as one of Britain’s foremost Futurists. I recommend subscribing to Brainmail (“keeping brains healthy since 2004!) if you have not already done so.
“We’re rocketing into the digital age at breakneck speed: a culture of rapid response with no time for reflection or focus. Losing the ability to think in a deep, creative way, we are in danger of raising a new generation that has plenty of answers but few good questions: the Screenager.
Drawing on the latest research, renowned futurist Richard Watson looks at the ways that screen culture is shaping the future and changing the way we think. In Future Minds he asks: are we becoming addicted to data? How do we go about starting a digital diet and clearing a blocked brain? In this book you’ll find thought-provoking and practical suggestions about reclaiming the space and time to think deeply. It’s time to go with the slow flow.”
The book is a cautionary tale about the superficiality of the digital world. Our minds are changing, but are we retaining the capacity to think deeply?
Richard discusses the book in this 30-minute segment on RSA Vision.
It is slightly remiss that I only intend to read Future Files in January 2011 (it was originally published in late 2009), but as it is a 50-year predictor I will still derive a clear 48 years in accrued value (amazing at a monetary costs of less than 10 pence per year!). A delicious and enticing sound byte from Publishers Weekly:
“Cheaper than a crystal ball and twice as fun…Part Jules Verne, part Malcolm Gladwell, Watson has a puckish sense of humor and his book is a thought-provoking, laughter-inducing delight.”
Other books in my “Futures / Future Tech” Amazon basket…
Future Services
I’ve mentioned Jesse Norman’s “The Big Society” on other posts, where there are also video links of Jesse speaking about the book (again on the superb RSA Vision). This is a must read for anyone seriously grappling with the question “what is the Big Society?”
If you’re looking for new online sources of ‘interesting things’ check out Social Reporter and the associated Big Society Amplifier as well.
Other books in my “Future Services” Amazon basket…
Favourite Book of 2010
It would be ‘unforgiveable’ not to name-check Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler and the truly wonderful Connected: The amazing power of social networks and how they shape our lives. The book poses the killer questions:
“Who do you have sex with and why? Is happiness catching? Is wealth contagious? Can your friends make you fat? Why do you bother to vote? Does free will exist? Your friend’s friend starts smoking, suddenly you find yourself reaching for a cigarette. But how can someone you’ll never know make you fatter, happier and have more sex?”
Nicholas spoke at the RSA in February 2010, and I commend both the book and the video of his lecture to you. The empirical results described in Connected have led me to consider how social networks could best be leveraged in Welfare Reform, in particular Work Programme, and how positive influence factors within social networks could a) reinforce work ethics and work as social norm and b) creation of support networks to ease transition from welfare to work.
Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What were your thoughts? Do you have any recommendations for books on similar themes?
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