We’re not looking to travel back to 1985 here, folks. We’re not going to see ourselves being born.
The Backwards Time Machine is based on the concept of “future problem solving.”
– Looking at past trends
– Looking at current trends
– Using this information to make educated predictions about what will happen next. 2 years from now, 5 years from now, 10/20 years out.
– Developing a big picture view of what the future has in store for society.
– Based on this vision, brainstorming the main problems that will pop up as a result of the new technology and societal trends.
– Narrowing it down to the most likely problems.
– Based on these problems, brainstorming solutions that prevent or minimize the damage.
– Narrowing the solutions down to most likely to solve the problem.
– Making plans several years in advance to actively introduce the future trends into society in the best possible way
The Way the World Works Now
– We do aggressively look for ways to innovate and come up with the next big thing, with no idea what the effects will be.
– We roll out new tech and ideas ASAP.
– We then use metrics and current observations to discover the complaints.
– We retroactively try to fix and solve them.
This is precisely why technology as an industry is seen as gadgets and fun. There is a large portion of society that sees technology as causing problems and creating more chaos and less humanity. They are correct, but it’s not technology’s fault, it’s a result of not thinking ahead.
Corporations play a large part of the problem, due to the way they operate. The main objective is how much money can be made next quarter. They don’t invest resources to do Future Problem Solving.
Summary
None of the technological concepts that will roll out in the next ten years were not predicted 10 years ago. I’d say MIT invented about every major tech invention dreamt up 30 years ago.
The ideal is to know what’s coming next, develop it first, but also have a full understanding of the residual effects. It is extremely possible to prevent the problems before they arise, it just needs to be done.
Technology holds the key to solving problems never before thought solvable. However, it requires foresight and using imagination many years in advance.
We have the potential to take back control of tech, not adjusting to it. We can prevent global conflict, and make our lives more enjoyable and productive.
So, that’s what the Backwards Time Machine is. It’s not looking at a quote from Einstein and saying, “man, he nailed it years ahead of his time. It’s about us getting it right the first time.
Backwards Time Machine 