HLT130, Bob Johansen

Episode number 130 is special. Special because of its timelines and importance. My guest today, Islander Bob Johansen is a futurist. He is also the author of 13 books on the subject making him one of the very few people on the planet who is an authority on this fascinating topic. You will have to take a listen to find out exactly what it is that a futurist does, but I will offer this clue: It has a lot to do with creating a more efficient and accurate language to deal with the top two categories that threaten to reduce our worldly paradise to smoking carbon. I find it incredible that we humans cannot even agree that 1) Climate Change is real, and 2) Artificial Intelligence (Bob prefers to call it Augmented Intelligence) if left unregulated, has the potential to  put us, all 7.8  billion of us, into check. Possibly even checkmate.

To give you a sample of the dialogue we recorded on Monday, I asked Bob to explain what he does in layman's terms and subsequently found a spot in his eloquent response to offer my practice of staying in the present moment, a discipline I have been working on for the last 50 years or so. Bob smiled and when cued by my eyebrow raise, said simply, "We try to keep ten years ahead." Oh.

Towards the end of our hour session we managed to segue to our obligatory exchange on movies, Science Fiction, natch, being both our go-to genres. I did feel as if I was watching for the first time a film about 2001, all the way back in 1970, thinking that one day we might actually visit other planets, but with no experience or data, wouldn't that be a courageous voyage? Who wants to go first (HAL)?

Please visit Bob's site to get the details on the depth and scope of their program. I will tell you this, after 60 minutes with Bob I can see what the Pentagon would ask him to brief three star General's on their first day on the job!

Then come and see Oppenheimer. 


Kevin

Visit us on Facebook and leave a comment!!