Jaron Lanier’s Big Idea
Jaron Lanier’s quest started when he wondered why the developed world was experiencing high unemployment and economic pain in the
early 21st century, just when widespread use of technology was supposed to be
delivering a new era of abundance and prosperity. Creative classes of recording musicians, journalists, and photographers were losing economic opportunity as prevailing web models reclassified their work-product as “information” and demanded it for “free.”
In his new book, Who Owns the Future?, Lanier paints a view
that’s believable yet chilling.
Like a skilled science fiction writer and a shrewd economic analyst, he
forecasts a future in which we continue to reorganize our world around digital
networks. Software-powered
productivity improvements continue to penetrate industries like manufacturing,
transportation, health-care, and education. Human cab and truck drivers are replaced by software
programs, 3D printing grows virally and starts to produce manufactured goods,
WalMart goes bankrupt, automated heavy equipment finds and mines natural
resources, and robot nurses handle care for the elderly.
A rational observer might ask, What’s wrong with this? It sounds like the usual march of
technology-driven productivity – disrupting old, inefficient industries and
delivering new value for the masses.
Lanier asserts that left unchecked this march of technology will lead to
capitalism and democracy grinding to a halt. Our economy will enter a period of hyper-unemployment and
social and political chaos will result.
He asserts that current digital economic models are not sustainable
because they are creating winner-takes-all concentrations of wealth centered
around new technology-powered monopolies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon
while the contributions of the middle classes are being devalued. Lanier identifies the creation of new
centers of power that resemble “private spy agencies combined with ad
agencies.”
Not content with criticizing the current model, Lanier lays
out his compelling vision for a new humanistic economic system in which people
are held special and not equated with machines. He posits that as our economy becomes more and more
information-centric, the only way we will be able to grow it is by monetizing
more information, not less and giving people more rights, not fewer. Lanier articulates how this new system
might work, who can drive its creation and adoption, how we can re-balance the
power and rights between corporations and people, and what are the big
opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. Technologists will enjoy Lanier’s ability to envision new
products and features like nanopayments and economic avatars that will make
this new system work for all of us.
What do we love about Jaron Lanier’s new book?
Lanier has a powerful ability to connect the dots across
multiple disciplines and see patterns others don’t. There aren’t many people who can compare securitized
mortgages to pirated music files, or copyrights to trade unions. Lanier does this very effectively and
in the process finds explanations for our economic woes that others have
overlooked. Lanier integrates and
builds on the work of people ranging from Karl Marx (no, he doesn’t appear to
be a communist) and Aristotle to Nobel Prize winners in Economics. This rich dose of historical context
enhances the credibility of his arguments. Lastly, we were impressed by Lanier’s ability to tackle hard
moral and practical questions. Some
of our favorites questions: As
technology reaches heights of efficiency, civilization will have to find a way
to resolve a particular puzzle:
What should the role of “extra” humans be if not everyone is still
strictly needed? Do the extra
people – the ones whose roles have withered – starve? Or get easy lives?
Who decides? Will the fantasies of Google, Facebook, and Amazon lead to
an economic dead-end for millions of people? Will there be enough value from ordinary people in the long
term to justify the existence of an economy?
Conclusion
This is simply one of the best new books out in 2013. Lanier’s latest work shows his
extraordinary knack at envisioning a future thoroughly and his ability to
imagine creatively and bravely.
Who Owns the Future? will appeal to intellectuals, creative
professionals, students, technologists, economists, policy makers,
entrepreneurs and investors looking for new opportunities. Steve Jobs said the most interesting
opportunities emerge at the intersection of humanities and technology. Jaron Lanier stands at that famous
intersection and beckons us on.
Who is Jaron Lanier?
Jaron Lanier a futurist, computer scientist, and digital media pioneer. Time magazine named him one of the "Time 100" in 2010 (The 100 Most Influential People in the World). A profile in Wired magazine described him as "the first technology figure to cross over to pop-culture stardom." His previous book You Are Not a Gadget was a national bestseller.
Special invitation for readers
Can regular people really earn an income by monetizing our
Facebook updates and tweets like Jaron Lanier would like to see? Let’s find out! Kepler’s will offer you $5 off your
admission ticket to Lanier’s talk on Wednesday May 15th or purchase of Who Owns the Future? if you
show proof of sharing this blog post in your Facebook newsfeed, by tweeting it,
or linking to it from your site or blog.
Offer valid only in the store, while tickets & books are still available, and until May
15th, 2013.
3 comments:
Can't wait to hear Jaron Lanier speak - and here's why
http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2013/05/re-discovering-digital-divide.html
Lucy
Thanks for sharing this blog. This is really amazing information.
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