"All of these things are engineer-able, fixable."
So says Peter Diamandis -- entrepreneur, author, thought leader, visionary, futurist and one of the world's great minds. "The number of people solving these things has exploded" -- as a result of the pace of new technologies enabling mass, democratized participation. That's why Diamandis is an eternal optimist who preaches his thoughtful, inspiring -- and frequently convincing -- gospel to the world (literally) via an endless string of ambitious, audacious and passion-fueld mega-endeavors.
After all, Diamandis is Founder and Chairman of the XPRIZE and XPRIZE Foundation, to which he devotes about 30% of his time. But, when he's not sleeping (which I can't imagine he does much), he today also splits his time with (1) Singularity University (which he co-founded with noted futurist Ray Kurzweil), (2) Human Longevity, Inc., a company he also co-founded that focuses on extending the healthy human lifespan, (3) Planetary Resources, Inc, yet another company he co-founded that has the simple "everyday" ambition of mining asteroids via spacecrafts that also have earth-based agricultural applications, and (4) journalist (he has written multiple best-sellers), speaker (he travels the globe), advisor (serving on boards of some of the most innovative society-engagement technology companies in the world, including virtual reality (VR) companies Oculus and Magic Leap), and educator (he runs and leads executive thought leadership courses). This is just a partial list of his endeavors.
And, I thought I had a lot on my plate!
Yesterday, I had the special opportunity to sit down one-on-one with Peter at his offices at the XPRIZE Foundation. I had no agenda (both figuratively and literally). No script. Just wanted to learn more about his views on these massive, daunting global issues. And also get his views on the new world of media, story-telling, and increasingly immersive and virtual social engagement and interaction. He was engaging, generous with his time, charming, convincing. I hopped from topic to topic during this hour -- and we touched upon all of these issues and more. One of the most thought-provoking discussions I have had in my life.
And, here it is -- Peter's thoughts on those subjects. All sentences with quotation marks and that are italicized and in bold are direct quotes (I frantically took copious notes). I'll start with the brave new -- and frequently daunting -- digital media world (especially focusing on VR's total immersion and what he calls today's "Hyper Connectivity").
I. ON VIRTUAL REALITY
-- VR "will lead to brand new virtual worlds, virtual communities, across all ages."
-- Second Life (the virtual world global game phenomenon) pointed the way to VR, but "VR is fully immersive. You will feel."
II. ON THE DOWNSIDE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH VR, TOTAL IMMERSION & TECHNOLOGY-CHANGING HUMAN INTERACTION
-- I asked him about the deep societal risks of VR's total immersion, some of which include (1) feeling too much (imagine your kids playing "Call of Duty" in a VR world where the combat (and killing) become real to your brain and body, and (2) being used in the wrong hands (imagine terrorist groups like ISIS leveraging VR as core components of their engagement and intimidation strategies).
-- His responses: "You can't change it" (i.e., the reality of new technologies). It changes you." "It changes social norms -- how we interact." Technology "re-wires how society interacts, even how our brain interacts, even the plasticity of the brain."
"Whether it is good or bad. It just is."
-- And, that thought -- i.e., "It just is" -- is at the core of Peter's mind-set. There is no judgment about how things are today in the world across all issues. "It just is." So, he concerns himself with thinking about how societies can mitigate those risks -- and "fix" the world -- and "better" the world.
-- After all, Peter underscores that "technology has always done these things." "And what's to say that our interactions 50 years ago were better?" "They were just 'different.'" He "is absolutely positive that the same conversations would have taken place in the age of the Gutenberg Press."
-- He cites Steven Pinker's book "The Better Angels of Our Nature" that concludes that -- contrary to widely-held ... and media-propagated global belief (he doesn't watch traditional news outlets) -- we are living in the most peaceful time in human history. He points out that in medieval times, different tribes essentially thought of others as being non-human -- which enabled violence and killing with emotional detachment. "But communication has made us understand how inter-related we are."
-- I asked him about the transformational nature of our increasing virtual social interaction and "always on" information exchange via social media that has inundated our lives and the lives of our kids. What he calls "Hyper Connectivity."
-- He underscored that Hyper Connectivity leads also to what he calls "Hyper Transparency" -- "the ability to know anything, anytime, anywhere" -- which, he believes, ultimately is a good thing and leads to a safer world (even amidst its frequently seeming daunting and brain-altering impacts).
III. ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND MACHINE V. MAN
-- I asked about his concerns about AI-driven machine turning on its human creators via the not-too-distant expected singularity (which media recently depicted in the excellent "must see" movie Ex Machina).
-- That is a Hollywood sensationalist myth, in his view. He is an optimist that AI will be harnessed for good.
IV. ON CLIMATE CHANGE
-- He is absolutely certain that we have the ability to solve climate change.
-- As an example, he says we have the technology today that can block a certain percentage of the sun's rays. "Structurally, that is not difficult to do." The real question is rather whether society has the will to implement such technologies.
V. ON EXTENDING HUMAN LIFESPANS AND AN AGING AND EVER-GROWING GLOBAL SOCIETY THAT TAXES THE LIMITS OF EARTH RESOURCES
-- First, he points out that his friend Elon Musk is actually concerned about long-term shrinking global population numbers.
-- The goal of new life extending technology (including his company's) is not simply to extend life. Rather, it's about extending the quality of life, without over-populating the planet.
-- "The goal is not just living older. It's living better."
-- As an example of his optimism about technology's potential with human lifespans, he points out that many humans retire at the peak of their professional lives. And, he asks me to imagine if that wasn't the case. "That would increase the GNP of a nation substantially."
After all, "all of these things are engineer-able, fixable."