The Impossible Dream - Engineering Paradise

Transforming the world into something akin to what is described in this book would be almost impossible.  Almost.

But as the saying goes, nothing worth having comes easily.

Starting from the structure of the world we have today, with all its inequalities, inefficiencies, injustice, and making it into an ideal world would require huge amounts of work from all layers of society.  It would also take some measure of coordination between nations, as a transforming nation will obviously affect others.

We are living in a global economy, within a global population that is increasingly connected to information from all over the world.  According to the website eMarketer, at the end of 2017, over 47% of the world’s population used the Internet regularly.  They project that in the next three years that number will increase to close to 54%.[1]  With planetary information flowing so freely, despite attempts by a few governments to shield their citizens from outside information, all the world witnesses socio-cultural and economical changes elsewhere.  One positive change in one area of the world affects all of the world’s citizens, and as Internet penetration continues to rise, this will become increasingly true.

I believe every single person reading these lines is hoping we can make our world into something better.  Every single person reading these lines wants their own lives and community to be well.

However, we cannot expect some sort of messiah will appear somewhere and convince all the world to make the world into something like what is described in this book.  No.  Change occurs in small incremental steps, one action at a time.

The young have idealism and energy to initiate change and they are always active, but they lack wisdom and experience to influence most of the time.  On the other hand, the experienced among us are better connected and are more influential, but we sometimes lack the conviction that progress may occur.

Everyone has value and experience to put on the table to help make this world better.  If everyone gains the conviction they can take a single positive step in the right direction every day, then we’d have 7.5 billion steps of progress daily.

This is how a seemingly impossible dream becomes reality.

As a pragmatic futurist, what I do best is educate and providing solutions.  You are administrators, politicians, caretakers, nurses, plumbers, post workers.  You can help by improving your own world, whatever you have some control over.  You don’t need to look far to see injustice, or things in the world that require improvement.  Just do it and let others know what you are doing.  Let others imitate your actions in their own way.

7.5 billion simple actions a day.

This way, one day, we live in an ideal world of our own making.

Let this book be a target and a guide for you.  Whether our future society looks like what is described here or not, any movement towards this model is a positive change for humanity.

Are you ready?

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[1] eMarketer Report (December 2017)  Worldwide Internet and mobile users:  eMarketer’s updated estimates and forecast for 2017-2021.  - https://www.emarketer.com/Report/Worldwide-Internet-Mobile-Users-eMarketers-Updated-Estimates-Forecast-20172021/2002147