Living in the Age of the Jerk

Strap yourself in; technology is going to change the world. The current political and economic turmoil is nothing compared to what the next two decades will bring.

Before there was Covid-19, it was as if humanity was heading towards two doors. Behind one door stood the opportunity to create the nearest thing to utopia that has ever existed. Behind the other was a path paved with the threat of growing inequality, eroding privacy, the return of fascism, conflict and then, at the end, stood dystopia.

The great pandemic of 2020 has pushed us much closer to both of these doors.

Why is this? Because technology is mutating. Thanks to Covid-19, the transformation will accelerate. Extraordinary change will follow, but nothing in our evolution has prepared us.

The consequences are terrifying. They are also wonderful.

We can emerge from the technology shift that is occurring triumphant, basking in the glory that is human civilisation. We can enjoy a kind of utopia, but we risk descending into a totalitarian nightmare.

If you want to see opportunity triumph over defeat, hope over despair, then join the debate.

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The above words are taken from https://www.techopia.co/ which describes the book "Living in the Age of the Jerk", https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Age-Jerk-Technology-Innovation/dp/1838040900/

Michael Baxter, one of the co-authors of "Living in the Age of the Jerk", will be joining London Futurists in this online event to share some key ideas from his book and to answer questions from the audience.

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This event will be hosted on Zoom. There is no charge to register or to attend. To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ytzf_NF1Qmer82A5KITM-w

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Selected praise for the book "Living in the Age of the Jerk":

"The book achieves something very rare for one on technology: it is both thought-provoking and informative while providing a wonderful historical perspective about an era of rapid change which has its roots back centuries, in some cases"
-- Lawrence Gosling, Editorial Director, Bohill Group and regular commentator on UK TV

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Michael Baxter is a technology and economics writer with an entrepreneurial background. He is Group Editor of Data Protection World Forum, former editor of Information Age, co-founder of Techopia Limited, and a freelance economics and investment writer for Share.com. His previous books include "iDisrupted" (2014) and "The Blindfolded Masochist: Creation Versus Destruction - The Power of Economic Networks" (2011).

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Note, for context about the title of the book and event: One meaning of the word "jerk" is the rate of change of acceleration. People with a mild interest in maths can discover more at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0143-0807/37/6/065008

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The webinar will start broadcasting at 7pm UK time on Thu 22nd October. To find this time in other timezones, see https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20201022T180000&p1=136

You are advised to log into Zoom up to 10 minutes ahead of the publicised start time of the event, so you won't miss the start of the live broadcast.

As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.

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To register for this event, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ytzf_NF1Qmer82A5KITM-w

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For a mirror of this announcement on Facebook, see https://www.facebook.com/events/1034169636995939

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Note: in case all Zoom registrations have been used up before you register for this event, you may be able to view the event as a live stream on the London Futurists channel on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/c/Londonfuturists/videos