Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World

Chapter 2. Clarity and Craziness

In the coming decade, our world will grow more transparent. Our ability to collect, integrate, interpret, and distribute data will increase exponentially; sensors and connective and surveillance technologies will converge; and access to a staggering array of words, images, and sounds will spread globally. The results will be profoundly contradictory. On the one hand, our insight into the workings of corporations and governments, our knowledge of science, and our understanding of systemic global issues will be greatly enhanced. On the other hand, we will also experience an explosion of fear and confusion, fueled by our ubiquitous access to immense amounts of information. We will see competing interpretations of ...