Unsupervised

CHAPTER 15Conclusion

“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.”

—George Orwell

If a problem is simple, don't complicate it. If it is complicated, don't simplify it. Although there will be many discrete issues that are simple and can be handled clearly and effectively, most topics explored in this book are multifaceted. Few are likely to have a single, clearly defined solution. Many factors interact. At times none of the potential outcomes might appear particularly attractive. Last, and perhaps most important, the target is always moving.

There are unlikely to be any optimal solutions, given the number of actors and the array of divergent opinions. Sometimes the least awful option is the best that can be achieved. After all, avoiding disasters is better than ignoring them and living through the consequences.

A Common Set of Tenets

This book has addressed many major issues and provided some context and examples. Although the areas are quite different, they often overlap and have a common set of underlying tenets:

• Data and knowledge will be a key means of exchange.
• Creativity and empathy are the most important human assets.
• We must create an environment in which advocacy, criticism, and mistakes are all tolerated. Only through a combination of failure and success can we expect to build a better future. And we must understand that new technologies are here to stay—we are already dependent on them, our future is dependent on them, and solving ...