Category: Future

Future communities

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Your tribe is out there

So are you afraid of the future?
Some prognosticators imagine that in about 75 years all drudge work will be automated. Already, a lot of jobs have been lost to computers, automation and oblivion. So if you hate your job, wherever you are on the totem pole, there’s a big chance your job will be taken over or eradicated, eventually. It will most likely be taken over by a robot. Robots have a lot of assets we humans do not. We are building smarter robots, and we are relying on them more and more.
However, the Internet has created a bridge that is conducive to human connection, communication and creativity. When you go online you are able to address a much bigger audience then at the local town hall. Are you on the edge of society? Is there a niche you are drawn to? Whether you love cribbage, history or physics, know there is a tribe just for you. It is possible that your online community will help you embrace the future and earn your keep. Seek and you shall find. Your community is out there.

Musically yours, Amy Zents

Happy hour every hour

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We all love happy hour. Traditionally known as “beer-thirty,” and immortalized in that country song, “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
To make happy hour every hour of the day and night, it doesn’t take large volumes of alcohol, and delicious, crispy deep-fried munchies.
With judicious planning, every hour of your day and night can be happy hour. It all boils down to your self-direction and follow-through.
Try this little experiment. Get up in the morning, and make a note to yourself as to what you would like to do for the next 12 hours. In other words, lead yourself first. Keep your heart happy by focusing on each task you have to do or just want to do. (Keep your list near.) Throughout the day, imagine how good you will feel when you have reached your target or your intention. Take a little time out here and there to enjoy good food and drink, and revel in your innate power. You can do it! Go for it and make every hour, your happy hour..

Musically yours, Amy Zents

The future of feedback

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If the glass is half empty or half full you should be able to say it without signing your name to it

Sometimes it hurts you to be criticized and sometimes it helps. But more often it is the critic who gets punished. People don’t like you when you speak the truth. In the future, I think people will be able to express their opinion in a way that is helpful without compromising their personal security. I found in smaller cities and towns you cannot write an editorial to be published in a newspaper without revealing your name. If your identity has to be put on the line, how can you express the truth? Granted some people have less than noble motives for criticizing the system or others, but nevertheless, I don’t think a person who puts forth an idea or a valid argument should be punished for it or have to reveal their name.

Musically yours, Amy Zents

Be there or be square

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I recently saw a so-called motivational speaker pretending to be interested in what she was talking about. Many of the attendees were not very interested in what she was saying.
Never forget that perception is everything. People are very intuitive. Often times they will not critique anybody outright in their community or even in their world, in order not to hurt other people’s feelings. But, even without filling out a review card, the truth will out. You can tell when someone is just going through the motions. Well it’s okay for a factory worker or even a bus driver or a waitress to just have at it when it comes to leader and/or teacher, it is very frustrating for the audience. Whenever you encounter that, it’s good to remind yourself that when it’s your turn to present you should try to be present, alert, and whatever you do, try not to bore your audience! One way to bore the audience is to pretend to enjoy what you’re doing when you really would rather be somewhere else. Perhaps it’s time to hang up your career and do something you love. Or it’s time to get less mercenary, and resurrect the passion you had at the beginning by taking some time out to examine your motivation. Or else, maybe you need a good night’s sleep. Believe it or not, we can tell when you’re with it and when you’re not.
Giving feedback is not easy either. Do you want to be hated? Most of us keep our critiques to ourselves. The truth hurts and no one wants to be harbinger of bad news. I predict in the future there will be ways to get instantaneous feedback that is private and does not hurt the audience who can sense the truth.
It’s easy to become a victim by yelping. That’s why so many of us keep our mouths shut.

Musically yours, Amy Zents

Once every 4 years

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The dog can’t fiddle so he sleeps instead.

Procrastination is pandemic. We tend to put things off that we find hard to get started, or things that we dislike. A little snowball turns into an avalanche. For want of a nail the horse was lost. Little things mean a lot. Don’t put your future on the back burner.

If we can jump like the frog-hopper, that’s a great big leap for humankind!

Hop to it now and happy leap year!

Musically yours, Amy Zents

There are educators everywhere

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You have to jump puddles at your own speed

I wasn’t going to blog on Saturdays, but since I have time today I will. Today I was thinking about simplicity in education. So much of knowledge is free for you in our time. You don’t have to buy any books or any informational secrets. There are no secrets. It’s all out there for you. And it’s free. I predict in the future, all book-based education will be free, and all skills-based education will be as it was in the past, based on apprenticeship, counsels, guilds, or networks. I believe professional organizations will definitely continue to exist.
Show me, tell me, let me learn. Academic learning has it’s place, but I do not believe that it is the highest form of learning for every field. The Ivy Leaguers admit that their tuition is higher, but that is no guarantee of any future prosperity or occupational success. What it takes is up to the individual. Once you get into your profession, you are responsible only for yourself, and whether you rise or fall will be based on your capabilities of listening, understanding, and performing to the best of your ability. “Follow your heart,” means you need to get a good education that is applicable to what you aspire to, and then trust your gut. You will be taught well: either by someone else, a book, or yourself!

Musically yours, Amy Zents

Menu Please

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Sometime in the future I predict we will be able to call a Medical Center and ask for a medical procedure without having to go through a receptionist. Perhaps we could push a button to make an appointment. Perhaps such a thing already exists and I have no clue about it. I recently found out our Medical Center is offering Botox injections. I decided to call and make an appointment for a consultation. My reception was met with confusion. I had to repeat 3 times the nature of my call. It made me feel very shameful and embarrassed to have to explain over and over again what I wanted. I raised my voice, and lowered my tone: “Botox,” I said, again. Finally, they told me they needed to talk to the nurse and they would have to call me back. I felt an ache in the pit of my stomach. I would have preferred to deal with an impersonal menu button. It got me thinking about other people who need to call about medical appointments. Does the receptionist need to know all the details of your visit? A nurse finally called me back. She told me they will not be getting started with the Botox until March. They said the scheduler will call me back in order to put me on the list. Someone just called me and said they were only just informed about this new service and they are still awaiting approval on it. I will go in Monday at 830am for a consultation. I went to a hair salon to have my hair done and spoke to the hairstylist about it yesterday. She said I didn’t look as if I needed Botox. Bless her lovely heart.

Dentistry

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It was like Instant Karma. I was just talking about my dog’s teeth cleaning and extraction, when somehow one of my bottom teeth snapped and I lost part of a filling. So now I need to go to the dentist and get the tooth edge smoothed off until I can get in for a drill and re-fill, or crown.
Interestingly enough, since I am planning a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia soon, I researched our founding fathers and found out that Paul Revere, the patriot and silversmith learned dentistry under a Mr. Baker, and made dentures and practiced forensic dentistry.
I went to the dentist and it cost over $61 just to shave down the rough part of my tooth and now it will cost another grand to get a crown. Just don’t ask me to put on a pinafore and act in one of those History Channel shows as Martha Washington. That is the big gripe with my dentist, how all those actors with their shiny, white smiles in no way resemble the real early Americans with their rotten teeth. In fact the British noticed Americans teeth and said they were horrible. Now everyone says the British have the worst teeth. Thank goodness for modern dentistry. How far you have come!

Mining asteroids

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Clever and/or greedy billionaires are investing in outer space. Celebrities and others are lining up to get on to a space shuttle to take them to the stars. What is the future fantasy in the minds of many scientists and would-be space travelers? Do they imagine a future of life in outer space? What do people think when the earth becomes more populated and the issue of immigration seems to plague our planet? Could the solution be moving out, traveling to a new life on a space station, getting a job in harvesting asteroids for their valuable resources, or just hanging out on a vacation resort near the moon?
How about those who collect and capture asteroids for living? Who would monopolize those assets? Why do I raise such a question? Because just like history shows, it’s the new Golden Rule: he or she who has the gold rules! Who owns the universe? Nowadays, it’s not off limits to anyone anymore. Even better, we should ask ourselves, how can I get a piece of the pie or rather a piece of the sky? Perhaps Ralph Kramden has the answer: “To the moon Alice!”

Leasing a lifestyle

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As it stands, it seems that stuff takes over our life. I love the way it is when my husband and I go traveling. We have a clean organized hotel room, a limited amount of luggage, and a base to start from that is not all cluttered with things old and new. Like the song says, how much baby do we really need? I imagine people who do not want to do all the work of dispersing their worldly goods before they pass away, would do well with a service that provides them with a top-notch lifestyle with no strings attached. I hope someday to indulge in such a leasing lifestyle. If you covet a Tesla, lease it, you can charter a jet, you can rent a luxury purse or luxury Villa. Often they say ownership is nine tenths of the law and we’ve been brainwashed to accumulate and own, but since your time on earth is limited and you can’t take it with you, why not borrow or rent after you retire? Or better yet before you retire. It’s getting rid of things that I’m working on.