|
Each of the following paragraphs summarizes a Closer To Truth television show and book chapter. The title links to its topic page, with streaming video (as broadcast), extended transcript (book chapter), HyperForum (some), participants, and resources.
New Communities for the New
Millennium (show 104), first airs May 2000.
Do you live in a Community? Not where your body resides, but where your mind connects? What’s a community? It’s more than your friendly neighborhood or favorite Chat Room. The word "Community" may sound archaic, a social remnant of the idyllic 1950s. But paradoxically in our high-tech age of instant information, "Community" is more relevant than ever, though its broader boundaries and greater diversities may surprise you. We explore communities in all forms, from political and social to scientific and technological
Participants: Chapman, Hubbard,
Jayaraman, McWhorter, Tyson
Whatever Happened to Ethics and
Civility? (show 110), first airs July 2000.
Can you remain Ethical, when a devious competitor steals your business? Can you stay Civil, when a cursing driver cuts you off the road? Blame the speed, intensity, and ferocity of modern society. Do you feel the competition of contemporary life? It’s all around you all your life. From struggling at school for grades and college admissions to jousting at work for promotions and money, you can’t escape the fever of competition. How, in such a pressure-cooker environment, can we expect high moral values and courteous, polite behavior to survive? Yet, society is much impoverished without ethics and civility. What can be done?
Participants: Chapman, Hubbard,
Jayaraman, Mouw, McWhorter
Will the Internet Change Humanity? (show
102), first airs May 2000.
Exactly how many hours a week do you Surf the Internet? Compare that number with a year ago. Now project forward at the same growth rate, and within two years, you’ll never get off! What happens when everybody is on-line? When geographic distance evaporates? When access is immediate? When individuals outshine institutions? When gratification must be instant? Is the Internet a revolutionary technology, like, say, personal computers or even the automobile? No. The impact of the Internet, will be far greater.
Participants: Fukuyama, Geis,
Kosko, Minsky, Murray
How Does Technology Transform Society? (show
210), first airs November 2000.
What new treats will technology be offering to us? Prettier television pictures, better diet drugs, electronic shopping, clever gadgets in your kitchen and car? This is its public face, but technology’s true transformation lies deeper. Since technological advance is unstoppable, social change is inevitable. Let’s be specific: What’s technology doing to work, labor markets, business markets, organizations, government, governance, international relations, personal relations, families?
Participants: Benford, Fukuyama,
Kozmetsky, Minsky, Stock
Can We See the Near Future
Year 2025? (show
106), first airs June 2000.
Close your eyes. Fast forward 25 years. Open your eyes. What do you see? 25 years ago, there were no personal computers and no kids surfing the internet. 25 years from now, what new things will emerge? What surprising discoveries? Will technology make life happy or gloomy, content or confused? Will the world be more free or more fragmented? People, more equal or more estranged? What about competitiveness, conflicts, hostilities, wars? Will First Contact be made with aliens? We couldn’t forecast the past 25. Can we do better with the next 25?
Participants: De Bono,
Feigenbaum, Kosko, Molitor,
Murray
Can We Imagine the Far Future
Year 3000? (show
201), first airs September 2000.
What will you be doing a year from today? You don’t know? Why then should you care about a thousand years from today? You should care, and you’ll be surprised why! Serious thinkers are now asking what will the world be like in the Year 3000. How many people will live on earth? How long will we live? How will we work? Play? Propagate? Communicate. Worship? Wonder? What will our cities look like? Nations? Oceans? Families? Bodies? What about business, government, school, religion? How far into space will humans have ventured?
|