Predictions, Catastrophe and thought expressions

Many people make predictions based on feelings or trends, and I admit I am no exception.
Unfortunately, many want their negative predictions to come true if only to say, “I was right.”
That is the bad side of ones Ego. 

I will make the following prediction and hope that I am wrong.

I predict that America will lose it’s dominance in the world.  We have only to look at the Roman Empire, the British Empire whose influence and dominance disappeared.  The reasons are many.  I also predict that China will be the greatest world power in the near future.  This is not a wish, but rather a feeling based on events past and present.

It is difficult to make a post that does not contain some negative aspect.  We know that positive posts are good for the soul and help us move forward in a positive light.  At the same time, avoiding negativity does not make the things we abhor go away.  People protest against things they want to change.  Talking about negatives is often a positive move to affect change. 

Last night my daughter Christine came for a visit.  I enjoy her visits and we have a session where we say what’s on our minds, just to get it off the chest – so to speak.  In business, there is something similar called “Brain Storming”.    In our situation, we have an understanding that we are not expecting feedback or critique unless it is expressly requested. 
I remember a guy that I considered a “best friend” while in the USAF, stationed in Ramstein Germany.  Whenever I had a problem, I went to Steve and shared my problem(s) with him.  He never gave me advice; he never told me I was wrong or right.  He would just sit and listen.  Sometimes he would say, “Hmmm, Wow, Geesh or some other utterance that indicated that he was listening.  During my unloading with Steve, I often solved my own problems or recognized a way to solve them.  Because he listened, I was drawn to him.  Some men turn to their wives to get things off their chests.  They need someone they trust to share their thoughts with.  When they are interrupted and given advice, or told they are being ridiculous, the communication stops.  It occurred to me why some people are forced to pay someone to listen by going to a psychiatrist.  Some men turn to a mistress who will give them an ear to listen.   Getting back to Christine’s visit, we talked about the extinction of animals and the causes.  She felt that humans were on their way to extinction.  Some species of animals are already extinct and others becoming extinct because their habitats are being destroyed.  Some of that is due to cutting down forests or killing for profit.  With the use of pesticides, insects we need, i.e., the honey bees are being destroyed.  The human animal is not much different.  Our environment is changing.  Our weather is changing.  Our food is being altered, etc.  People are dying for lack of proper nourishment, healthcare and by warfare.  Are we on a path of self-destruction?  That is the question we asked one another.  What can be done?  The collective answer was to talk about it and to do those things that we can do, although miniature in the grand scheme of things that will preserve our environment by stopping pollution and speaking out against these things.  To point fingers and say that the US or China is the greatest polluter doesn’t change things.  There is little we can do to alter China’s pollution, but we can complain about the things we do that pollute.  Saying that change begins with me also applies to change beginning with the inaction of our own government to stop pollution.  In my opinion, Patriotism is not Rah, Rah, Rah, we’re great, but rather Hey, Hey, Hey, we must do whatever it takes to preserve our environment, our country and our planet.
I also get the impression that some people work to make predictions come true, as with Old Testament prophesies/predictions.  They want to feel that they were right in their faith and therefore are pleased when disaster-prophesies come true.  Just this morning we learned of the disaster in the Philippines where it is estimated that 10,000 plus lost their lives.  The devastation is horrible.  Some have expressed that these disasters are Biblical prophesies coming to pass, as with Plagues, Storms, Eathquakes, Famines, etc.  We witness the results of Nuclear reactors that were damaged with the Tsunami, hitting Japan.  The effects of this disaster continue with contaminated water seeping into the oceans affecting marine life thus affecting human life.
The nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union that took place in Chernobyl makes Chernobyl still uninhabitable.   It will take hundreds of years before anyone can live there again and yet we permit more nuclear power plants to be built.   We invite disaster with our greed that is money motivated.   In the New Testament it talks about the love of money being the root of evil - a Verse conveniently ignored as well as Verses that mention the difficulty of the Rich to enter heaven. 

Sometimes I need a friend or a forum where I can unload.  I have just done that.  It doesn’t mean I am right, but may help explain reasons I give in response to some posts.
It is difficult to have a “Brain Storming Session” on a forum such as this where the free flow of thoughts can help provide solutions without the fear of criticizism that inhibits a truthful response.   

We know we will not live forever in our current life form, but we should be concerned about the life of those who will be here after we are gone.  How will we be remembered?  Will we be remembered as someone who cared or someone who didn’t care about their country, their planet and their fellowman?

You are welcome to unload your opinion/thoughts about this post and I won’t feel the need to respond.  Thank you for listening.

I see the forum as a place to express ideas.  It is a place to see my thoughts in writing, sometimes receive supporting or challenging feedback, and think some more.  What seems obvious to me is often seen in an entirely opposite light by someone else. 

I see many different ways of seeing things but two strongly evident ones that collide:  religious dogma and sectarian thought.  Throughout the world, the religions try to control people and the future.  Those not tied into literal and rule-making religions, but still spiritual in their outlook tend to care about the things you discussed, a world view of what's happening and might predict the future not by prophesy but by the way things unfold when set in motion. Spiritual people not tied to a dogma, however, are often maligned as lacking faith or liberal atheists or agnostics, infidels, heretics, the ones who need to be saved or deserve their demise in some parts of the world.

Communication is difficult between those two opposing views of the world.  Each accuses and labels the other as if that makes the difference between who is right and who is wrong.  Those who are set in a religious set of explanations and rules find comfort in them; it releases them from the difficult decisions freedom encompasses.  Freedom is not free is certainly correct.  Freedom is a challenge and very unsettling.

I do believe in the "energy" factor of promoting good and positive thought; however, my friend who won't even let me say I twisted my ankle and have to slow down walking because that's a "negative thought" irritates me.   She behaves as if she is the only positive thinking person in the world and isolates herself from anyone negative.  I love her and forgive her; but the truth is that most of the totally Pollyanna people I know work on themselves constantly to chase away their depression and sad thoughts.  The "Pollyanna" is a front.

Most people have mood swings of some degree, positive and negative days, and days when they respond better to life than others.  Some days I wake up grim and by the time I have greeted the sunshine I'm more positive.  Others, I wake up positive and a negative phone call or discovery brings me down.  I don't want to put out negative thoughts, but sometimes they escape.  Events in life bring on joy and sorrow.  Sometimes there are the good years and the difficult ones.

As far as the questions of world dominance, it seems likely that China has a good chance. However, that does not frighten me.  The level of communications in the world are so great and interdependence so widespread that managing scarce resources may be the wisest investment in time and energy more so than maintaining political power.

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Subject: THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE - WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ ....Awake, arise or be fallen ........
 
IN 1998, KODAK HAD 170,000 EMPLOYEES AND SOLD 85% OF ALL PHOTO PAPER WORLDWIDE.
Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.
What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people don't see it coming.
Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again?
Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975.
The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law.
So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became way superior and got mainstream in only a few short years.
It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.
WELCOME TO THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
Welcome to the Exponential Age.
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.
Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.
Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world.
This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs.
Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.
SO IF YOU STUDY LAW, STOP IMMEDIATELY.
There will be 90% less lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate than human nurses.
Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans.
In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.
Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public.
Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted.
You don't want to own a car anymore.
You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.
You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving.
Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.
It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that.
We can transform former parking space into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide.
We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km.
That will save a million lives each year.
Most car companies might become bankrupt.
Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.
I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.
Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper.
Their car insurance business model will disappear.
REAL ESTATE WILL CHANGE.
Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.
Electric cars will become mainstream until 2020.
Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on electric.
Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact.
Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil.
The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.
WATER: With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water.
Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter.
We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.
Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.
HEALTH: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year.
There will be companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, you blood sample and you breath into it. It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease.
It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.
3D PRINTING: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000$ to $400 within 10 years.
In the same time, it became 100 times faster.
All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes.
Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports.
The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.
At the end of this year, new smartphones will have 3D scanning possibilities.
You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home.
In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-storey office building.
By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "in the future, do you think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?
If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.
And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed in to failure in the 21st century.
WORK: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.
There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.
AGRICULTURE: There will be a 100$ agricultural robot in the future.
Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields.
Aeroponics will need much less water.
The first petri dish produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018.
Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.
Imagine if we don't need that space anymore.
There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly.
It contains more protein than meat.
It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).
There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are.
Until 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying.
Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.
Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.
LONGEVITY: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year.
Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years.
The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year.
So we all might live for a long long time, probably way more than 100.
EDUCATION: The cheapest smartphones are already at 10$ in Africa and Asia.
Until 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smartphone.
That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.
Every child can use Khan academy for everything a child learns at school in First World countries.
We have already released our software in Indonesia and will release it in Arabic, Suaheli and Chinese this Summer, because I see an enormous potential.
We will give the English app for free, so that children in Africa can become fluent in English within half a year.......
Jaago... utth kar dekho...