There’s a kind of gymnastic ability just mentally that’s needed to stay with this kind of thing, so there is a frightening aspect to it. I think part of what we’ll be doing over the next decade or so is figuring out some ways to somehow make ourselves comfortable with that, maybe by slowing down the pace of change. We don’t want to live with things that break that bad – if a whole Net goes down it takes down the international currency with it, things like this. “OK, that’s a problem – let’s slow down.” That’s one way it might slow down. Another one is just people saying, “This is too fast, I can’t bear it.” And that’s, I think, the likelier way it’ll go.
Predictor: Brand, Stewart
Prediction, in context:In an interview that aired on PBS-TV in 1995, Internet pioneer Stewart Brand said:”When I look at the pace of change constantly increasing, it’s both awesome and exciting, and I think, ‘How do we keep up? How do I keep up?’ As I get older – I’m 56 now – how am I going to keep up? You know, another 10 years with all this stuff coming along … By competing with 16-year-olds … There’s a kind of gymnastic ability just mentally that’s needed to stay with this kind of thing, so there is a frightening aspect to it. I think part of what we’ll be doing over the next decade or so is figuring out some ways to somehow make ourselves comfortable with that, maybe by slowing down the pace of change. We don’t want to live with things that break that bad – if a whole Net goes down it takes down the international currency with it, things like this. “OK, that’s a problem – let’s slow down.” That’s one way it might slow down. Another one is just people saying, “This is too fast, I can’t bear it.” And that’s, I think, the likelier way it’ll go.”
Biography:Stewart Brand founded Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL) in 1985 with Larry Brilliant. This was one of the first and most intellectually active online “communities.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: June 15, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Information Overload
Name of publication: PBS-TV Interview in San Francisco
Title, headline, chapter name: High Stakes in Cyberspace
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cyberspace/brand.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney