Until now, each successive generation in the 20th century has spread its time and energy among larger and larger numbers of people … It is possible, against all expectations, that the Net will reverse this trend, allowing us to spend more and more time with a smaller and smaller number of people. If so, local cultures might in time reemerge from the world monoculture.
Predictor: Hapgood, Fred
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, Fred Hapgood, a science and technology writer based in Boston, writes: ”Until now, each successive generation in the 20th century has spread its time and energy among larger and larger numbers of people. Our great-grandparents might have known a few thousand people over their lives; most of us have spent at least a few hours with many tens of thousands. This is another way of describing the collapse of local cultures and the development of the world monoculture. It is possible, against all expectations, that the Net will reverse this trend, allowing us to spend more and more time with a smaller and smaller number of people. If so, local cultures might in time reemerge from the world monoculture.”
Biography:Fred Hapgood took on the role of moderator of the Nanosystems Interest Group at MIT and wrote a number of articles for Wired and other tech publications of the early 1990s. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Relationships
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Persistence of Locality
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.12/hapgood.if_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney