Name: The Inevitable
Rating: 4.2 (158 reviews)
Author: Kevin Kelly

What’s in it for me? Prepare yourself for the inevitable future.

In the future, will you be married to a handsome android? Will we travel in flying cars?

These blinks show you that the future is now. Computer technology and the internet are already fundamentally changing how we think and the ways we work, consume and relate to each other.

And the forces and ideas that inspired these changes are not going to go away but only get stronger. Let’s learn about the 12 distinct trends or forces that will shape society over the next decades.

In these blinks, you’ll also learn

why the concept of a “supermind” is more reality than science fiction;
how Uber provides faster service than regular cab companies; and
why in the future, there will be no more experts but only “newbies.”

Technology is constantly improving and always in flux.

How would you like to live in a utopia – a perfect world in which you never suffer yet also never change?

If this prospect sounds boring, don’t worry – this isn’t what the future holds.

Instead, what we’re experiencing and will continue to experience is a protopia – a world that keeps getting better, one baby step at a time.

In a protopia, things are always a bit better today than yesterday. For instance, even if some inventions produce problems such as higher energy demands, the benefits always outweigh the costs.

But living in a protopia also means that nothing is fixed. Technology moves forward, accelerating progress. To put it differently, everything is in a state of becoming – which means you and everyone else will always be “newbies” in this ever-evolving technological world.

No invention is ever finalized or fixed if each invention is a starting point for another invention or development. Just think of how the advent of personal computers paved the way for the internet.

Basically, all human technology is permanently moving forward, and this process, in which every innovation has the potential to trigger another innovation, will never be straightforward or predictable.

Because of this, the best predictions we can make about future events are generalized trends.

And since technology never stops improving, you’ll always feel like a newcomer no matter what you learned or experienced in the past. You’ll have to upgrade your devices to adapt to the evolving digital landscape – and we all know how long it takes to get used to new technology.

Your permanent newbie status is also a result of the decreasing longevity of devices and software, which means you likely won’t get to spend enough time with any technology to truly master it.

For example, the average lifespan of a smartphone app – the amount of time it takes a user to stop using the technology – is now 30 days.

So we now know that technology, especially information technology, never stops moving forward. Next, we’ll explore how this fact is tied to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.

Why buy goods when you can rent them instead? Possession will give way to access in the future.

In the not-so-distant past, possession, whether of a business or a good, was essential to engage in a commercial transaction.

Today the largest provider of accommodation in the world, Airbnb, owns none of the real estate it offers as rentals. This business is part of a larger trend, in which physical possession is less important and access is more important.

Virtual reality and screens will transform human interaction, bringing the world into our living rooms.

Virtual reality, or VR, is a form of simulation that is essentially fake but feels real, which is why it could change our lives.

For instance, the possibilities offered by VR will transform human interaction while increasing the actual number of interactions people have. Interacting is another key force that will affect the future.

Key ideas in The Inevitable

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, author of 14 books and contributing writer to publications such as the New York Times, Science and TIME magazine. Kelly was a college drop-out, opting instead to backpack through Asia and pursue his interests on his own. He also helped found the WELL, an influential online community.