Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance Episode 1 Part 4 pot

Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance (pre-publication on-line version) 47

b) Second, no one has mastered the challenge of building a citizen-focused genuinely interactive

system that allows people to get information when they want it, offer ideas in an effective

feedback loop, and organize themselves to be effective in a reasonably efficient and

convenient manner. When the size of the solution and the sophistication of the system come

together, we will have a new model of politics and government that will be as defining as the

thirty-second commercial and the phone bank have been.

The Political Challenge for the Coming Decade in America

For change to be successful, it is essential that we sincerely and aggressively communicate in ways

that are inclusive, not exclusive. Our political system cannot sustain effectiveness without being

inclusive. There are two principle reasons this strategy must be pursued:

4. A majority in the Age of Transitions will be inclusive. The American people have reached a

decisive conclusion that they want a unified nation with no discrimination, no bias, and no

exclusions based on race, religion, sex, or disability. A party or movement that is seen as

exclusionary will be a permanent minority. The majority political party in the Age of Transitions

will have solutions that improve the lives of the vast majority of Americans and will make special

efforts to recruit activists from minority groups, to communicate in minority media, and to work

with existing institutions in minority communities. For Republicans, this will mean a major effort

to attract and work with every American of every background. Only a visibly, aggressively

inclusive Republican Party will be capable of being a majority in the Age of Transitions.

xxxii) The ultimate arbiter of majority status in the next generation will be the Hispanic community.

The numbers are simple and indisputable. If Hispanics become Republican, the Republican Party

is the majority Party for the foreseeable future; if Hispanics become Democrat, the Republican

Party is the minority Party for at least a generation. On issues and values, Hispanics are very open

to the Republican Party. On historic affinity and networking among professional politicians and

activist groups, Democrats have an edge among Hispanics. There should be no higher priority for

American politicians than reaching out to and incorporating Hispanics at every level in every state.

George W. Bush, when he was governor of Texas, and Governor Jeb Bush have proven that

Republicans can be effectively inclusive and create a working partnership with Hispanics. Every

elected official and every candidate should follow their example.

Conclusion

These are examples of the kind of large changes that are going to be made available and even practical

by the Age of Transitions. The movement or political party that first understands the potential of the

Age of Transitions, develops an understanding of the operating principles of that Age, applies them to

creating better solutions, and then communicates those solutions in the language of everyday life will

have a great advantage in seeking to become a stable, governing majority.

This paper outlines the beginning of a process as big as the Progressive Era or the rise of Jacksonian

Democracy, the Republicans, the New Deal, or the conservative movement of Goldwater and Reagan.

This paper outlines the beginning of a journey, not its conclusion. It will take a lot of people learning,

experimenting, and exploring over the next decade to truly create the inevitable breakthrough.

References

Boulding, K.E. 1964. The meaning of the twentieth century: The great transition. New York: Harper and Row.

Deming, W.E. 1982. Quality, productivity, and competitive position. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Center

for Advanced Engineering Study.

48 A. Motivation and Outlook

Drucker, P.F. 1969. The age of discontinuity: Guideline to our changing society. New York: Harper and Row.

Kohn, L.T., J.M. Corrigan, and M.S. Donaldson (Committee on Healthcare in America, Institute of Medicine).

1999. To err is human: Building a safer health system. Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press.

Nie, N., S. Verba, and J.R. Petrovik. 1979. The changing American voter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press.

Tocqueville, A. de. 1848. Democracy in America. New York: Pratt, Woodford.

Womack, J.P., and D. Jones. 1996. Lean thinking. New York: Simon and Schuster.

ZONE OF CONVERGENCE BETWEEN BIO/INFO/NANO TECHNOLOGIES:

NASA’S NANOTECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE

S. Venneri, M. Hirschbein, M. Dastoor, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA’s mission encompasses space and Earth science, fundamental biological and physical research

(BPR), human exploration and development of space (HEDS), and a responsibility for providing

advanced technologies for aeronautics and space systems. In space science, agency missions are

providing deeper insight into the evolution of the solar system and its relationship to Earth; structure

and evolution of the universe at large; and both the origins and extent of life throughout the cosmos.

In Earth science, a fundamental focus is to provide, through observations and models, the role of the

physical, chemical, and biological processes in long-term climate change as well as push the

prediction capability of short-term weather. In addition, NASA’s challenge is to understand the

biosphere and its evolution and future health in the face of change wrought by humankind.

The goal of NASA for BPR is to conduct research to enable safe and productive human habitation of

space as well as to use the space environment as a laboratory to test the fundamental principals of

biology, physics, and chemistry. For HEDS, a long-term presence in low Earth orbit is being

accomplished with the space station. In the longer term, humans will venture beyond low earth orbit,

probably first to explore Mars, following a path blazed by robotic systems.

A critical element of science missions and HEDS is safe and affordable access to space and

dramatically reduced transit times for in-space transportation systems. In pursuance of this mission,

NASA needs tools and technologies that must push the present state of the art. NASA spacecraft must

function safely and reliably, on their own, far from Earth, in the extremely harsh space environment in

terms of radiation and temperature variance coupled with the absence of gravity. This places demands

on NASA technologies that are highly unique to the Agency. NASA’s aeronautics goals are focused

on developing technology to support new generations of aircraft that are safer, quieter, more fuel

efficient, environmentally cleaner, and more economical than today’s aircraft; as well as on

technology to enable new approaches to air systems management that can greatly expand the capacity

of our air space and make it even safer than it is today.

Virtually all of NASA’s vision for the future of space exploration — and new generations of aircraft

— is dependent upon mass, power requirements, and the size and intelligence of components that

make up air and space vehicles, spacecraft, and rovers. Dramatic increases in the strength-to-weight

ratio of structural materials offers the potential to reduce launch and flight costs to acceptable levels.

Such structural materials can also lead to increases in payload and range for aircraft, which can

translate into U.S. dominance of the world marketplace. Packing densities and power consumption are

absolutely critical to realizing the sophisticated on-board computing capability required for such

stressing applications as autonomous exploration of Europa for evidence of simple life forms or their