Book Review: 5 Trends for the future

Memories of Alvin Toffler and his Future Shock come flooding back in this stimulating and clever look at our potential future. Filled with provocative forecasts about how the world might change in the next half century, Future Files examines emerging patterns and developments in society, technology, economy, and business, making educated speculations as to where they might take us.

However, Future Files is not primarily about prediction. Its goal is to liberate our collective and individual imaginations so that we can see the familiar in a new light, the unfamiliar with greater clarity, and to make individuals and organisations think about where we are going and to consider whether, when we get there, it will be worth staying.

Prediction is a dangerous game - the future is never a straight, linear extrapolation from the present. Unexpected innovations and events will conspire to trip up the best-laid plans, but it’s better than not thinking about the future at all.

The 5 most important trends for the next 50 years are:

1. Ageing


2. Power Shift Eastwards


3. Global Connectivity


4. GRIN Technologies - Genetics, Robotics, Internet and Nanotechnology


5. The Environment

developments, as well as providing rich and fascinating material for dinner party conversations:

• Will machines become more intelligent than humans, and even be able to 'read' our minds?


• Will foods in our fridge speak to each other using radio waves and then come up with options for tonight's menu?


• Would you like a pill that improves your memory?


• Or a moistened tissue that could erase a bad day?


• Would you feel safer if your front door could tell you whether the person knocking is not a stranger?

These are just some of the challenging forecasts about how the world might change in the next 50 years which Richard Watson explores in Future Files.

British writer Richard Watson advises organisations on the future, focusing on innovation and scenario planning. He is the author and publisher of What’s Next, a quarterly report on global trends and he also writes about trends for a number of other publications.

His clients have included IBM, Virgin, Toyota, McDonald's, Tesco, News Limited, Westfield, Unilever, Coca-Cola and the Department of Education. A regular visitor to the UK, he maintains a website and blog at http://toptrends.nowandnext.com and is Chief Futurist at the Future Exploration Network, and a member of Futures House.

“Provocative, entertaining, and full of surprising facts. A book to help you decide whether the world is going mad or possibly becoming more intelligent.” Theodore Zeldin, author of An Intimate History of Humanity

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