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Brian Hoffstein

Contributing Writer

"To be is to do" - Socrates;
"To do is to be" - Sartre;
"Do Be Do Be Do" - Sinatra.

"to understand is to perceive patterns."

 


While a History course, for and of the ages, this “class” is ultimately the Cosmology of modern day Science. It encompasses the entirety of academia in one sweeping story of physics, astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, sociology, technology and beyond.
Just as religion informed the dawn of civilized man, so too do these 21st century stories act as a shield – protecting our sanity from an overwhelming sensation of entropic change. We are trying to find the signal in the noise. But increasingly, the noise is becoming louder and louder. It’s like this treadmill we’re running on has reached a speed we can’t keep up with. Today’s prowess Kairos is being pushed into yesterday’s fleeting Chronos. It’s a collision of dizzying proportions… everything happens now.
Fresh off the press from TEDGlobal, Marc Goodman’s talk on the future of crime has been causing a bit of stir on the blogosphere. Goodman is a global security advisor and futurist focused on the disruptive impact of technology in security, business and international affairs – and has a unique perspective about what the future may hold.
As Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Not being burdened by the failures of the past or the incompetencies of the present, the students’ forward-looking approach transforms these challenges into great opportunities.
The Matrix is real… and everyone here at NASA for the GSP has taken the red pill.  If you recall in the movie, Neo is startled, puzzled, and quite frankly […]
What’s the Big Idea? At TEDxSummit 2012, Hans Rosling predicted that mankind’s population threshold will be 10 Billion people. His talk was entitled Religion and Babies, as his goal was […]
The blogosphere won’t stop talking about the Facebook IPO story. The stock (FB), which has been publicly traded for less than 2 weeks, has fallen below $30/share and the bearish […]
The Economist hosted its “Ideas Economy” event this week at the Berkeley Haas School of Business to talk about disruptive technologies, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.  The focus of the event […]
The Being Human Conference, which took place at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts this weekend, was designed to explore the science of human experience. The speakers ranged from neuroscientists, […]
Scientists have a lot of influence over how we live our lives. This is mostly a good thing – and will help us weed out the snake oil from the spinach – but only a terribly naive optimist could think the “Mozart Effect” won’t strike again.
What’s the Big Idea? Officially released for the TED2012 conference, this clip (above) is the latest trailer for the upcoming summer blockbuster Prometheus. Director Ridley Scott has said the movie is set […]
Jason Silva says he is trying to share his techno-optimistic views in ways that inspire people with awe and wonder, and spark conversation within the greater “marketplace of ideas”.