The Future of Global Convergence

The idea of global convergence is that humanity, over the next 25 years, is headed toward unity. In this talk, I will outline the ways this convergence is unfolding across six broad domains of human experience: platform, economy, climate, curriculum, science, and culture. In each of these areas, there are regional distinctions, subgroup specifics, carveouts for special interests, but on the whole, each domain is trending in the direction of basic agreement, at least in terms of the underlying technologies and inputs. Global convergence means that we are increasingly meeting our most basic human needs in very similar ways. We don't yet know how this convergence will affect our most elevated pursuits: purpose, meaning, self-actualization. It's possible these could converge as well, but I believe that as we find unity in meeting our essential needs, there may be a divergence of expression and content at these upper levels of identity, and there will certainly continue to be a number of different national, political, and cultural arrangements through which people strive and aspire. There is resistance to the idea of global convergence, but the more we understand and accept our common needs, the better equipped we will be to pursue our divergent dreams. This video on “ The Future of Global Convergence” was commissioned by China Mobile as part of an online course. It is one of 36 lecture videos. A version with Chinese subtitles is available at Citic Migu: http://citic.cmread.com/zxHtml/listen... A transcript of the lecture in English is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kms-...