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Probable Tomorrows: How Science and Technology Will Transform Our Lives in the Next Twenty Years
a book by Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies
(our site's book review)
This 1997 book looks at probable developments in technology in the next 20 years. The one that may be a watershed for lifestyles in poor countries is the use of TVs, in our opinion. Cetron predicts that the world’s poor will have TVs run by the sun. That’s good, but it depends on what type of programming they'll be able to receive. The key question is will they respond to their new awareness by: (a) hating the world because they’re jealous of what we have, so they express themselves with terrorism and wars; (b) living a virtual reality life where they mostly escape into their TVs where life is so much nicer than their real lives; or (c) learning from what they see and showing the courage to rebel against all their old ways and adopt new ways that put them, slowly but surely, on the path to eventually ending their poverty?
Will the poor adopt new ways that lead them out of poverty?