Lesson 1: The future will be different.
Upcoming changes in cultural expectations and technological capability will disrupt our opinions of what matters most. As things shift, our decisions could create a world that is radically different from our own.
“People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.” - Yuval Noah Harari
Lesson 2: Consider alternative versions of the future.
When imagining the future, the purpose is not to make accurate predictions. In fact, accurate predictions are unlikely as humans are not very good at predicting (See: The Black Swan from Nicolas Nassim Taleb for more on this). Instead, forecasting the future has benefits unto itself: it helps us acknowledge that change is likely to occur and that we need to prepare to adapt.
“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.” - Yuval Noah Harari
Lesson 3: Prepare for reinvention.
We are preparing students for 50 year careers. They will see tremendous change during this time. To succeed, they will need to reinvent themselves. We can prepare for this process by asking:
-”Consider the challenge you want to work on. How will it change in the next 5 years? 10 years?” “What will you need to do to adapt?” Again, we are not looking for an accurate prediction. Rather, the acknowledgement that change is coming and that adapting is part of the process.
“Traditionally, life has been divided into two main parts: a period of learning followed by a period of working. Very soon this traditional model will become utterly obsolete, and the only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives, and to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Many if not most humans may be unable to do so.” - Yuval Noah Harari
#homodeus #careers #challengemindset #YuvalNoahHarari
Upcoming changes in cultural expectations and technological capability will disrupt our opinions of what matters most. As things shift, our decisions could create a world that is radically different from our own.
“People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.” - Yuval Noah Harari
Lesson 2: Consider alternative versions of the future.
When imagining the future, the purpose is not to make accurate predictions. In fact, accurate predictions are unlikely as humans are not very good at predicting (See: The Black Swan from Nicolas Nassim Taleb for more on this). Instead, forecasting the future has benefits unto itself: it helps us acknowledge that change is likely to occur and that we need to prepare to adapt.
“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.” - Yuval Noah Harari
Lesson 3: Prepare for reinvention.
We are preparing students for 50 year careers. They will see tremendous change during this time. To succeed, they will need to reinvent themselves. We can prepare for this process by asking:
-”Consider the challenge you want to work on. How will it change in the next 5 years? 10 years?” “What will you need to do to adapt?” Again, we are not looking for an accurate prediction. Rather, the acknowledgement that change is coming and that adapting is part of the process.
“Traditionally, life has been divided into two main parts: a period of learning followed by a period of working. Very soon this traditional model will become utterly obsolete, and the only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives, and to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Many if not most humans may be unable to do so.” - Yuval Noah Harari
#homodeus #careers #challengemindset #YuvalNoahHarari
