Shownotes
Welcome to Day 1513 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Proof Of A Futuristic Abundance Mindset – Ask Gramps
Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1513 of our Trek, and our focus on Fridays is the future technological and societal advances, so we call it Futuristic Fridays. My personality is one that has always been very future-oriented. Since my childhood, I have yearned for the exploration and discovery of new technologies and advancements for the future. I grew up with the original Star Trek series, and even today, as I am now on my 65th revolution around the sun, I still dream of traveling in space. Each week we will explore rapidly converging technologies and advancements, which will radically change our lives. At times, the topics may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but each area that we explore is already well on its way of becoming a reality over the next couple of decades.
To keep with our theme of “Ask Gramps,” I will put our weekly topics in the form of a question to get us on track. This week’s question is, Hey Gramps; last week, you challenged us to craft a futuristic abundance mindset. What type of data or proof do you have that will provide evidence of a futuristic abundance mindset?
Proof Of An Futuristic Abundance Mindset
Last week we drilled down on a futuristic abundance mindset. This week I will explore some data that will back up that mindset. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”
The world is getting better on many critical fronts. Many of us can’t see this good news because we are constantly bombarded by negative information online, on TV, and in newspapers.
So why are we fed “Negative/Crisis News” 24/7 on every device we own? Since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, our minds have been impacted negatively. Many mindsets view life as if we are surrounded by a world of severe and immediate danger.
To deal with this constant negative presence, our mindset becomes programmed to view much of life as scary and dangerous. It puts us on *red alert.* Because of our worldview, we pay 10x more attention to negative news than to positive information.
Because of this strange phenomenon, nearly every news source puts out 10x more negative stories than positive. It’s purely a matter of marketing for news sources. If they can capture our attention, it increases their advertising revenue.
“If it bleeds, it leads” is the saying. Since every TV news show’s job is to deliver your eyes to their advertisers, negative stories reign. Because of our mindset, we remain glued to the programming.
Do this experiment: Pick up your newspaper or go to any online news outlet and compare the ratio of negative to positive stories. It’s at least 10-to-1.
Last week, I discussed the benefits of a Futuristic Abundance Mindset. Today, we’re going to look at the *data-driven optimism* that comes from the overwhelming evidence as exponential technologies will improve access to well-care, cleaner, and renewable energy, reduce childhood mortality, and reduce global poverty, and many more items.
You may receive pushback from friends, family, even fellow Christ-followers as you talk about a hopeful and abundant future. That’s okay; show them the data below.
My mission is to inspire you, and to provide you with a hopeful, compelling, and abundant vision of the future. It’s essential for me to point out upfront that the world is improving because of exponential technologies -- not because we as humans are getting smarter or because politicians are becoming more capable.
All the improvements I will review are arguably a result of the continuous improvement of exponential technologies. Improvements will democratize, demonetize, and dematerialize access to products and services for the 8 billion people on Earth.
Let’s dive in…
We’re Living Longer & Child Mortality Rates are Falling
Life expectancy continues to climb. If you go to the Wisdom-Trek website and view the Wisdom Journal for today, you will see a series of charts covering our data points discussed today. Global life expectancy has been rising steadily since the turn of the 20th century, and has increased nearly three years in the last decade alone.
Life expectancy is now 72.6 years old, compared to life expectancy just a century ago when most people didn’t make it to 40. Perhaps more important than longevity is the dramatic decline in child mortality.
From 1990 to 2010, worldwide child mortality decreased by over 40%. In the last decade, it fell a further 26%. We can expect this trend to continue due to advances in technology.
We’re More Connected Than Ever Before
Today, nearly 60% of the world’s population has access to the internet. We passed the 50% milestone in 2018, and the trend is only accelerating. With such rapid progress, internet access may soon become a universal human privilege.
Increased Access to Clean and Renewable Energy
More people have access to reliable electricity today than at any point in history. More of our electricity is generated using clean-burning natural gas. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 90% of the world’s population now has access to electricity. That means over a billion people have gained access in the last decade.
Rapid Growth of Clean Natural Gas, Solar, and Wind Energy
Clean natural gas and humanity’s two primary renewable energy sources, have seen massive growth in the last decade. Clean natural gas is used in many power plants than ever before. In addition to that, Solar energy generation increased twenty-fold from 2010 to 2019.
During that same period, renewable energy generated by wind increased three-fold to 1,430 gigawatts.
Extreme Poverty is Declining
In the last ten years, we have reduced extreme global poverty by nearly half to 9.3% in 2020. If it weren’t for COVID-19, that number would be even lower. For example, the World Bank estimates that if the pandemic hadn’t ravaged the world economy, the global extreme poverty rate in 2020 would be 7.9%.
At the beginning of this episode, I mentioned that exponential technologies are the driving force behind many of the improvements we see. The good news is that those technologies are themselves increasing rapidly, both in terms of sophistication and adoption.
This trend of accelerating technological change not only provides endless opportunities for ambitious and energetic entrepreneurs. It also leads us to the compelling, hopeful, and abundant future that I know is possible.
As Christ-followers, all of these breakthroughs are great news as it provides us additional opportunities to build God’s kingdom here on earth. We of all peoples on earth should posess a futuristic abundance mindset and be living the rich and satisfying life Christ promised to us. Also, we should be sharing this life and resources with others.
As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday as we look at another exciting exponential technology area on our ‘Ask Gramps’ episode. Our next trek is Meditation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1512 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, but most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday!