Business as Unusual

Changes to government policies, such as healthcare and immigration, will drive substantial growth in America’s independent workforce. This will give more muscle to individuals and disrupt the status quo. Our traditional hierarchical model of corporate leadership will begin to decline as more collaborative, nimble forms of leadership are tested and proven. These changes will coincide with the expansion of “Maker culture” and a shift in the American workforce; as baby boomers exit, millennials will enter.

An Environmental Milestone

The level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere will reach its highest level in several million years. In 2015 the level of heat-trapping CO2 will exceed 400 parts per million, a 24% increase since 1958. Most science indicates that safe CO2 levels are somewhere between 300–350 parts per million.

Scientific Research Expands on Earth (suck it space)

Significant advances in large-scale research projects.

CERN’s particle smasher, the Large Hadron Collier, is back the hell in the game in 2015. It’s been offline for a couple of years.

Two very expensive, super tech science labs come online this year. First, the Allen Institute for Cell Science seeks to understand the fundamentals of cell behavior and gain insight into how defective behaviors arise. This is crucial to fighting disease in a meaningful way.

Second, The National Graphene Institute will research commercial uses for graphene, the thinnest compound known to man. Graphene is a two-dimensional material that is remarkably strong. It’s expected to drive advancements in battery energy, biotechnology, composite materials, semiconductors and electronics of all kinds.

Third, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) will complete a serious upgrade. LIGO is huge-scale physics experiment aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves, which are ripples in the curvature of spacetime. This is as close as we get to scientific research that could involve time travel. LIGO’s new system will increase the facility’s sensitivity by a factor of 10 or more, and it’s expected to transform gravitational wave science.

Finally, the Ocean Observatories Initiative (ODI) will change the way scientists study the ocean. ODI is a network that measures the physical, chemical, geological and biological variables in the ocean and seafloor, as well as the overlying atmosphere. It’s a fully integrated system that collects data on three scales: coastal, regional and global. It records ocean activity that influences climate, earthquakes and sea life, and it makes the data available to the public. Their research technology could be critical to our survival.

These projects are very important to understanding our planet and our survival, and they’re leaping forward in 2015.

Police and People

We The People—them the police. The People versus the police will continue its frightening spiral. Something has got to give.

Same-sex Marriage Supreme

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will be forced to decide whether states may ban gay marriage. The high court has sidestepped this debate, but their hands will be forced due to a split created in November when an appellate court upheld four states’ marriage bans. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 36 states. In 1967 SCOTUS decided to hear arguments against interracial bans, which existed in only 16 states. The number of states that allow same-sex marriage now surpasses the number that allowed interracial marriage when SCOTUS finally agreed to listen. America has reached a tipping point.

Conflict in the Middle East

Pressure for western involvement will increase. The region is more volatile and self-destructive than at any time in recent history. The resulting problems are global in reach, and they’re intensifying. A dilemma for those outside the region is that many people blame western intervention for the current situation, but increasing foreign intervention might be the solution for this clusterfuck. Calls for action from western governments will increase this year, especially if Syria’s fragmentation destroys their sovereignty, and Jihadis continue to receive funding from Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Consume Responsibly and Know Thyself 

“Honest” has become the new “wholesome,” and its importance will grow. People want to do business with responsible companies. We want to connect with products that have a soul. We want to know where our products come from, how they are made, who made them and what their producers’ values are. We’ll see the continued growth of what we now call “considered consumerism.”

The “cult of health” will gain strength. Wearable technology from companies like Apple and Sony will pair with healthcare and fitness software, cultivate self-awareness and guide us in our pursuit of healthy lifestyles. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Marijuana legalization will expand, as well.

Television, Television, Television

Sloped screens on televisions and computer monitors light up faces at electronic showcases later this year. The resolution quality of digital displays has surpassed the capabilities of the human eye. We’ll see less about resolution and more about advances in the color spectrum, like quantum dot technology and voxels. More importantly, à la carte entertainment will expand despite cable companies. Netflix, iTunes, HBO GO, PlayStation and Facebook will become channels on the dials.

Religious Extremism in the Middle East

Religious extremism will become a bigger challenge in the Middle East and beyond.

Fighting in Syria and the American withdrawal from Iraq increased violent potency of the fertile crescent. Few things propagate religious extremism more than poorly-educated, alienated young people who live in a place where all hope has been confined to the barrel of a gun. New crops of religious extremists will grow in an environment unlike anything we’ve seen before.

In 2014 we saw a linear successor to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS. This is alarming for several reasons. 1. ISIS became very organized very quickly. Previously, this level of organization developed over decades and was geographically limited. 2. ISIS is extremely violent and highly effective despite the loss of key leadership. Before 2014, the destruction of key leaders would effectively disperse extremist groups, but that hasn’t been the case with ISIS. Their progress in non-linear warfare has continued against the Syrian and Iraqi governments, as well as the Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish Peshmurga.

We can look for hope in events like the Anbar Awakening, in which local Sunnis pushed Al-Qaeda in Iraq out into social political fringes, but the uptick of sectarian conflicts may render any foreign intervention foolhardy. Religious extremism will become a bigger challenge in the Middle East and beyond.

Machines of Reason

Machine-based predictive reasoning will come to market. IBM’s Watson will utilize cognitive computing to help Anthem Inc. and oncologists treat cancer. Watson uses neurosynaptic chips that have features modeled on functions in biological brains and are more efficient at processing sensory data. Watson will consider the patient’s information, clinical evidence and treatment guidelines to help doctors select the best treatment option. This will also help streamline the health plan approval process, and Watson will get smarter along the way. He’s even learning to reason. So why isn’t Watson doing this right now? Because he’s freakin’ LEARNING about oncology as a field of medicine. His schooling should be complete late in 2015.

It’s likely that we’ll see various apps that access different versions of Watson, such as a consumer-oriented app with access to basic lifestyle information, or a sports-coaching app that accesses a database of statistics and strategies. Those $2.99 niche apps won’t get you access to oncologist Watson, but they will probably understand, and provide solutions, when we tell them things like, “My oven is broken, I’m allergic to mushrooms and I love tomatoes. What groceries should I buy so that I can have healthy meals for the next nine days?”

You just read the most Important thing on the internet. Congratulations. Get back to iTunes and Netflix now. You’ve earned it.

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Conversating: “Conversing” is probably what stupid people mean to say. This word has nothing to do with Chuck Taylors. “Conversate” is not a word, tell stupid people to stop using it.

Irregardless: Regardless of what George W. Bush says, this is not a word. So they’ve got regardless, which means to disregard, and they add the variant ir. That turns the freakin’ word into disdisregard. Stupid people are “not not regarding.” Irrgardless is not a word.

Verbidge: Okay, I get it. This is mostly laziness, it’s not necessarily stupidity, but it’s definitely not a word. Verbiage is what they mean to say and maybe you should point that out. Verbidge is not a word.

Undoubtably & Supposably: Someone took supposable and undoubtable and did horrible things with them. Then they made these words do horrible things with other words. It’s horrible. I think stupid people mean to say “undoubtedly” and “supposedly.”

I hope this didn’t make you feel offensive or nauseous.

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I learned that Old Glory is a portrait of everyone who has ever defended the maximization of individual freedom and the development of responsible government. I also learned that Texas is mostly brushy and that I can love Austin as much as I love the ocean. But the corporate world was still devoid or morality and I wouldn’t be proud to serve it.

Then I took a job at Apple and went to my first company meeting. Steve Jobs was taking questions from the audience and one guy said something like, “I know that Apple doesn’t get involved in political issues, but I was wondering if—“ Steve promptly interrupted, “Oh, do you mean Prop 8? Yeah, you’re going to be seeing Apple coming out against Prop 8.”

Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. I didn’t know much about Apple, but I thought corporations avoided topics this contentious, so I was surprised by this CEO’s response. When he continued, “We don’t see this as a political issue, it’s a human rights issue,” my neck snapped back, my eyes widened, and a smile stretched across my face. I looked around the room to see the reactions of my peers just as one of them looked in my direction. I’ll call her Sara.

Sara and I started working at Apple on the same day, we were in the same new employee training class, and we had the same reaction to our CEO’s response. I barely knew her but as we looked at each other with wide-eyed smiles, I’m certain that we were saying, “Dude! This is awesome! I can’t believe we work here!” I don’t remember much else about that meeting. I think Steve was wearing a black turtle neck and talking about technology or something, but I can’t be sure.

The whole thing left me a bit choked up and a surprisingly pleasant reality sunk into my bones (reality is usually kind of a bastard). It was a brief moment, a quick exchange between a two people whom I would never meet about a topic that doesn’t immediately affect my life, but that moment had a significant impact on me. I knew that I worked with awesome people but I didn’t expect any of them to share my level of excitement about our company’s commitment to equality — but they did —. I supported marriage equality but had never thought to consider it as a “human right” — but it was, and I was grateful for the new perspective. I successfully transitioned to a civilian corporation but I never thought I would be proud to be a part of it – but I was – and that really pulled on my feely strings.

I’ll proudly walk with Apple in Austin’s Pride Parade this Saturday. I’ll proudly wear a U.S. flag pin on my hat as well.

Cheers,
Stupidgregg

Inclusion inspires innovation

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