When first hearing of our confirmed video conference with Dr. Ian Pearson I was skeptical of how the conference would go, due to the nature of our speakers profession; a futurist (he did have degrees in Science and Engineering from what I recall). This skepticism that I had coming into the conference only made the the conference better and a more enlightening experience.
Dr. Ian Pearson being a futurist, is asked by companies about future progressions in various different fields involving science, and technology to help these make proper investments into research and or products. These hypotheses into future needs are useful for any company wanting to make an item or service that would be used by many, which helps the company make more profit; this is the same with all companies for example Microsoft, Apple, Spotify, Netflix, and many more notable companies. During our video conference my classmates and I were able to in a way act like a company who is asking advice about future endeavors and changes we should expect to see. Each question asked by the class was answered thoroughly and thoughtfully, however Dr. Ian Pearson took some liberty in his own interpretation of the questions we asked which caused some bias and partially unrelated info to be talked about (Zoey’s expression was priceless).
Though sometimes a little scattered in thought from trying to decipher Pearson’s weird train of thought, I found all of his hypotheses and his work in helping create ideas and products quite fascinating. Especially when Thomas had asked about the inevitability of humans becoming interplanetary species; and also when Marc had asked about the future of music, which I believe he answered perfectly; when he talked about reinventing the way a guitar pickup system. l can say as a guitarist myself, I always wondered why the pickup system had been stagnant for the last sixty years. This leads me to one question I have about the profession a futurist.
Not too discredit Pearson or sound pompous in any way, his responses to the questions were close to my own beliefs and hypotheses about the future of technology and culture. I myself have always kept up with new forms of technology and innovations in almost all fields of study, particularly, cell phones, smart gadgets, materials such as ferrofluid and graphene, and most importantly space travel and colonization. With this knowledge I was able to deduce the same ideas, which leaves me wondering if being a “futurist” is really that hard. I still respect Dr. Ian Pearson but part of me feels many people can make these same hypotheses without any formal college education, like me.
Opinions on his Hypotheses
Colonizations of Mars first requires long term protection from solar radiation that comes in due to a lack of an atmosphere on the red planet. Unless he slimpfied this explanation it is a crucial point to bring up and the technology being invented to avoid diseases such as cancer.
The store where they carry one size would not work since I have seen my sister’s buy a dress and don't like the figure of it on their size, so I personally believe that might be a little more far fetched.
The global warming point is true but he made the politics behind it sound like a conspiracy theory.