Peter Diamandis: the future is faster than you think!the future is faster than you think!

Having Peter Diamandis back on the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE podcast to talk about his important new book “The Future is Faster Than You Think” gave a much-needed dose of motivation and optimism to my week. He has a remarkable ability to not just envision a better future, but also take action to secure it.

The influence that Star Trek had on him growing up can’t be overstated. That fictional universe — a beacon of tolerance, diversity, and trust in science and technology — inspired Peter to become an entrepreneur, creating that kind of world rather than simply wishing it existed.

Accordingly, we talked about the Tricorder XPRIZE competition, which encouraged the development of medical technology that Star Trek fans will recognize. The Arthur C. Clarke Center’s director, Dr. Erik Viirre, was also involved and the devices were tested at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine.

Because every conversation seems to lead back to COVID-19 these days, Peter and I discussed how the timeline of the inevitable push towards virtual health care has been accelerated by the pandemic. It’s clear that if AI is going to live up to its potential, the human race has to get started on the hard work it will take to undergo the transition from human intelligence to artificial intelligence.

I worry about the potential for misuse of advanced technology though. Widespread use of GPS leads to people lacking spatial intelligence. Shorter attention spans affect our capacity for deep thoughts and discussion. There’s always going to be technological advancements to compensate, but what are the repercussions of that? If obesity and heart disease are symptoms of developing technology to relieve us of physical labor, what are the cognitive analogs?

I also wonder whether the democratization of all technology is a good thing, or if there should be limits. Peter, again, is more optimistic. Or pragmatic, at least. When I asked him about the potential for misuse, he argued that humans are by and large already held accountable. And newer technologies only make it harder to do things in secret, which encourages people who may not do the right thing out of altruism to do it out of fear of consequences.

We only barely touched on the obvious privacy implications, that could be a whole episode in and of itself! But his attitude about the democratization of technology — that it is inevitable, it’s happening so we might as well make sure it’s working for good — will stay with me.

See some of Peter’s pix here: https://www.diamandis.com/photo-gallery

We also talked about the subject of my favorite chapter in the book, education. Again, the pandemic’s influence could be felt as Peter talked about homeschooling his twins during the crisis and whether to pursue that option long term rather than pay for an expensive private school education. But his idea of acceptance to universities as a life-long subscription, that we need to renew our degrees to keep up with the times, is signature Peter Diamandis — revolutionary but also seemingly obvious as soon as one hears it.

While we didn’t get to spend as much time on the 5 questions that I like to ask all authors (because Peter had to take a call from the governor of Utah!), his answer to advice he’d give his 20 year old self sets a gold standard. “The ability to start companies as quickly as possible and find amazing people and go after moonshots,” he said. “I don’t have to read about someone else or hope someone else is going to go and do this thing, build this thing. I can do that.”

I thank Peter for the interview and for being a long term supporter of the podcast. He appeared on the fourth ever episode of INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE in 2016! His involvement with the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego is remarkable considering he knew our namesake well. Peter talks about their first meeting and it’s just one of many amazing stories from his astounding career connecting with the great minds of our time.

Some resources and links:

Buy books by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler:

The Future is Faster Than You Think https://amzn.to/3bHGqlX

BOLD: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World https://amzn.to/3f5G0b8

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think https://amzn.to/2YbnJTy

Watch the documentary VISIONEER: The Peter Diamandis Story on Amazon

Read Peter’s Laws: The Creed of the Passionate and Persistent Mind

Find Peter Diamandis on the web and Twitter: @PeterDiamandis

Find Brian Keating on Twitter @DrBrianKeating and YouTube

Please subscribe, rate, and review the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast on iTunes for a chance to win a copy of Diamandis’ latest book: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-impossible/id1169885840?mt=2

Diamandis is a graduate of MIT and Harvard and Medical School. While still in school himself, he co-founded The International Space University which boasts multiple astronauts as alumni. He also co-founded the weightless flight company Zero G, also providing training flights for NASA. He and Steven Kotler have written two previous bestselling books together. He co-hosts the podcast Exponential Wisdom with Dan Sullivan.

“The Future is Faster Than You Think” is the third book Peter has written with Steven Kotler.