responsibility
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and, 14
pyramid of abundance and, 20
Rettberg, Randy, 128
reverse osmosis, 95
Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia (FARC), 208–10
Rheingold, Howard, 121
Rice, Condoleezza, 208
Ridley, Matt, 18, 38–42, 44–46, 48, 57, 102, 148, 176, 304
Rinne, April, 91
“rising billion”
achieving abundance and, 239
coffeehouses/idea exchange and, 148–50
in developing nations, 149–50
education and, 204
empowerment of, 204
food and, 204
as force for abundance, 144
meta-intelligence of, 149–50
possibility of abundance and, 10–11
resource curse and, 146–48
water and, 204
See also BoP (bottom of the pyramid) business; poverty/poor
risk
achieving abundance and, 239
evolution of great idea and, 227–29
getting comfortable with failure and, 233, 234–35
incentive prizes and, 222–23
innovation and, 222–23, 225, 227–35
neuroeconomics and, 229–30
supercredibility line and, 231–32
“Think Different” and, 232–33
tolerance for, 229
upside of failure and, 229–31
rival and nonrival goods, 151–52
river hydroelectric power, 269
Roberts, John, 39
robotics
aircraft and, 69
dangers of, 72, 293, 294, 298, 302
dematerialization and, 151
DIY and, 127
films about, 294
health care and, 197–99
incentive prizes for, 224
jobs and, 300–301
Singularity University program in, 57–58
as transformation technology, 10, 66–68, 72
UAVs and, 125–26
Robotics Technology Consortium, 68
Rockefeller, David, 139
Rockefeller, John D., 133
Rockefeller, John D. Jr., 295–96
Rockefeller, Justin, 133
Rockefeller Foundation, 130, 136
Roessler, Paul, 162
RollerCoaster Tycoon (game), 183
Romer, Paul, 151
rooftop gardening, 106–7
Rosedale, Philip, 300–301, 302
Rosenstock, Linda, 297
Rosling, Hans, 46–48
Ruf & Tuf jeans, 141
rural communities, 91, 92, 152, 177, 250
Rushkoff, Douglas, 301–2
Russell, William, 79
Rutan, Burt, 10, 123–25, 126, 229
Rutter, Brad, 192
Rwanda, 179
Sachs, Emanuel, 159
safety
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and, 14
progress and, 44
Sagan, Carl, 98–99
Sainte-Claire Deville, Henri, 4
Salen, Katie, 184
sanitation
charts about, 246–50
clean water goal and, 15–18
disease and, 98
Ethos and, 86
freedom and, 205
health/health care and, 196, 260
life expectancy and, 190
losses due to poor, 249
nanotechnology and, 94
need for water and, 86
optimism and pessimism and, 33
population and, 275
scarcity
as contextual, 4
dangers of exponential technologies and, 302
as dominating worldview, 6–7
Malthus views about, 6
as real concern, 217
violence and, 217
Schell, Jesse, 184
Schervish, Paul, 137
Schmidt, Eric, 34–35, 207, 211–12, 213
Schmidt, Wendy, 222
Schmidt Family Foundation, 222
“School of the Future” (MIT Media Lab), 177
Schrage, Michael, 234–35
Schultz, Howard, 85
Schulze, Helmut, 94
Scotch tape: MacGyver triad and, 193, 194
Scott, Ben, 207
seafood, 101, 109–12, 146, 257
Sears, Richard, 133
Segway, 88
self-improvement: as backbone of abundance, 20
self-organized learning environments (SOLES), 176
self-tracking: for health care, 203
semiconductor industry, 53
Senegal, 177
sensors
agriculture and, 108
bioterrorism and, 297
definition of, 62
energy and, 169–71
as “Internet of things,” 62–63
Singularity University programs about, 57–58
as transformation technology, 10, 16–63
SETI@home, 81
Settlers of Catan (game), 184
sewage systems, 256
See also fertility
SGI, 163
sharing
OPL principles and, 5
See also collaboration; cooperation
Sheldon, Lee, 184
Shell, 163
shelter
American spending for, 238
dangers of exponential technologies and, 301
pyramid of abundance and, 14, 15, 245
See also housing
Shirky, Clay, 83
Shiva, Vandana, 101
Shoemaker, Paul, 136–37
Siegel, Eliot, 193
Siegel, Marc, 33
Sierra Leone, 47–48
significance, desire for, 218
SimCity (game), 183
Singapore, 108
single-cell life forms, 77–78
The Singularity Is Near (Kurzweil), 55
Singularity Is Near projects, 281
Singularity University (SU)
Cerf lecture at, 61
danger of exponentials workshop at, 294
Made in Space and, 69
mission of, 73
programs and graduates of, 57–58, 73, 242
traditional academic institutions compared with, 56–57
See also Matternet
Skoll, Jeff, 135, 136, 137, 139, 295
Skoll Foundation, 135–36
Skype, 176
Slingshot (water purifier), 89–90, 91, 92, 205–6
small groups
as DIY innovators, 122–25
small-scale modular generation IV nuclear reactors (SMRs), 168–69
smart grid
for water, 95–97
smart phones, 83–84, 146, 148, 150, 153, 179, 186, 239, 287, 289
“Smart Pipe” project, 96
Smith, Patti Grace, 231
Smith, Peter, 176
Smith, Robert Angus, 39
SMRs (small-scale modular generation IV nuclear reactors), 168–69
social entrepreneurship, 86, 129–31, 135–36
social networking, 81
Social Ventures Partners Seattle, 137
societal contributions: pyramid of abundance and, 14
Socrates, 189
solar energy
amount of, 6
benefits of, 172
cost of, 158–59, 160, 172, 266, 268
energy poverty and, 157–58
health care and, 194
learning curve for, 268
maximum power contained in, 269
networks and sensors and, 171
production of, 172
vertical farming and, 256
Solazyme, 163
Sony, 158
Soros, George, 139
space flight, 123–25, 220, 221, 223–24, 225, 231–32
Space Shuttle, 124
Spaceship Earth (Ward), 119
SpaceShipOne, 124–25
specialization
academic institutions and, 56–57
benefits of technology and, 304
of cells, 78
evolution of technology and, 304
exponential technologies and, 57, 300–301
innovation and, 45
jobs and, 300–301
progress and, 44–46
pyramid of abundance and, 18
ultra-, 57
speech: freedom of, 205, 206–7, 208
The Spirit of St. Louis (Lindbergh), 220
spit: MacGyver triad and, 193, 195–96
“Splice It Yourself” (Carlson), 129
Sputnik, 53
standard of living
dangers of exponential technologies and, 301
definition of, 46
dematerialization and, 151
education and, 188
energy and, 167
exponential technologies and, 56, 58
progress and, 45
pyramid of abundance and, 18
Stanford, George, 168
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, 64
Stanford Racing Team, 64
Stanford Research Institute, 120
Stanford University, 57, 63, 64, 66, 73
Stanley (VW car), 64
“Star Wars” missile defense system, 97
Starbucks, 85–86
State Department, U.S., 208, 209, 210, 211
Stephenson, Neal, 187
Stoner, Richard, 106
Strano, Michael, 159
Strategy + Business journal, 141
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Habermas), 24
success: definition of, 180
Sullivan, Nicholas, 142
Summit, Scott, 303
sun. See light/lighting; solar energy
Sun Microsystems, 83, 150, 165
SunPower Corporation, 159, 267
Suntech Corporation, 150
supercomputers, 65, 192–93, 195–96, 290
See also Watson
supercredibility, line of, 231–32
surgery, 196–98
survival
amygdala role in, 32–34
optimism and pessimism and, 33
See also physiological needs
Sussman, Gerald, 128
sustainability movement, 141
Swanson, Dick, 159
Swanson’s law, 159
Swaziland, 145
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 25
Switzerland, 287
SyNAPSE (silicon chip), 65–66
Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI), 162, 163
Syria, 212
Tanzania, 25, 130, 145, 179, 275
Tata, Ratan, 8–9, 143, 144, 234
TCP/IP technology, 61
technology
as change agent, 24–25
developing nations as incubator for, 150
“disruptive,” 150
in history, 245
humanity as merging with, 303
lesson of alumnium and, 4
life cycle of, 292
population increase and, 245
possibility of abundance and, 9–11
predictions about trends in, 51
pyramid of abundance and, 24
rate of progress in, 48, 92, 218
as resource-liberating mechanism, 4
Ridley study of trends in, 40
and role of brain in information processing, 35
specialization and, 45
and technology engagement in children, 271
as unstoppable, 303–4
See also type of technology
Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conferences, 47, 185, 186
technophilanthropy
achieving abundance and, 239
cooperation and, 77
as force for abundance, 144
“Giving Pledge” and, 139
and how much is given, 138–39
hyperagents and, 137
importance of, 204
new breed of, 134–37
and number of philanthropists, 138–39
possibility of abundance and, 10
robber barons and, 132–34, 137
social entrepreneurship and, 135–36
telephone pole test, 28
telephones
exponential technologies and, 54
See also type of telephone
Templeton, Brad, 64
“ten to the ninth-plus” companies, 73
TerraPower, 168–69
terrorism, 168, 196, 211, 294–97
Text4Baby (Johnson & Johnson), 204
“Think Different,” 232–33
1366 Technologies, 159
Three Mile Island, 168
3Com Corporation, 170
3-D printing, 10, 68–69, 70, 201, 303
Thrun, Sebastian, 64
Thum, Peter, 85
Tiberius (Roman emperor), 3
tidal energy, 269
time
basic needs and, 40
cooperation and, 83
failure and, 234
freedom and, 206
incentive prizes and, 225
light and, 41
and possibility of abundance, 25–26
as resource, 40–44
Time magazine, 39, 130, 134, 230
toilets, 97–98
Tom Swift Jr. books, 52
Tomorrow’s Table (Ronald and Adamchak), 104
Torvalds, Linus, 81–82
Toshiba, 168
Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation, 157
transplants, organ, 201
transportation
in BoP communities, 143–44
development of, 41
global network for, 46
possibility of abundance and, 10
revolution in, 80
traveling wave reactor (TWR), 169
Tribogenics, 194
triboluminescence, 194
“triple-bottom-line investing,” 136
Turner, Ted, 139
23andMe, 202
Twitter, 206, 210, 212, 241, 296
Twitter Revolution, 24–25
two shoe salesmen story, 100
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke), 65
unemployment. See jobs
Unilever, 143
United Kingdom. See Great Britain
United Nations Educational, Scientific, And Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 188
United Nations (UN)
agroecology survey by, 114
database of, 46–48
Development Programme of, 155
energy reports/estimates of, 19, 155
Food and Agriculture Organization of, 106, 301
hunger studies by, 100
and Internet as human right, 206
social entrepreneurship and, 130
University of California, Berkeley, 73, 163
University of California, Los Angeles: bioterrorism work at, 297
University of Illinois: photosynthetic optimization studies at, 109
University of Maryland Medical School: and Watson at Medical School, 193
unmanned air vehicles (UAV), 125–27
urbanization
charts about, 273–79
See also cities
Urgent Threats Fund, 295
Uruguay, 178
Ushahidi (website), 206
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 13, 133
Venter, J. Craig, 8–9, 10, 58, 59–61, 162, 202, 225
venture capital industry, 218
vertical farming, 105–9, 114, 115, 255, 256
Vestas, 161
video games, 120, 138, 182–84, 186–87, 223, 239, 271
Vietnam, 275
Viking (spacecraft), 227–28, 229
Virgin Airlines, 163
“Visioneering” meetings (X PRIZE Foundation), 8–9, 132–33, 184
vitamins and minerals, 15, 100, 104, 113, 255, 259
Wadhwa, Vivek, 301
Walker, Joe, 123
See also World War II
Ward, Barbara, 119
WASH Advocacy Initiative, 17
Washington, D.C.: water in, 96
waste
dematerialization and, 152
in food chain, 255
nuclear power and, 168
processing/recycling of, 19, 109
pyramid of abundance and, 19
and smart grid for water, 95
water
accessibility to, 6
American spending for, 238
biofuels and, 164
BoP market and, 146
bottled, 87
capitalization and, 91
charts about, 246–50
cost of, 247
definition of abundance and, 13
desalination of, 94–95
distribution of earth’s, 246
and Earth as “pale blue dot,” 98–99
economy and, 249
energy and, 19, 87, 91, 95, 155, 172
estimated use of annual world, 248
exponential growth of, 96–97
food and agriculture and, 86, 87, 91, 95, 96, 101, 105–8, 109, 256
footprint for various products, 248
fossil, 87
freedom and, 206
goal of providing everyone with clean, 15–18
health/health care and, 87, 92, 196, 249, 259, 260
information about, 95
as information science, 96–97
infrastructure and, 91
innovation and, 87–88
as interdependent phenomenon, 18
Kamen innovations and, 88–91
learning from mistakes about, 90–91
life span and, 190
limits of growth and, 7
losses due to scarcity of, 249
Masdar as post-petroleum city and, 6
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and, 14
and need for combination of technologies, 93–95
optimism and pessimism and, 33
possibility of abundance and, 11
progress and, 42
pyramid of abundance and, 14, 15–18, 85–99, 245
“rising billion” and, 204
smart grid for, 95–97
testing for quality of, 146
time spent fetching, 247
unsafe, 259
waste, 256
See also hydroponics; oceans; sanitation
Water Innovations Alliance, 95
water purifier, Slingshot, 89–90, 91, 92, 205–6
WaterCredit, 91
Watson (IBM computer), 192–93, 196, 238
Watson, James, 128
Watson, Thomas Sr., 192
wealth
DALYs and, 259
Rosling study about distribution of, 47–48
See also money; rich-poor gap
weapons: exponential technologies and, 55
Webby Awards, 24
websites: about abundance, 206, 241–42
Weiss, Robert K., 224
well-being: income and, 237–39
Wells, H. G., 182
Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE, 222
Wertheimer, Max, 14
West, Geoffrey, 149
Westinghouse, 168
What the Dormouse Said (Markoff), 122
What Technology Wants (Kelly), 35, 52–53, 237
Wheeler, David, 157
Where Good Ideas Come From (Johnson), 148
Whitesides, George M., 70–71, 195
Whole Earth Catalog (WEC), 120, 121, 122
Whole Earth Discipline (Brand), 103
WikiLeaks, 206
Wikipedia, 83
Williams, Peter, 95
Willow Garage, 66–67
wind power, 41, 157, 161, 164, 165, 166, 171, 268, 269
Wing, Mike, 62
Wired magazine, 81, 120, 125, 129, 203, 295
Wohler, Frederick, 4
Wolfe, Tom, 119
in Africa, 156
education of, 188
energy and, 19
and goal of providing everyone with clean water, 17–18
Wood, Lowell, 97–98
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 221–22
Wooster, Stanton H., 219
Worden, Simon “Pete,” 57
World Health Organization (WHO), 16, 19, 70, 137, 196, 202, 295
World Is Witness (website), 206
World Wildlife Fund, 5
Worldwatch Institute, 101
worst-case fear scenarios, 33
Wozniak, Steve, 121
Wright, Robert, 78
Wurman, Richard Saul, 120
X-15 spacecraft, 123–24
X PRIZE Foundation, 8–9, 64, 132–33, 138, 184, 196, 220–26, 231–32, 242
x-ray machine, 194–95
Xbox Kinect (Microsoft), 199
Yahoo!, 66
Yeager, Chuck, 123
You Can Hear Me Now (Sullivan), 142
youth
empowerment of, 210
innovation and, 233
YouTube, 67, 84, 185, 212, 282
Zambia, 21