Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

The times in which we live are marked by massive transformations; politically, socially, and scientifically, and on what feels like a daily basis. Our efforts to plan and forecast, even for periods as little as five years distant, have been predicated on the assumption that the current rate of progress will continue into impending periods. Author and inventor, Ray Kurzweil calls this the “Law of Accelerating Returns”. If we were to study a wide variety of technologies ranging from the electronic to the biological, via a multitude of gradations and measures, according to Kurzweil, we would find that our commonly held belief in a static rate of change is misguided. Change, progress, and advancement are occurring at an increasing rate.

Comments

This is the author's pre-print manuscript. The post-peer-review version is published in New Directions for Community Colleges, Special Issue: Technology Management. Volume 2011, Issue 154, pages 107–113, Summer 2011.

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