๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ต
When I saw this image by artist Asier Sanz, I thought about the books by John Naisbitt*, the American futurist who wrote the โMegatrendsโ book series.
In his books, Naisbitt predicted significant changes in the nature of work in the 21st century, anticipating a move towards more flexible work arrangements, remote work, and the rise of the gig economy, driven by technological advancements and changing societal values. He explored the paradox of technology enhancing connectivity while often leading to social isolation.
In 1999, I had the opportunity to be up close with Naisbitt. He was in Kuala Lumpur for a forum titled โHigh Tech, High Touchโ following the publication of his latest book** of the same title.
As a young graduate, I was part of the event organizing team from the Inti Foundation. Naisbittโs work was thought-provoking for my young and curious mind.
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During the forum, Naisbitt emphasized the need to balance technological advancements with human touch and emotional well-being.
While I could somewhat relate to the โfutureโ he described, I had difficulty imagining how it might come to be. He predicted that we would eventually lose our โhigh touchโ with people as โhigh technologyโ evolves.
Two decades on from the forum, I find myself relating to his predictions much more.
Today, letโs reflect on our connections with people.
๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด?
๐๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ?
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ?
*John Naisbitt (1929โ2021), was an American author and public speaker in the area of futures studies. Naisbitt gained fame for his book โMegatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives,โ published in 1982, which became a bestseller and established him as a leading voice in futurism.
**High Tech High Touch: Technology and Our Accelerated Search for Meaning. Broadway Books, 1999.
