Future Proof This! A Blog that Exactly Does what the Title Suggests

The future is an unpredictable son of a b!@&%.

Who would’ve thought the same social media platforms we use to humble brag about our newly-formed abs/love life/baby would get comically populist world leaders like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Rodrigo Duterte elected?

Who would’ve thought that economic globalization that gave us access to tasty fast food, super-useful smartphones and affordable high fashion caused so much economic inequality especially in the most rapidly developing nations. Not to mention, so much waste and pollution.

Who would’ve thought I would care at all, because I myself am beneficiary of all this progress?

Well now I care, and you should too.

Future Proof This! is a series of thought experiments about the consequences of technological innovation, done in a written blog + web cartoon combo.

Like those cheese + cracker cylindrical stuffed snacks some of us love, this blog is a delicious combination of crunchy thought-provokers, and creamy visual art with aim of exciting your taste buds of inquisitiveness about the massive all-you-can-eat buffet we call “the future of the human race”.

(FYI in the future, figurative language will be overused and rendered obsolete)

According to Wikipedia future-proofing “is the process of anticipating the future and developing methods of minimizing the effects of shocks and stresses and future events.”

It’s supposed to be long-drawn systemic approach, which I do (somewhat) apply, but in a more shortcutty way, that, I hope, opens up the reader for further investigation and debate around the issues.

What I’m trying to do is a lot less about precise predictions, but rather envisioning potential scenarios that current and planned innovative, often technological solutions entail, their possible negative consequences, and potential solutions to help mitigate or even avoid such consequences.

In other words, I’m party-pooping future innovation.

Not because I hate innovation, but rather I’m trying to help others think about how to make it better, make them less likely to screw up the world.

I’m talking about various degrees of negative impact. Remember the likes of hair-sprays damaging the ozone, social media spreading hate and misinformation, plastic bags contaminating everything in the environment, to coal plants contributing to climate change, and nuclear weapons potentially annihilating the human race….that kind of stuff, but I’ll be focusing more on the future innovations that we currently love to rave about: things like driverless cars, alternative meat, designer babies, digital democracies and other progressive solutions that seem conceptually great, but require further thought before implementation.

And instead of writing long-ass, boring white papers, I do it in the methods I know how to do best: silly drawings and concise articles that attempt to be funny and provocative.

Why? Because I figured people respond well to visuals, and most people only have the attention span to read around 1,000 words in one bus ride.

Most importantly, I believe a comedic approach incites the audience to open up their minds to new ideas. Have you ever wondered why you’re laughing but receptive towards the absurd ideas that John Oliver presents to us in “Last Week Tonight”?

Audiences are mistrustful skeptics, and comedy is a way to disarm their guarded minds.

Besides, it just makes for a good read for a bored, corporate zombie riding the train (i.e. me).

And who knows, that corporate zombie could be an influential decision maker in a hugely influential technology company, and hopefully I’ll be able to make her/him more thoughtful about the impact of the work he’s doing.

Wait…who am I kidding. Rich, influential people don’t ride trains. Silly me.

Anyway, stay tuned!