The Nature of the Future

“Socialstructing” and “Microcontributions”

Society is in the midst of a technological revolution, a powerful shift away from a world of industrial production and toward a new age of economics that values social connections and emotional rewards – a phenomenon known as “socialstructing.” The “amplified individual,” a man or woman who has access to collective intelligence and who is empowered by technology, stands at the core of this coming transformation in society and the global economy.

In the past, formal institutions such as universities, governments, hospitals, corporations and banks were responsible for organizing and safeguarding important societal structures. In the future, society will benefit from microcontributions from giant networks and connected communities. Using new social tools and technologies, these networks and communities will create value and wealth that disrupt today’s conventions, monetary frameworks, education, politics and health care. As the amplified future emerges, new individually designed and personally driven networks will give ordinary people access to communities and knowledge once available only to members of large or private institutions...