Almost everything we do involves making assumptions about the future. We put money into a retirement fund because we believe we’ll probably retire one day. We buy insurance because we want to protect ourselves from future risk. And we spend our Mondays slogging through email so that we (hopefully) have time for fun when the weekend arrives.
So if we’re going to be making these assumptions, shouldn’t they be as educated as possible? More knowledge about tomorrow means better decisions today—so if you’d like to discover what the world will look like a few decades from now, check out the five mind-blowing books below.
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Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
By Steven Johnson
As a species, we have doubled our life expectancy in just one hundred years. Extra Life tells the remarkable story of how that happened, and looks ahead to how we might add even more years to our lives in the future. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Steven Johnson, in the Next Big Idea App
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
By Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan
In ten gripping short stories, a former president of Google China teams up with a celebrated novelist to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Kai-Fu Lee, in the Next Big Idea App
How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos
By David Pogue
An Emmy-winning science and technology correspondent offers a practical and comprehensive guide to surviving what could be the greatest disaster of our time. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Pogue, in the Next Big Idea App
The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology Is Transforming Business, Politics, and Society
By Azeem Azhar
A renowned technology analyst offers a revelatory new model for understanding how technology is evolving so fast, and why it fundamentally alters the world. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Azeem Azhar, in the Next Big Idea App
Convergence: Technology, Business, and the Human-Centric Future
By Deborah Westphal
A leader in future-focused strategy leverages her experiences working with some of the world’s most innovative business leaders, to show how the interests of people (as human beings, not customers), overlap with those of companies in ways never before seen. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Deborah Westphal, in the Next Big Idea App
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