The Future of the Digital Space (part I: The Framework)

The future of the web and other digital technologies are extremely fascinating with a number of exciting trends showing face (globalization, language translation, wireless data transfer, mobile innovation, quantum computing, etc.)   But, it’s not really just about the future of the Digital Space.  It’s the future of how humans will interact with each other and their environments.

thoughts on thinking about the future

The future is vast and unknowable, but I believe it is perceivable as packets of insight trickle in like the first rays of sunrise.  When thinking about the future, it is important to create a framework based on concepts we understand in order to begin thinking about the future in a methodical way.  Otherwise, it becomes difficult to reach overarching insight from the thought exercise due to the limitations imposed by our random creativities and personal experiences.

Put another way, you could say I prefer to begin with a top-down constraint that answers the questions, “What is unchanging and how will this influence us?” as opposed to starting with “what are the limited set of observances I see and where might these go?”  I do think it’s important to use both, particularly when talking about the perceivable future.

the framework

But let’s get to it.  I’d like to frame the future of the Digital Space within the context of our own evolution.  Why?  We are products of evolution, and consequently, the Digital Space is a product of our evolved needs and propensities.  To make this point clear, think of the internet in terms of basic needs it fulfills (what’s the statistic of time spent looking for porn online?).  As the Digital Space continues to develop, it will continue to meet more of these intrinsic human needs.  Again, it’s not just about the future of the Digital World.  It’s the future of how humans will interact with each other and their environments.

It’s important to be aware that this is a thought experiment that ideally leads to expanded insight.  To state the experimental question directly, “if we were to view the Digital Space as a product of our own evolution, what might this mean for its future?”

In the forthcoming posts in this series, I’ll focus on some of these evolved behaviors and propensities, talk about them in terms of “bottom-up” observations, and offer thoughts on where they could take us. I’m not completely sure where it’ll lead, although I know there is value in the approach.  Your own thoughts and input will help guide the journey.

Kevin Vogelsang
6.20.2009

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