Danny Hillis, co-chairman of the technology and design firm Applied Minds, characterizes the present day as a "post-Enlightenment" point in time in which people no longer understand the technology that surrounds them. Branding it "the Entanglement Era," Hillis compares humanity's current relationship to the technological environment to its relationship to the natural environment, such as a jungle.SETTING THE CONTEXT: WHAT'S POSSIBLE, WHAT MATTERS, WHAT'S AHEAD World Changing Ideas A conversation between: Danny Hillis, Co-Chairman, Applied Minds Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief, Scientific American Compass Summit, a forum for true interaction and exchange, examines some of today's most pressing problems through the lens of global citizenship, recognizing that human ingenuity is an unlimited resource. Guided by NPR's Ira Flatow, an intimate group of some of the world's best thinkers and doers convened along the rugged Palos Verdes coastline on Oct 23-26, 2011 at Terranea Resort to engage in meaningful conversation, ask questions, and challenge ideas -- we invite you to join in the conversation. Danny Hillis is an inventor, scientist, author and engineer. While completing his doctorate at MIT, he pioneered the concept of parallel computers that is now the basis for most supercomputers, as well as the RAID disk array technology used to store large databases. He holds over 150 U.S. patents, covering parallel computers, disk arrays, forgery prevention methods, and various electronic and mechanical devices. Danny is also the designer of a 10,000-year mechanical clock. In addition to his leadership role at Applied Minds, he is co-chairman of The Long Now Foundation, Judge Widney professor of engineering and medicine of the University of Southern California, research professor of engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and professor of research medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and serves on the board of the Hertz Foundation. He has also served on the Science Board of the Santa Fe Institute, the Advisory Board of Yale's Institute for Biospheric Studies, and SETI Institute's Technical Advisory Committee.Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/10/24/World_Changing_IdeasSee More

Hi ResLong Now Research Fellow Stuart Candy brought to our attention this visualization, which shows projections of what sorts of technologies will be available in the future, how soon, and how important they will be. It was created by London-based designer Michell Zappa, who leads a ‘technological trend bureau’ called Envisioning Technology. Their website explains that they seek to describe “where society is inexorably heading in the near future.”Our research facilitates understanding the field for those who work in technology by painting a bigger picture of where the landscape is heading. In this, we try guide both corporations and public institutions in making better decisions about their (and society’s) future.via: Long Now FoundationSee More

In this clip from director Lily Frances Henderson's documentary, Lessons for the Living, a terminally ill woman talks about the dying people she's met with unexpected humor and grace - and is amused over her own, fast approaching, death. Lessons for the Living reveals a unique subculture of Hospice volunteers as they reflect on their experiences and philosophies of life and death. Among them, a teenager escapes from the drama of high school by sitting bed side with a man whispering wisdom to him only to bring his corpse to the morgue one day later. A hard-edged corporate lawyer searches for meaning and finds his experience with the dying worth more than his riches. A shaman passes through the heavy hospice door and communicates with people's nearly dead souls. A young woman cherishes seeing the very moment of passing and the song sung directly after.  However small or great these moments spent with the dying are, these volunteer's lives have been change forever. See More