CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN EXPONENTIAL TIMES
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Science is fickle like a pretty mercurial woman. It has the tendency to change from time to time. I believe a personality trait like that makes science interesting and worth pursuing.
Before 1880s scientists thought the world to consist of five continents. Then came Alfred Lothar Wegener to change that belief. This German scientist was the first to suggest that about 250 million years ago, there was one huge supercontinent known as Pangaea. Before this time, the real "beginning" is still shrouded in mystery.
For example, nanotechnology is hailed as life-saving science, perhaps like DDT and asbestos, it can be disowned for causing the world more problems in the health of plants and animals than anticipated previously.
Therefore, we should read these chapters with an open mind and refrain from becoming dogmatic about their nature and potential. Meanwhile, when different sciences morph, it is advisable that we get acquainted with the insights, innovations, and trends of scientific thinking in various fields. The main purpose is to help guide us in our efforts to move forward in business and social interactions.
The ideas presented in these chapters would help policy decision makers all over the world choose viable courses of action based on the current scientific principles. Equipped with avant-garde ideas, one would be able to navigate better through the mystery of life on the planet Earth.
Undoubtedly, we live in exponential times. The urgency of it all does cause one to pause and think about what the future holds. Due to new scientific discoveries, on account of new concepts, things are changing so rapidly in the landscape of life.
In fact, changes are constant in our personal and professional lives, and manufacturers need to consider the ways the world is changing in order to be relevant with the right products, processes, and service to capitalize on the future.
When we look at some of the trends, they will illustrate the fact that we live in exponential times. I hope you will find them interesting to read and reflect on them.
That knowledge is exploding is beyond any debate. Top management have a tremendous challenge to manage their own information and intellectual property, let alone be able to access and leverage the information available across the globe.
Time to market new products, services, and social and political ideas is evaporating. The time lag between a technical advance and the commercialization is disappearing. This makes new product development critical, but also further supports the need to rapidly discover and take advantage of knowledge anywhere in the world. It also means that top management will have to get their products right the first time, or someone else will take the market away from them.
Therefore, each chapter has the potential to help the reader, be it a student or a professional, understand the nature, limitations, and the prospects of emerging science and technology, the parameters of paradigm shifts in social and economic areas in exponential times.
By exponential times, it is figuratively meant that our society is growing in exponential leaps and bounds by virtue of new ideas. Hence, there are things we must realize to prepare for the future, to own our tomorrows. As John Galsworthy has warned us aptly: "If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one."
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About the Book
The already breathtaking pace of change experienced in the second decade of the 21st century is likely to continue and perhaps even accelerate in the years ahead. In his new book, Challenges and Opportunities in Exponential Times, Dr. Demirdjian confronts the issue of pervasive change head on. The author identifies important global, technological, social, and environmental dimensions of change and discusses them in a succinct but compelling manner. This book should be of value to today’s students, executives and all those who have keen interest in science and technology. The future ideas and innovations presented here are cerebrally stimulating. These readers will receive the full force of change and yet will also have the greatest stake in the future.
About the Author
Dr. Z. S. Andrew Demirdjian’s research interests lie in social and behavioral sciences. During his academic career, he has published hundreds of articles and hundreds of editorials in refereed journals and has received over thirty best article/author awards for his research studies. Dr. Demirdjian distinguishes himself as being more than a top-notch scholar, he has an extensive track record in consulting various profit and not-for-profit organizations spanning over twenty-five years. Excellence to most is an end; to him, it is an elusive target to pursue in his each and every professional endeavor. His recently published books include Perspectives in Consumer Behavior: An Anthropological Approach; The Demon in Diplomacy: Alliances Based on Affinity; Challenges and Opportunities in a Changing World: Insights, Innovations, and Trends; The Triangle of Trade in the Cradle of Civilization; and The Viability of a Worldwide Armenian Organization; The Dynamics of Organizing a Diaspora: The Quest for Unity; and Perspectives on Armenian Prospects: Challenges and Opportunities. Currently, he is writing two books: The Emergence of the Ottoman Empire: A Pattern of Passionate Behavior (a psychological analysis of the Turks during and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire) and Armenia: The Land of Dreams (on the past, present, and future of the Armenian nation for the commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.