Psychological neotency

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Psycho what? Psychological neotency is a theory developed by Professor Bruce Charlton at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (UK) that says that the increased level of immaturity among adults is an evolutionary response to increased change and uncertainty. This initially sounds like a ridiculous suggestion, but it does make a certain amount of sense if you stop to consider the argument. Humanity has long held youth in high esteem, originally because it was a sign of fertility and health, which were important prerequisites for hunting and reproduction. In ‘fixed’ environments, psychological maturity was useful because it indicated experience and wisdom.

However, sometime in the latter part of the past century, child-like youthfulness started to have a new function which was to remain adaptive to a changing environment. In other words, if jobs, skills, and technology are all in a state of flux it is important to remain open-minded about learning new skills – and the best way to do this is to retain a child-like state of receptivity and cognitive flexibility.

Previously the phenomenon of adults behaving like children has been seen as a negative trend, but it may not be such a bad thing after all. For example, retaining the adolescent attitudes and behaviour of youth (for example, short attention spans or novelty seeking) could be seen as essential prerequisites for innovators. Equally, there is a significant amount of evidence to suggest that the most creative thinkers in modern society are ‘immature’ compared to historical precedents.

Of course this theory also justifies lying around doing nothing, so perhaps more research is required. The only problem is who should do it – immature professors or immature students?

New book about the shape of things to come

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If you are wondering how my new book is coming along, see the photograph above.

I’ve written the preface and started on chapter one, but I keep getting distracted (the latest distraction being the dog who went outside, found a rabbit and ate it, fur, feet and all).

Anyway, here’s my draft chapter list. Any thoughts out there? What have I missed?

Part One: Right here, right now

1. Society & Culture: Digital vs. human
2. Economy & Money: Only a bubble when it bursts
3. Science & Technology: Too fast, too future
4. Media & Entertainment: Afraid of being invisible
5. Transport: Self-driving planes, trains & automobiles
6. Food & Water: Obese, undernourished & thirsty
7. Retail & Leisure: We can print that in your size
8. Healthcare & Medicine: The computer will see you now
9. Travel & Tourism: Re-connecting with reality
10. Environment & Resources: A scramble for security
11. Home & Family: The real robot revolution
12. Education & Learning: Your teacher is an app
13. Work & Business: The end of globalisation
14. War, Peace & Politics: The weak grow strong
15. Religion & immortality: Is death the new sex?

Daily Stat

It’s been a while since we had a statistic, so here’s a good one. Of the 21 million homes in the UK with a front garden, around 33% have been turned into parking spaces for cars over the last 20 years. That’s 14,200 hectares of oxygen producing, sound absorbing, and water absorbing green space that’s vanished.

Out and About

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Here’s a first. I just had an email from Jesus! I could be making a giant mistake, but I put him in my spam file. On a totally unrelated note (unless Jesus is lying low in the Netherlands) I’ve just been to Amsterdam for the second time in a month and found some great graffiti. I also love the art gallery and library in the airport.

BTW, if you are planning a visit I can highly recommend an Asian fusion restaurant called Momo and the best steakhouse this side of Texas called Julius.

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Future Orientation

Not sure I get this, but I thought I’d share. Needs more info I’d say…at least an example.

“The structure of the language spoken by a company’s top team affects the firm’s planning for the future, according to doctoral student Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis of Harvard Business School, and two colleagues. If the language is English, Spanish, or one of many others that use mainly grammar, rather than context, to distinguish present from future (“It is raining,” “It will rain”), people tend to focus less on the future, presumably because it seems more distant. On corporate social responsibility, which is a highly future-oriented activity, firms in countries speaking these “strong-future-time-reference” languages under-perform firms in weak-future-time-reference countries by more than 1.2 grade on a 7-step scale, the researchers say.”

Harvard Business Review, Daily Stat, 4 April 2024