For Release Upon Receipt
Contact: Janice Zazinski, 617-353-4198 or [email protected]
From where (and why) you'll shop online to how you'll connect to your computer, Boston University professors have a range of predictions for the new millennium. Feel free to use these tips as is or call the faculty directly for an interview.
Successful societies will cooperate, not compete
Richard Landes, Associate Professor of History and Director, Center for Millennial Studies
Contact: 617-504-7837 (cell phone)
"The cultures in which the relationship between elite and commoners are built on trust and cooperation will do very well in the future. Those cultures rooted in suspicion with individuals that treat interactions as a zero sum game will be unable to attain economic initiatives and will lose out in the upcoming years. The motto 'Virtue is its own reward' will ring true in light of the Y2K crises/opportunity. Individuals with a desire to cooperate will be resilient -- viewing crises as opportunities. Those with fragile relationships and mistrust will see Y2K as a negative experience."
For better or worse, humans control evolution
Charles Cantor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chief Scientific Officer, Sequenom
Contact: Before December 25/after January 4: 619-350-0344; December 27 - 31 contact Dr. Cantor's assistant, Ann Butler 858-350-0345, ext. 378; [email protected] or [email protected]
"The more I reflect on it, the more I am forced to conclude that the next step in humankind's evolution is our acquisition of the power to control the evolution of our own species and all others on this planet. I can only hope we use this power wisely.
"I would be astounded if, by the end of the 21st century, the distinction between organisms and computers was not blurred. This will require some kind of interface whether it be electronic or chemical, but it will happen, and it will change our way of life more dramatically than the current computers have changed life in the 20th century."
Smart machines free our creativity
Erik Brisson, Manager of Graphics Programming, Scientific Computing and Visualization Group. Contact: Before December 25/after January 2: 617-353-8251 or 508-359-5228; December 25 ( January 2: 508-359-5575; [email protected]
"We already have machines which make other machines -- robots that build cars, for example. In the new millennium we will extend this capability significantly -- we will make things which make other things, which make other things, and so on through many levels. We will add the capability for these machines to design the next level as well -- exponentially increasing our power to create, both in numbers and complexity, in domains as diverse as mechanical devices, software, biological systems, and nanotechnology.
The arts will be a full-sensory, transcendent experience
Caroline Jones, Associate Professor of Contemporary Art and Criticism. Contact: December 24 - 26: 212-724-3223; December 27 - 30: 914-666-8044; after December 30, 617-868-2727 (before 9 p.m. only); [email protected]
"If past experience with human-constructed milestones is any guide, this millennium will see a surge in art that is both apocalyptic and euphoric. Installation art will increasingly incorporate subtle computer-based mechanisms, using remote sensing devices and the like to produce artworks that surround and respond to the presence and actions of the viewer. The mysteries of mentation and the social will prove far more enduring than the flash of optical wonders -- much art will seek transcendence, rapture, and ecstasy. I'm looking forward to it."
Inner cities: the new frontier
Dan Monti, Professor of Sociology and author of The American City: A Social and Cultural History (1999: Blackwell Publishers). Contact: 617-353-6609 (w); 617-964-3627 (h); [email protected]
"Newer immigrant populations and better-established minority groups, like Latinos and blacks, will reclaim many areas that became rundown in the middle of the century. They will find businesses receptive to their initiatives and learn to collaborate with corporate leaders in many profitable and socially beneficial ventures. Political leaders and government agencies will help in these initiatives, but they will not be as instrumental in setting them up as they once were."
The return of the Mom & Pop store, with a twist
Bruce Weinberg, Assistant Professor of Marketing and E-commerce, School of Management. Contact: 617-969-8435 (h); [email protected] (preferred)
"In the next millennium online shoppers will themselves become active sellers through their own Web-based store fronts. Most online merchants are aggressively seeking affiliates -- individuals whose web sites will steer traffic to their stores through special links in return for a commission." Weinberg says traditionally, people trusted the goods offered by Mom & Pop shops, and that these affiliate programs create a similarly trusted "family" store. "Online merchants may not have more customers, but they'll have better customers. The Mom & Pop shopper will implicitly trust the goods being offered because they trust the seller," he says.
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