Brian David Johnson: Takes Cal into the Future

For The Curious,

When I was in high school, I could type better than I could do almost anything else.

I knew I was going to be a journalist and a writer – which meant I needed to know how to type. And I cannot remember focusing on any class during all of my high school years the way I lasered in on that keyboard during Miss Epstein’s class.

I wanted my words to sound like music when they came through my typewriter, and I suppose it felt like being able to play a musical instrument really well.

You can imagine how I felt decades later when smart phones came out and I found myself clumsily pecking on the miniature keyboard with two thumbs. My youngest daughter would yank the phone away from me with the rolling of her eyes and rap out the message.

Now, I come to learn in this week’s episode of Big Questions that in the not-too-distant future, keyboards will become obsolete. We won’t be using them anymore.

All this I discovered from Brian David Johnson – futurist in residence at Arizona State University. Our conversation was startling to me. I was startled because for the first time the many changes coming our way didn’t frighten me. My talk with Brian freed me to accept the technology that we have and all that we’re about to encounter. It simply presents another form of Miss Epstein’s class. I just need to step into it with the same sense of focus.

I hope that our conversation lifts you as much as it did me. Let me know. And send me a photo from wherever you listen to Big Questions. You never know -- I may show up in that exact spot with a Sportiqe hoodie for you.

Cheers,

Cal