Our Uncertain Future: When Digital Evolution, Global Warming and Automation Converge
Q and A with David MillsQ:  Why did you write "Our Uncertain Future? Over  the last ten years, I had become increasingly concerned that there were all these very different views about the future expressed by different experts, most ignoring the others.  I felt that a general  scientist who was not an expert in any of the fields should review all the findings and bring them together, to form the one most likely future.Q:  What makes you qualified to be that scientist? Over a long career, I have conducted scientific research in several major different fields and published a  hundred professional articles reporting this research, in areas as diverse as astrophysics, plasma physics, psychology, biology, neuroscience and biomedical research. My academic training includes advanced degrees in electrical engineering, physics and psychology, plus postdoctoral training in neuroscience. I read widely, and also ran an environmental web site for a number of years.Q:  What did you do to prepare for the book? I  studied all the fields thoroughly: climate change, automation, economics, history of technology, future of digital and other technologies.  This research included an analysis of more than fifty texts by experts in all the different fields, and many more scientific articles. Then I brought all the material together, several times.  I tried to look at the findings without prejudice, and frankly, I was a bit surprised by some of the conclusions.  Overall, I think the synthesis resulted in a balanced, yet positive view of our future.