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Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War
For years we’ve been inundated with bleak forecasts about the future. But in this electrifying new book, author Byron Reese debunks the pessimistic outlook as dangerous, and shows instead how technology will soon create a dramatically better world for every person on earth, beyond anything we have dared to imagine. With the art of a storyteller, Reese synthesizes history, technology, and sociology into an exciting, fast-moving narrative that shows how technological change has had dramatic effects on humanity in the past. He then looks forward at the technological changes we know are coming⎯from genetics, nanotechnology, robotics, and many other fields⎯and explores how they will vastly increase wealth, prolong our lifespans, redefine human rights, and alter the social fabric of the world. Reese explains how the Internet, human ingenuity, and technological innovation will help us forever end the five historic plagues of human ignorance, disease, poverty, hunger, and war. With a rational and researched optimism, Reese sees the future not as a world in a downward spiral, but as destined for progress beyond our imaginations. As Reese looks forward, he notes that “we are gaining speed, not winding down. We are blooming, not withering, as we leverage the greatest natural resource on the the human mind.” The future of Earth’s inhabitants has never been brighter. If you want to get excited about the future, then this is the book for you.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2013
25 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 9, 2013
I have to admit to not being very impressed by this book. I was sent a pre-publication review copy, but I decided not to review the book. The premise of the book is quite simple - we are entering an era where technology inspired abundance will help us to solve all of the problems of the world. That may be so, but I didn't find the arguments convincing.
In the one area I know a bit about - The End Of Poverty - I found the descriptions simplistic beyond belief. For example, there is a basic confusion between income (the flow of assets coming to you) and wealth (the stock of assets one owns at any given point in time). The mistake starts there, and is then amplified throughout the chapter, which results in a very unconvincing conclusion.
I don't think that I would recommend this book at all. I find the premise a bit narrow, and, at times, the text to be a bit too value laden with values that I don't share.
In the one area I know a bit about - The End Of Poverty - I found the descriptions simplistic beyond belief. For example, there is a basic confusion between income (the flow of assets coming to you) and wealth (the stock of assets one owns at any given point in time). The mistake starts there, and is then amplified throughout the chapter, which results in a very unconvincing conclusion.
I don't think that I would recommend this book at all. I find the premise a bit narrow, and, at times, the text to be a bit too value laden with values that I don't share.
February 21, 2013
At a time when every street corner, book store, and news broadcast is filled with dire predictions, it's refreshing to hear a positive outlook on our future. Even better that this future talk is steeped in history and fortified by cutting edge technology. I heard the author in a speech last week say that there's something to offend everyone. Maybe so, but I'd also say there's something for everyone. Each chapter builds its argument carefully, so it's valuable to read from the beginning to the end, but I do think it might be okay to jump to the topic you care most about-- hunger, poverty, etc.
August 24, 2015
I didn't end up finishing this one. I think the vision of the future that Mr. Reese puts forward is thought provoking, but frankly, that's all it was. If you need to hear an optimistic vision of the future with a reasonably compelling argument as to why the optimism is warranted, this might be a good choice for you.
However, if you, like I do, prefer reading something that spurs action, teaches you something new or inspires a change in your overall world view, this is probably going to be a let down. It's an (amusing, well written and mostly enjoyable) dissertation on the inevitability of the impact of technology rather than a call to action.
However, if you, like I do, prefer reading something that spurs action, teaches you something new or inspires a change in your overall world view, this is probably going to be a let down. It's an (amusing, well written and mostly enjoyable) dissertation on the inevitability of the impact of technology rather than a call to action.
April 6, 2013
I only got about 1/4 through the book and I had to put it down. Maybe it will get better after the first quarter. I almost always finish books but this was just too vapid.
The book suffers from being very boring as it has nothing new to bring to the table. It has all been said better before by many others other (Kurzweil, Matt Ridley etc). The author projects an embarrassing childlike fascination with the internet (and technology) and its capabilities that made me double check the date of publication. It would have been fine in the 1990's (or 1950's) but not in 2013.
The book suffers from being very boring as it has nothing new to bring to the table. It has all been said better before by many others other (Kurzweil, Matt Ridley etc). The author projects an embarrassing childlike fascination with the internet (and technology) and its capabilities that made me double check the date of publication. It would have been fine in the 1990's (or 1950's) but not in 2013.
January 21, 2024
I'm not sure what all the negative reviews are about, this book was life and perspective-changing for me! Sure it is all theoretical, as he tries to demonstrate a beautiful future full of potential, opportunity, and improvement. Maybe those who have a more pessimistic view or think they are a genius would not like this book. Rather than encouraging the reader to take his explanations at face value as capital T-true (and he tells you that he is not sure what the future will be like in the book) he simply states that he believes the future is only getting brighter for humanity, and that, while we will always have problems, he can see a day when our current problems will resolve or that they will become so insignificant that we will not worry about them anymore. He provides, what I thought to be, very reasonable scenarios for why our problems in disease, war, standard of living, society, health, etc. could largely improve.
This guy is SMART! He makes things very simple and is very good at identifying the root causes and effects of things. He does not pretend to know it all, and his purpose is to merely provide alternative ways of thinking about the problems of our day. If you like to make things more complicated than they need to be, this book is not for you. If you are a pessimist or have a bleak view of humanity and its nature, you might not like this book. If you like to have your mind changed about things, to be able to look at things a different way alternative to the common narrative of the media and popular doom and gloom opinion, this book IS for you! I simply thought it was amazing :) Full of hope and inspiration, with logical conclusions as to why things will always get better :)
This guy is SMART! He makes things very simple and is very good at identifying the root causes and effects of things. He does not pretend to know it all, and his purpose is to merely provide alternative ways of thinking about the problems of our day. If you like to make things more complicated than they need to be, this book is not for you. If you are a pessimist or have a bleak view of humanity and its nature, you might not like this book. If you like to have your mind changed about things, to be able to look at things a different way alternative to the common narrative of the media and popular doom and gloom opinion, this book IS for you! I simply thought it was amazing :) Full of hope and inspiration, with logical conclusions as to why things will always get better :)
November 6, 2024
4.5 stars 🤩
Byron is such a joy to read, an optimistic historian and futurist, he bases all his opinions on the historical data we have, trends we have seen and realises that not all progression is linear. We couldn't have predicted the smart phone before mobile phones existed, or most likely even after. We couldn't have predicted social media when people were still using typewriters, and so on. But Reese provides compelling evidence that's not too caught up in the how, but the why. After listening to these arguments it seems obvious the end of most of our suffering is on its way. Optimistic, yes, but look how far we've come in such a short time.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C Clarke.
Whatever seems impossible is almost definitely a future reality. Just because we cannot imagine how something can come about, doesn't mean it can't come. As stated before, we couldn't have imagined the device I'm writing this review on 30 years ago. In 30 years we'll be using technologies far greater than we can comprehend now. We are going to be the last snapshot in time before the intelligence explosion and nothing will be the same.
This book is a little bit dated now, so when Reese says change is coming soon, it wasn't as soon as he thought. BUT it most certainly is coming. It is either going to bring about the destruction of us all, or save and allow us prosperous lives. I believe a bright future is coming, all signs point to it. Reece lays out how historically bad things were and despite our current woes, they are a far cry from ww1 or the time of the Black Death. We constantly take for granted how good we have it, but in the future we'll wonder how we ever lived as we have.
Byron is such a joy to read, an optimistic historian and futurist, he bases all his opinions on the historical data we have, trends we have seen and realises that not all progression is linear. We couldn't have predicted the smart phone before mobile phones existed, or most likely even after. We couldn't have predicted social media when people were still using typewriters, and so on. But Reese provides compelling evidence that's not too caught up in the how, but the why. After listening to these arguments it seems obvious the end of most of our suffering is on its way. Optimistic, yes, but look how far we've come in such a short time.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C Clarke.
Whatever seems impossible is almost definitely a future reality. Just because we cannot imagine how something can come about, doesn't mean it can't come. As stated before, we couldn't have imagined the device I'm writing this review on 30 years ago. In 30 years we'll be using technologies far greater than we can comprehend now. We are going to be the last snapshot in time before the intelligence explosion and nothing will be the same.
This book is a little bit dated now, so when Reese says change is coming soon, it wasn't as soon as he thought. BUT it most certainly is coming. It is either going to bring about the destruction of us all, or save and allow us prosperous lives. I believe a bright future is coming, all signs point to it. Reece lays out how historically bad things were and despite our current woes, they are a far cry from ww1 or the time of the Black Death. We constantly take for granted how good we have it, but in the future we'll wonder how we ever lived as we have.
March 16, 2024
Dive into the insightful world of 'Infinite Progress' by Byron Reese. As an accomplished author, entrepreneur, and futurist, Reese delves deep into the impact of technology on society and our collective future. Each page offers valuable lessons, resonating individually with every reader. For me, it underscored three key points:
1. Seize control of what you can today to shape a brighter tomorrow.
2. Optimism, without grounding in realism, can lead to uncertain outcomes.
3. While progress is inevitable, our embrace of it remains a personal choice.
#bookreview #learning
1. Seize control of what you can today to shape a brighter tomorrow.
2. Optimism, without grounding in realism, can lead to uncertain outcomes.
3. While progress is inevitable, our embrace of it remains a personal choice.
#bookreview #learning
July 15, 2020
There were plenty of thought provoking ideas discussed. And my favorite quote in a while, "Civility is the second casualty of political debate. The first is empathy."
But the theories were overly simplistic. The human tendencies toward greed and control of power were brushed over.
But the theories were overly simplistic. The human tendencies toward greed and control of power were brushed over.
December 14, 2018
An OK summary of methods to end war, poverty, disease etc.
May 4, 2024
This book is basically one long love story to the internet.
As the title suggests, Byron Reese writes how he believes that the internet and technology is leading us towards the end of ignorance, disease, poverty, and hunger: the official worry list in the pocket of every person in the 21st century, and way back before. Reese makes out pessimism as dangerous to society. He explains how there is reason to be optimistic about a bright future.
This book can be read linearly, but its chapters can also be read in random order, as long as you read the first chapter to begin with. The first chapter opens the book describing an optimist’s reasoning, and sets up predictions and arguments for technology that will be referred to in later chapters. The first chapter will also give you a good idea of the mindset you’re getting into. If you can survive the sheer force of optimism that gushes into your brain in the first chapter, then you will survive the rest of the book.
Reese revisits this idea of a Digital Echo: that tracks, transcribes, and analyzes your every move. A GPS tracking your location- did you just exit that movie theater? Recording everything you say- want to replay your conversation? Sensors tracking your physiological responses- did you smile? Did your eyes dilate? This idea includes technology to record who you’ve met, what you’ve eaten, where you’ve been, and the list goes on. The idea is to have this information recorded and stored to extract data from, whether it’s recorded anonymously for researchers or to aid the public, or personally by the user. (Anonymously would be for the purpose of a statistic: “how many people have left this movie”, or to compare data from one person’s Echo to the next, if you are researching an issue and are making correlations from the entire log of someone’s life- what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been- that can be traced back to the cause of the issue.)
In the chapter “The End of Ignorance,” Reese says “I am convinced we will permit data about our every movement, action, and word to be passively stored, and we will anonymously share that data for the betterment of society.” This is an interesting concept, but when Reese also says “At some point while reading this book, some part of the future I describe may have been unsettling to you,” at the end of the book, and of course I think of this Echo idea.
Reading the ideas of technological advancement in the future is interesting, if they don’t seem too far-fetched. (Such as a spoon that alerts you to a substance in your food that you are sensitive to- and also is connected to your Echo.) But then, if you were in the 15th century, wouldn’t people accuse you of being a witch for having small-talk with Seri? There are so many advancements humankind has made that would be unimaginable even to the people of only a couple years ago.
Following the famous quote by Isaac Newton “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants,” I’m going to say that standing on the shoulder of giants is what knowledge and progress is all about. Knowledge builds on itself, and continues to push discoveries forward. Just imagine placing the great minds of the past into the modern day of technological advancement. Way back when some great scientists and doctors had only barbaric conventional ways and minimal information to go from- the shoulders they were given to stand on were short. Just imagine if you were to bring them here, and give them the internet. Reese writes in his book, to dig in the significance of the internet: “Imagine if Hippocrates had a fraction of this. If Jenner had had email, if Pasteur an electron microscope, Salk a genetic sequencer.” With our technology, scientists are enabled to communicate and share information around the world more easily.
This book is easy to follow, exciting to read, and the narrative is appropriately humorous.
If you want to get excited about the future of humankind, and want realistic reasons to back your optimism, you should own this book.
As the title suggests, Byron Reese writes how he believes that the internet and technology is leading us towards the end of ignorance, disease, poverty, and hunger: the official worry list in the pocket of every person in the 21st century, and way back before. Reese makes out pessimism as dangerous to society. He explains how there is reason to be optimistic about a bright future.
This book can be read linearly, but its chapters can also be read in random order, as long as you read the first chapter to begin with. The first chapter opens the book describing an optimist’s reasoning, and sets up predictions and arguments for technology that will be referred to in later chapters. The first chapter will also give you a good idea of the mindset you’re getting into. If you can survive the sheer force of optimism that gushes into your brain in the first chapter, then you will survive the rest of the book.
Reese revisits this idea of a Digital Echo: that tracks, transcribes, and analyzes your every move. A GPS tracking your location- did you just exit that movie theater? Recording everything you say- want to replay your conversation? Sensors tracking your physiological responses- did you smile? Did your eyes dilate? This idea includes technology to record who you’ve met, what you’ve eaten, where you’ve been, and the list goes on. The idea is to have this information recorded and stored to extract data from, whether it’s recorded anonymously for researchers or to aid the public, or personally by the user. (Anonymously would be for the purpose of a statistic: “how many people have left this movie”, or to compare data from one person’s Echo to the next, if you are researching an issue and are making correlations from the entire log of someone’s life- what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been- that can be traced back to the cause of the issue.)
In the chapter “The End of Ignorance,” Reese says “I am convinced we will permit data about our every movement, action, and word to be passively stored, and we will anonymously share that data for the betterment of society.” This is an interesting concept, but when Reese also says “At some point while reading this book, some part of the future I describe may have been unsettling to you,” at the end of the book, and of course I think of this Echo idea.
Reading the ideas of technological advancement in the future is interesting, if they don’t seem too far-fetched. (Such as a spoon that alerts you to a substance in your food that you are sensitive to- and also is connected to your Echo.) But then, if you were in the 15th century, wouldn’t people accuse you of being a witch for having small-talk with Seri? There are so many advancements humankind has made that would be unimaginable even to the people of only a couple years ago.
Following the famous quote by Isaac Newton “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants,” I’m going to say that standing on the shoulder of giants is what knowledge and progress is all about. Knowledge builds on itself, and continues to push discoveries forward. Just imagine placing the great minds of the past into the modern day of technological advancement. Way back when some great scientists and doctors had only barbaric conventional ways and minimal information to go from- the shoulders they were given to stand on were short. Just imagine if you were to bring them here, and give them the internet. Reese writes in his book, to dig in the significance of the internet: “Imagine if Hippocrates had a fraction of this. If Jenner had had email, if Pasteur an electron microscope, Salk a genetic sequencer.” With our technology, scientists are enabled to communicate and share information around the world more easily.
This book is easy to follow, exciting to read, and the narrative is appropriately humorous.
If you want to get excited about the future of humankind, and want realistic reasons to back your optimism, you should own this book.
May 15, 2013
This book captured my interest from the very first page and held it to the last. I admit I was always seeing the bleaker future...after all, with all the postapocalyptic books and grey predictions, it's hard to keep up hope for the better future. However, this book gave me that hope. The author used many logical possible steps to show, how will life grow better, not worse. I see a few snags...and many opportunities for human destruction...but if we manage to survive, this is the possible future I hope we arrive at.
The author himself is optimistic. Not blind and certainly not ignorant of today's problems. Just...optimistic.
Well written, valid thoughts, humor in all the right places, and an important point - the world of tomorrow is probably going to be a good one.
The author himself is optimistic. Not blind and certainly not ignorant of today's problems. Just...optimistic.
Well written, valid thoughts, humor in all the right places, and an important point - the world of tomorrow is probably going to be a good one.
April 4, 2017
It's alieving to see a text that celebrates what technology has done and has the potential to do. I don't know if I find the entirety of Reese's writing to be possible as he bypasses and largely ignores the environmental issues that seem to impede our changes of attaining a nearly utopian future, but I applaud his argument in so far as it connected the dots in how technology can reasonable diminish a great deal of harms to human existence.
If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd /
If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd /
February 2, 2013
I really hope she could be right, because life would be so much easier if many of the problems she shows would be resolved soon. Anyway an optimistic view of life that is reasonably explained.
Mi piacerebbe davvero che l'autrice avesse ragione, perchè la vita sarebbe davvero molto più semplice se tutti i problemi che lei elenca potessero essere risolti a breve. Comunque una visione ottimistica della vita che viene ben spiegata.
HTANKS TO NETGALLEY AND GREENLEAF BOOK GROUP PRESS FOR THE PREVIEW
Mi piacerebbe davvero che l'autrice avesse ragione, perchè la vita sarebbe davvero molto più semplice se tutti i problemi che lei elenca potessero essere risolti a breve. Comunque una visione ottimistica della vita che viene ben spiegata.
HTANKS TO NETGALLEY AND GREENLEAF BOOK GROUP PRESS FOR THE PREVIEW
April 25, 2013
Ok, first things first, I received a copy of Infinite Progress as part of the First Reads giveaway program.
I enjoyed this book. It was nice to see optimism about the future. While nothing in the book stuck me as groundbreaking, the ideas were well organized and concise. I did find the second part on the end of poverty to be a bit dull and I struggled through it. The rest of the book was quite interesting and I flew through.
I enjoyed this book. It was nice to see optimism about the future. While nothing in the book stuck me as groundbreaking, the ideas were well organized and concise. I did find the second part on the end of poverty to be a bit dull and I struggled through it. The rest of the book was quite interesting and I flew through.
January 19, 2015
If you are an optimist, you will love this book! Byron Reese presents the argument that technological advances are doubling what we know every 18 months. This rapid increase in technology will soon resolve all of the societal issues that are technological at their core. Some of the things that he mentions in the book are already coming to pass which makes this an exciting time to be alive!
Recommended reading for those who like to envision what the future could be like!
Recommended reading for those who like to envision what the future could be like!
March 6, 2016
At first it sounds like a conspiracy theory that makes leaps and conclusions one after another and was written by someone who is completely nuts. Then he begins to show the reasoning behind it. You realize that the proof is legit. At that very moment, my mind opened up to an infinite number of possibilities.
April 7, 2013
I won this read free for a units review so here it is. I tried to read it but I could not get into it. I don't really read books with a lot of facts in them but if you do then you might like this book. I just found this book boring it is not the type of book I normally read. But it has a good plot.
August 18, 2015
Some of the ideas presented seem a bit far fetched, even for an optimist like me, but Mr Reese does talk an interesting game. If even some of his ideas come to fruition, this will be a fantastic world in which to live.
April 1, 2013
Too boring to finish. Largely superficial book filled with banalities and ridiculous hype.
September 13, 2016
This book was so optimistic that reading it was like eating an entire chocolate cake in one sitting.
April 8, 2013
tools are tools-who and how they use them is what matters
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews