Rating: 
Summary: Forrest for the trees
Review: The authors missed the point of the book, which should have been to forecast the future socio-economic trends, and not their personal desire. They barely mentioned the way technology started to shape the new century, and they were so focused on Europe being at peace for almost 50 years that totally forgot there were other countries with enough forces to create worldwire conflict (terrorism, oil interests, territorial struggle, ethnical issues, etc).My most honest advice is: don't bother, and don't waste your time, unless you simply want to see how much they failed at what they intended to do. The writing is too simplistic and barely factual, and there's no serious authoring or editing effort behind this "book".
Rating: 
Summary: Religious Revival of the Third Millennium
Review: Then the turning away from the religion of technology and the reemergence of spirituality as manifested in the religious revival are signs of great hope. Having vowed to make war and weapons of mass destruction obsolete, a renew humanity begins the task of healing the environment. (John Naisbitt - Megatrend 2000) Here are some of the question Naisbitt raises:
Is the Millenium the symbolic struggle between Good verses Evil? Is the Millenium revival a metaphor of choice, where, on one hand man can destroy himself through: nuclear annihilation, bio terror, or the green house effect; and on the other hand, God destroys the wicked because of their willfull disobedience to his laws. What does it mean when we hear "God is Dead" espoused by the Greek Nietzsche philosophy of those who worship science? Are we prepared to embrace and accept both sides of human nature? Do we have to abandon our humanity too embrace science? Is the spiritual revival a quest to better our lives and our neighbors? In times of religious persecution, economic hard times, social change people seek to escape out of history seek millennial promises of peace and plenty. Science and technology do not tell us the meaning of life. One starts to rediscover the emotional side of life. There is a deep need for emotional fulfillment through religion. In tough times, people anchor down with either fundamentalism or spiritualistic experiences. As stronger emotional needs start surface, more advocacy of millennial doctrine will occur with rhetoric centering on themes of apocalyptic destruction and the final return and reign of Christ. The end out come will be "Good" has over "Evil". Fundamentalism will increase: Shinto, Islam, Protestantism, Buddhism, and Judism. Joseph Cambell's in his book "Power of Myth" emphasized the importance and power of myth. Myth has power and influence on human behavior. Naisbitt indicates that in time of rapid change both inner-directed, "trust the feeling inside" and out-direction, "authoritive doctrine" will increase. "The Battle for God" further supports the idea of a religious revival with a vast potential to influence media, business, and politics. Naisbitt observes, one Shinto priest known as the "miracle man of Japan" won 5 million members, in Japan, United States, and Brazil with 80 percent being non-Japanese. Fundamentalist Soutern Baptists have become the largest Protestant denomination. Naisbitt says, "The Catholic Church is reflecting the evangelical influence by tolerating a full-fledged charismatic movement that make some Southern Baptist look tame". In North America new religions outside of the Judeo-Christian framework are growing: Moslem, followers of Islam, Buddhism, and Korean religions. The fundamentalist have used media to spread their message. Religion is targeting marketing, larger architectures to congregate, music, books and generating billions of dollars in business. The religous leader broadcast taylo made messages and content which are being modeled by feedback from what the people want. Fundamental religion authoritivately spells out the answers. The New Age of Channeling seeks to use meditation, chants, and dream works to increase human intutition. The New Agers and Fundamentalist commonly dislike each other. "New Agers are tired of the tyranny of fundamental religions trying to take away the right of freedom of religion and the press," says Elizabeth Burrows. Harvey Cox says, "a global phenomenon that has to do with the unraveling of modernity" and marks the end of "a kind of faith where science would master all our problems."
Rating:
Summary: Religious Revival of the Third Millennium
Review: Then the turning away from the religion of technology and the reemergence of spirituality as manifested in the religious revival are signs of great hope. Having vowed to make war and weapons of mass destruction obsolete, a renew humanity begins the task of healing the environment. (John Naisbitt - Megatrend 2000) Here are some of the question Naisbitt raises:
Is the Millenium the symbolic struggle between Good verses Evil? Is the Millenium revival a metaphor of choice, where, on one hand man can destroy himself through: nuclear annihilation, bio terror, or the green house effect; and on the other hand, God destroys the wicked because of their willfull disobedience to his laws. What does it mean when we hear "God is Dead" espoused by the Greek Nietzsche philosophy of those who worship science? Are we prepared to embrace and accept both sides of human nature? Do we have to abandon our humanity too embrace science? Is the spiritual revival a quest to better our lives and our neighbors? In times of religious persecution, economic hard times, social change people seek to escape out of history seek millennial promises of peace and plenty. Science and technology do not tell us the meaning of life. One starts to rediscover the emotional side of life. There is a deep need for emotional fulfillment through religion. In tough times, people anchor down with either fundamentalism or spiritualistic experiences. As stronger emotional needs start surface, more advocacy of millennial doctrine will occur with rhetoric centering on themes of apocalyptic destruction and the final return and reign of Christ. The end out come will be "Good" has over "Evil". Fundamentalism will increase: Shinto, Islam, Protestantism, Buddhism, and Judism. Joseph Cambell's in his book "Power of Myth" emphasized the importance and power of myth. Myth has power and influence on human behavior. Naisbitt indicates that in time of rapid change both inner-directed, "trust the feeling inside" and out-direction, "authoritive doctrine" will increase. "The Battle for God" further supports the idea of a religious revival with a vast potential to influence media, business, and politics. Naisbitt observes, one Shinto priest known as the "miracle man of Japan" won 5 million members, in Japan, United States, and Brazil with 80 percent being non-Japanese. Fundamentalist Soutern Baptists have become the largest Protestant denomination. Naisbitt says, "The Catholic Church is reflecting the evangelical influence by tolerating a full-fledged charismatic movement that make some Southern Baptist look tame". In North America new religions outside of the Judeo-Christian framework are growing: Moslem, followers of Islam, Buddhism, and Korean religions. The fundamentalist have used media to spread their message. Religion is targeting marketing, larger architectures to congregate, music, books and generating billions of dollars in business. The religous leader broadcast taylo made messages and content which are being modeled by feedback from what the people want. Fundamental religion authoritivately spells out the answers. The New Age of Channeling seeks to use meditation, chants, and dream works to increase human intutition. The New Agers and Fundamentalist commonly dislike each other. "New Agers are tired of the tyranny of fundamental religions trying to take away the right of freedom of religion and the press," says Elizabeth Burrows. Harvey Cox says, "a global phenomenon that has to do with the unraveling of modernity" and marks the end of "a kind of faith where science would master all our problems."
Rating: 
Summary: A 1990-Based Forecast of the Decade Just Past
Review: This book is the 1990 update to the blockbluster, Megatrends, by John Naisbitt from 1982. The date in the title of this book is a reference to the end point of the forecast period. I had first read the book near the time when it came out. I decided to reread it now because I was interested in examining how accurate the forecasts turned out, and then to study how the correct forecasts had been developed. Content analysis has long been a Naisbitt forte, and I wanted to see another test of its strengths and potential weaknesses. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the themes had held up. These include: (1) a global economic boom prompted by the information economy, freer trade, and a government bias towards economic expansion over political ideology. (2) a rapid growth in participation in the fine and finer arts. (3) the emergence of free markets in socialist economies. Here the progress has even been more rapid than most would have expected. (4) increasing similarities in global lifestyles with increased cultural nationalism. (5) privatization of the welfare state in the western democracies. (6) economic and cultural influence of Pacific Rim countries and California greatly expand. (7) women become much more important in leadership roles. (8) biotechnology makes great progress and raises major ethical issues, while biology becomes a more common metaphor. (9) religious revival led by fundamentalism and the desire for deep, personal experience. (10) triumph of the individual in becoming free of institutional constraints to become more in charge of one's own destiny. "The new responsibility of society is to reward the initiatives of the individual." The conclusion talks about the importance of overcoming the scourges of disease (such as AIDS) and global poverty. As a result, I would have to give this book five stars for forecasting . . . realizing how chancy that business is by nature. On the other hand, I found the book to be long and tedious to read. I gave it three stars for the quality and clarity of explanation of the key points. In many cases, examples drone on and on, but relatively few points were made or supported directly. Perhaps it is just my perspective, but the chapter on women in leadership seemed particularly weak from this point of view. Equally of interest were the things that were not forecast: that communism would fall except in a revised form in China and Cuba; that the United States would become a more dominant economic and political power; that Japan would have a terrible decade; and that government power in the world would be curtailed at such a rapid rate. But few got these factors right, and they used different methods from Naisbitt and Aburdene. I suspect that is because content analysis should be slow to pick up on these kinds of changes, but power analysis works well as demonstrated by James Dale Davidson and Lord Rees-Moog in their excellent books using this method. Where will we be in 2010? A continuation of these trends is likely, but what will be the new ones? You'll have to think about that for yourself. After you have finished enjoying this book and thinking about what it means for your future, I suggest that you consider how you can expand your own individual potential. As the Army likes to say, "Be all that you can be." Use the irresistible trends to your advantage for breakthrough gains!
Rating:
Summary: A 1990-Based Forecast of the Decade Just Past
Review: This book is the 1990 update to the blockbluster, Megatrends, by John Naisbitt from 1982. The date in the title of this book is a reference to the end point of the forecast period. I had first read the book near the time when it came out. I decided to reread it now because I was interested in examining how accurate the forecasts turned out, and then to study how the correct forecasts had been developed. Content analysis has long been a Naisbitt forte, and I wanted to see another test of its strengths and potential weaknesses. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the themes had held up. These include: (1) a global economic boom prompted by the information economy, freer trade, and a government bias towards economic expansion over political ideology. (2) a rapid growth in participation in the fine and finer arts. (3) the emergence of free markets in socialist economies. Here the progress has even been more rapid than most would have expected. (4) increasing similarities in global lifestyles with increased cultural nationalism. (5) privatization of the welfare state in the western democracies. (6) economic and cultural influence of Pacific Rim countries and California greatly expand. (7) women become much more important in leadership roles. (8) biotechnology makes great progress and raises major ethical issues, while biology becomes a more common metaphor. (9) religious revival led by fundamentalism and the desire for deep, personal experience. (10) triumph of the individual in becoming free of institutional constraints to become more in charge of one's own destiny. "The new responsibility of society is to reward the initiatives of the individual." The conclusion talks about the importance of overcoming the scourges of disease (such as AIDS) and global poverty. As a result, I would have to give this book five stars for forecasting . . . realizing how chancy that business is by nature. On the other hand, I found the book to be long and tedious to read. I gave it three stars for the quality and clarity of explanation of the key points. In many cases, examples drone on and on, but relatively few points were made or supported directly. Perhaps it is just my perspective, but the chapter on women in leadership seemed particularly weak from this point of view. Equally of interest were the things that were not forecast: that communism would fall except in a revised form in China and Cuba; that the United States would become a more dominant economic and political power; that Japan would have a terrible decade; and that government power in the world would be curtailed at such a rapid rate. But few got these factors right, and they used different methods from Naisbitt and Aburdene. I suspect that is because content analysis should be slow to pick up on these kinds of changes, but power analysis works well as demonstrated by James Dale Davidson and Lord Rees-Moog in their excellent books using this method. Where will we be in 2010? A continuation of these trends is likely, but what will be the new ones? You'll have to think about that for yourself. After you have finished enjoying this book and thinking about what it means for your future, I suggest that you consider how you can expand your own individual potential. As the Army likes to say, "Be all that you can be." Use the irresistible trends to your advantage for breakthrough gains!
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