Novel and adaptive thinking

Dr. Adriana Marais is an award-winning theoretical physicist, Mars One astronaut candidate and founder of Proudly Human. She is an internationally renowned speaker on exploration-driven innovation, director at the Foundation for Space Development, faculty member at Singularity University and Duke Corporate Education and a member of the South African government advisory task team on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Twitter: @adrianamarais

During and beyond the 4IR, space will play an increasingly important role in the global economy, and development of the necessary technology and human skills capacity will determine the extent to which public and private players are able to participate competitively.

To enable a society rich in novel and adaptive thinking, we will need:

Complex and Creative Problem Solving

Problem solving is at the very core of our evolution. And in a world that is so rapidly changing, the ability to solve problems the world has never faced is becoming increasingly important. The complex problems that both life on Earth – as well as on other planets – pose, all link to the fundamentals of human survival: food, water, power and communication.

Complex problem solving would enable new emerging technologies to be manufactured in such a way as to provide cheap, efficient and robust systems that could work together with rapidly developing progress in robotics, nanotechnology, automation, artificial intelligence and computing to revolutionise our capabilities on Earth, and beyond.

Multidisciplinary education

In order to survive 4IR, skills that can be acquired through multidisciplinary education – where human and social sciences understand science and technology and vice versa – are extremely important.

With the onset of AI, machine learning, robotics, biotechnology and the likes dominating the job market, social skills that involve emotional intelligence, creative insights and collaboration in diverse teams will enable us to navigate through the evergrowing global material culture which advances technologies in a sustainable and ethical manner. Hard skills can be learned, but the thing that sets us apart from machines with algorithms and codes are soft skills, like our attitude, mindset and ability to collaborate effectively with each other as human beings.

Instead of being passive recipients of the inevitable change that is occurring in this unprecedented era we find ourselves in, we need to be the ones steering this change to benefit society and our future.

Adaptability

American writer, futurist, and businessman, Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Instead of being passive recipients of the inevitable change that is occurring in this unprecedented era we find ourselves in, we need to be the ones steering this change to benefit society and our future. In order to do this, we need to be adaptable – we need to understand that what has worked in the past may not necessarily work in this rapid transition period determining our future.

If we learn and teach others, in such a way that we understand the importance of continued learning and adaptability during such rapid development, we will constantly be retooling ourselves and equipping ourselves with the skills necessary to keep up and stay ahead.

Website: www.adrianamarais. org/