Great Thinkers Series: How Do The Finest Minds Imagine Our Future?

Self-driving cars, 3D-printed houses, A.I. receptionists, robot brothels, cyborgs and augmented realities. Technology shows that our possibilities are endless. What will the world look like in the coming decades?

To respond to this question as thoroughly as possible and to help you journey towards the future, The Medical Futurist has launched its Great Thinkers series, introducing the visions of the most brilliant thought-leaders from numerous industries with the broadest range of views possible.

Episode 1 is an interview with the Medical Futurist himself, Dr. Bertalan Mesko, and questions asked include:

• How did you come to be the Medical Futurist?
• What’s the most transformative concept in healthcare?
• What are the medical nightmare scenarios that humanity should be afraid of?
• What is the future of medicine, genetics and more?

Highlights from his interview include:

On the importance of looking at other sectors…

“Something might come along from the energy sector that will change how A.I. is structured. Something might come from logistics or security, like Blockchain, that will change medical records forever. If you don’t have at least a superficial knowledge about all these dots, then you won’t be able to connect them. And that’s what matters when you have to answer hard questions: the ones about the future of jobs, work and healthcare.”

On the importance of being a forward-thinker…

“We want people to anticipate something. Like in chess. You can play re-actively, but you won’t win many games. When you start thinking about what might come next, you become a winner player.”

On the importance of freedom of choice…

“I know that with a sleep tracker I can make myself wake up at the absolute best time – feeling energised and ready for the day without even coffee, but sometimes, I just want to go to sleep and sleep until I wake up myself. So I need that freedom of choice in my life to remain technology free, but when technology offers me such advantages, I want to live with them.”

On the role of politicians in innovation…

“It’s the job of politicians to step up and get into the forefront of innovation. We have crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, Amazon and social media, so if they aren’t fast enough, patients will find a way to innovation. They will be creating their own bionic pancreas at home, as we’ve seen in the US with the “We are not waiting” movement. 5,000 patients created a DIY artificial pancreas at home. While it’s impressive, we don’t want that to become a general rule of thumb. That people turn to unregulated technological solutions, just because policy-makers are slow.”

Read the whole interview and learn more about the series here: https://medicalfuturist.com/category/great-thinkers