Reading Abundance, the Future is Better Than You Think, by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. It's an easy read, bringing into one place descriptions of a lot of the recent innovations which the authors believe will make the future better than the present.
Unfortunately, from my view, because they cover so much ground, everything from 3-D printing to DIY bioengineering to agriculture, they fall victim to some fads, including Despommiers and his vertical farming. In the appendices they include references for some of the ideas found in the text: for vertical farming it's a url from www.the-edison-lightbulb.com, a website containing ideas mostly from the young. The vertical farming bit is a Chicago fifth graders pitch for vertical farming. Pretty sad.
Having dissed that portion of the book, the bulk of it is a fast overview of all the reasons to be optimistic about everything. I strongly recommend it if you're depressed about the future, though I wouldn't bet on the accuracy of any specific ino. (Diamandis offered the "X Prize" for private spaceships.)
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