Peter Diamandis Delivers Tutorial in Exponential Growth

“I’m passionate about changing the world, where the basic needs of every human are met,” said Closing General Session speaker Dr. Peter Diamandis. “And I believe that exponential change is going to take us there.”

Best known for his sponsorship of the X Prize to spur innovation in space travel, Diamandis brought his inspiring message about how the future is better than we think, when we examine the astounding rate of ongoing innovation

Diamandis spoke about his work with Singularity University, an institute he establish to incubate businesses capable of exponential growth. To describe exponential growth, he referred to our instinctive human progress as “linear and local,” when 30 steps will take you to the other side of a room, or maybe down a hall.

“If you take 30 exponential steps – 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on – you will actually go around the planet 26 times,” Diamandis said, letting the numbers sink in for the audience. “There’s a disconnect between our brains’ hardware and what we’re actually capable of with the exponential speed of technological innovation.”

Diamandis outlined some of the innovation Singularity has made in the areas of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, 3D printing and synthetic biology. “If any electrical contractors in the audience are working in data centers, you are in a true growth market,” he said. “Data storage is supporting exponential growth in digital content.”

Diamandis’s latest book, written with bestselling science journalist Steven Kotler, is Abundance—The Future is Better Than You Think. It has been called “a thrilling antidote to today’s dark pessimism” and includes exhaustive research and extensive interviews on how four emerging forces—exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion—are working together to solve our world’s biggest problems.