The Information Tsunami

An article in today’s Times attempts to create a controversy about some books being pushed into storage at the Bodleian Library, while others are being touched by students who might, (or might not), have fingers covered in burger-grease.


The paper cites the cause of the whole problem as being the £100-million which James Martin has donated to Oxford University. Apparently it is the expansion of his Oxford Martin School which has caused this domino effect amongst the archives.

It appears to be a concocted non-story but it set me thinking as to what is going to happen to the tsunami of information that is now being stored digitally as well as in print form?

We are all happily pouring out billions of e-books and self-published tomes on top of the products of the existing publishing industry, but who is actually going to have time to read all this stuff? Who is going to have time to study and catalogue it? Is it possible we are all going to drown in our own knowledge?

The Bodleian Group already cares for some 11 million items on 117 miles of shelving and Lord alone knows how many books are already resting on Amazon’s virtual shelving.

I don’t know what the solution is going to be, but I am quite sure that no blame should lie with James Martin and his extraordinary generosity in the cause of studying the things that matter for our future, although of course the Oxford Martin School will undoubtedly be contributing its fair share to the future knowledge tsunami - and so the wave continues to grow higher.

Are we on our way to Utopia or Back to the Dark Ages?

“James Martin: The Change Agent”, is now available on Kindle as an e-book – a highly suitable format for a text which provides a dramatic view of what the future holds for all of us.

The story started when I received an urgent invitation to a mysterious private island in Bermuda from an old friend who had recently donated more than £100-million to Oxford University.

The island gradually revealed its labyrinthine secrets as the host, futurist James Martin, explained the choice that faces us all: to create the greatest Utopia ever, or plunge ourselves back into the Dark Ages, maybe even destroying Homo sapiens completely.

At the same time he explained how a shy boy from a poor family in Ashby-de-la-Zouche had come to be Oxford University’s biggest ever donor, (bigger even than Sir Thomas Bodley), and the founder of the extraordinary Oxford Martin 21^st Century School. He is basically investing in ideas. The School’s many interdisciplinary institutes, and more than a hundred fellows across the collegiate university, are studying potential global catastrophes like climate change, bio-engineering, pandemics, mass migration and the possibility of human extinction before the end of the 21st Century. At the same time they are trying to harvest the incredible opportunities arising from new technologies and innovations, as well as studying social change and striving to improve our understanding of how to deal with systemic risk.

Along the way Jim has encountered people as varied as Bertrand Russell, and David Bowie, Bill Gates and Lee Kuan Yew. From prime ministers and presidents to cold war spies and business leaders, he has been called in to advise them all and his books have been read by millions.

"The Change Agent" also reveals the extraordinary secret history of Agar’s Island that he uncovered beneath the rocks and rampant vegetation and tells the story of how he has restored the underground labyrinth to its former glory and turned the entire island into his own eccentric, ecological, private paradise. Above all, however, it is a gripping conversation about the man’s ideas, which are the reason so many millions of people read his books and attend his lectures.

Losing my Skyping Virginity

Having been persuaded to grasp the skyping nettle by Nikola Danaylov, the awesome brain behind the Singularity Weblog, (http://www.singularityweblog.com/), I have now done my first intercontinental video interview with him, talking at enormous length, (45 minutes - but don't let that put you off), about my biography of James Martin - "The Change Agent - How to Create a Wonderful World".

The results will not only be on Nikola's website but also on YouTube and iTunes.

So, how brilliant is that? A full scale filmed interview in the form of a conversation between me in England and Nikola in Canada, all completed in time to go through to the kitchen for supper. A perfect, early example of "The Singularity" in action.

The Independent receives an invitation to "the private realm of James Martin"

"He is a computer genius, futurologist, inspirational speaker and multimillionaire. But why is James Martin giving his fortune away to Oxford University? Steve Connor meets the mysterious philanthopist on his private island off Bermuda."

That is the introduction to an excellent feature article in the Independent's Saturday Magazine this morning. Steve, the paper's Science Editor, read my biography of James Martin, (The Change Agent - How to Create a Wonderful World), and contacted me to see if Jim would agree to an interview next time he was passing through the UK. Jim said he would rather Steve went out to visit him on his island in Bermuda - "the private realm of the mysterious philanthropist". The result seems to have been an interesting meeting of minds.

Understanding The Singularity

One of the greatest benefits of earning a living from writing is that you are constantly stumbling across new things and people from worlds you had no idea existed.

In the course of writing "The Change Agent - How to Create a Wonderful World", the story of futurologist James Martin, I was introduced to the concept of "The Singularity" - the name given to the fast-approaching moment when the powers of technology and artificial intelligence will come together to overtake the powers of the human brain.

All who work in publishing should be deeply interested in The Singularity and its inevitable ramifications on everything to do with knowledge, learning, writing and reading because soon the shiny IPads and Kindles we were all given for Christmas will seem as primitive as words engraved on stone.

A guy who goes by the name of Socrates is providing a website which does a good job of explaining at least some of what is going on - http://www.singularityweblog.com/ - have a look around it and see what you think. The revolution is upon us.

Cover Designers the Unsung Heroes of Publishing

I'm wondering if it is cover designers who are the greatest unsung heroes of the publishing world.

I have two new books out this month from the fabulous young publishing house, Tonto Books, (see illustrations above), and both have had their covers designed by Elliot Thomson from www.preamptive.com in Newcastle.

Obviously I'm biased, but is seems to me that work of this calibre should make Elliot extremely famous.

Putting a Story on Facebook

Having been inspired by a talk from the internet marketing guru, Miles Galliford, at a recent meeting of United Authors, I decided to take the bull by the horns and try using Facebook to disseminate a story to the world.

It looked like being a bit of a long plod up yet another steep learning curve, but I got the hang of websites and blogging so surely this can’t be too hard. Miles certainly made it all sound very simple indeed.

The hook is the announcement of the autumn publication of my book “The Change Agent – How to Create a Wonderful World” by Tonto Books.

The story behind the book is that I received an urgent invitation to a mysterious private island in Bermuda from a man who has just donated £100-million to Oxford University.

The island gradually revealed its labyrinthine secrets as the host, futurist James Martin, explained the choice that faces us all: to create the greatest Utopia ever, or plunge ourselves back into the Dark Ages, maybe even destroying Homo sapiens completely.

At the same time he explained how a shy boy from a poor family in Ashby-de-la-Zouche had come to be Oxford University’s biggest ever donor and the founder of the extraordinary James Martin 21st Century School.

Given the nature of the story, it seems appropriate that we use all the most futuristic methods of marketing available, especially as Tonto have created a cracking cover, complete with a quote from Bill Gates.

The scary thing about the whole Facebook thing is that once you have pressed the button things happen very fast indeed and within a few seconds the bull’s deceptively greasy horns had slipped from my grip. So, can I take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who might have emailed me many years ago and is now wondering why they are suddenly being greeted as my very best friend in the world and encouraged to “look at my photos”.

I will, I promise, get this demented bull sedated as quickly as possible before it flattens the whole china shop, and then I can return to being as cool about the whole “future” business as Miles Galliford – and indeed James Martin himself - seem to be.

Billionaires Put Their Money into Searching for Answers

Last year, as I started work on my book about the futurologist James Martin, he had just pledged to give another $50-million of his own money to the school he had founded at Oxford University, The James Martin 21st Century School, if other benefactors would be willing to match the money. He had already given the school $100-million to get them started.

There were many who were sceptical that he would be able to find enough people willing to take up the challenge and match his offer during a time of apparent economic meltdown.

A couple of nights ago I went to hear him give The Commonwealth Lecture in the Faraday Theatre at the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street and found him bubbling with even more enthusiasm than usual. The pledges were all in and other donors, including such mighty names as George Soros and Bill Gates, had come up with an astonishing $90-million to add to Jim’s promise of $50-million.

The aim of the school is to “foster innovative thinking, deep scholarship and collaborative activity to address the pressing risks and create new opportunities for the 21st Century”.

It’s grand to know that so many people are willing to put their cheque books where their mouths are when it comes to sorting out the problems of the future – if only we could find some political leaders cut from the same cloth.

My book about Jim – currently entitled “The Change Agent – How to Create a Wonderful World” is scheduled for publication by Tonto Books in October.