Although, matrixing is much more likely to predict changes in a
macro scale, it can be used to predict some micro economic and
business related things. For example matrixing can be a good
predictor for creating a new product to introduce to the market,
what a company should invest research and development money into,
and where marketing efforts will be successful. It is also a good
predictor for investing and estimating business cycles. Because
matrixing will tell you when a product will be successful or flop.
We will go into how to use these matrixing techniques in the
chapter, Matrixing for Business.
In Alvin Tofler's' sociology book, The Third Wave, Tofler
was able to show us that man was evolving in a series of great
steps. The steps he referred to as waves. Each wave was an economic
progression of man. The first wave was the Agrarian. Man learned to
develop farming. The second wave was the Industrial Revolution in
which man developed machines to make production of goods efficient.
The third wave is where we are now, at the end of the millennium,
the Information or Technology Revolution.
What about the fourth wave? Can we predict if there is going to be
one? What will it be? Can we actually make a quality prediction
about where the next wave will take place and when it will happen?
The answer is yes. By predicting the matrixes which are continually
evolving we can predict the next step in mans evolution. Although we
may not be able to predict a quantum leap, by matrixing we can
predict where the next leap will need to be if there is going to be
a fourth wave. This sounds quite impossible. But remember,
impossible things are being done as you are reading this. How long
ago was it that the earth was flat? Or how long ago was it that man
couldnt fly? Or how far off did walking on the moon seem?
To find an answer about what the future holds let us ask a
question of the past. Did the agrarian have the same capacity of
modern man to think about his past and look toward his future? Did
the industrial revolutionists ever think that the future would be
predicted by looking at the past?
The answer of course is yes. As I previously stated, Man is unique
in the ability to visualize the future, to foresee what may happen
and create plans to anticipate change. Man creates images in his
mind and can represent them outside his mind. Even the prehistoric
paintings on cave walls demonstrate mans ability to record past
success (such as a hunt) and build a matrix (such as teaching
children to use a stone tool).
We know that the size and workings of our brains didnt really
change much over the past few thousand years. The major difference
was the amount of accumulated knowledge which the man of the past
possessed. He was probably every bit as intelligent as
todays computer genius; he just didnt have a computer to work with.
To put it in another perspective, he was matrixing within a
different environment and was only able to develop solutions to
advance his quality of life within the constraints of his given
matrix.
Today we use the limited tools and knowledge base which we have
matrixed to solve todays problems and lead us to our future. But
what future are we trying to create?
The most important part of matrixing is that a matrix has a
direction. We can predict the future if we know the direction and
have a starting point. For example, if we were going to guess which
way you were walking through a forest and you have been walking
north you will probably continue to walk north. Statistically
speaking it is the way you will walk. The amount of time you have
been walking in that direction give us more data to build our guess
upon. You may have to take a detour if you come to an obstacle, but
if we know that you are headed north, we can guess with a high
probability that your next step will be northward.
To further this idea a little, our guess would be better based
upon the knowledge if you are standing, walking, or running. If you
are standing we can guess based upon where you have been or your
past history, but your next step can be in almost any direction,
including backwards (south). However, if you are walking your
momentum will probably be carrying you forward in a northern
direction. Taking a backward step would be very difficult, it would
be much easier to step left or right (east or west). If you are
running north it would be much more difficult to get you to go
another direction. What if we knew that you were running downhill?
It would increase the predictability, dramatically. Therefore, we
can predict with much more accuracy which way you will be headed by
increasing the speed with which you are moving, and knowing the
terrain you are moving over.
Our matrixes have been moving a given direction for thousands of
years and we are now headed toward our future at warp speed. This
speed and direction is what makes our predictions for the future
much more reliable than simply plotting the points in the past. If
we knew that there was a cliff ahead this too would help with the
prediction. These hills, valleys and cliffs are the matrixes which
we are moving within. They are the current systems that surround us:
social systems, government, economic, systems and religious systems.
Matrixing:
Chapter 5
Matrixing:
Chapter 6
Matrixing:
Chapter 7
