Buckminster Fuller Predicted Twitter in 1974
Buckminster Fuller fascinates me because it seems like he is from a parallel universe. I often wonder what he would think of our 2019 Earth. As I was watching an interview of Bucky this weekend, a remark he made caught my attention because he makes a prediction that sounds like he is describing Twitter. I have posted the 25 second clip on YouTube so you can judge for yourself.
“We’re going to be able to have… a continual running knowledge of what the total people are thinking about for any given problem and for the first time we don’t really need a representative trying to guess what it is or having to take surveys. He knows, and that’s really going to make a strong, great, just an enormous acceleration in man’s becoming successful on our planet.” –Buckminster Fuller
In today’s debate about the dangers and benefits of social media, Bucky probably would have been pro-Twitter. Emphatically apolitical, Bucky would be impressed by tools that allow everyday voices to be heard. Given his tendency to speak and write in incredibly dense, long sentences, the 140 character limit might have been his only objection.
On the other hand, Bucky would probably be appalled by the privacy travesties, the censoring, and the abuses of power that Facebook, Google, and Twitter are guilty of lately. If only Bucky were still alive so that we could follow his tweets and hear his insights.
If you aren’t familiar with Bucky, perhaps my story about the visionary crackpot below is a good place to start.
Thanks for reading. You may have noticed I haven’t been posting on Medium lately. I have receded to a cave where I am trying to create something new. Follow me so you can keep up to date with, hopefully, news about what will be my second book. Stay creative.
