You better hope (for the sake of coming generations) that collaboration will be the future of mankind, so far I only see "big Brother" collaborating on how to best profit from the masses (new world order, etc.) I was unable to find any biographical data on Rifkin, I suspect from the little I could find he is a first born or second born with an older sister, of upper-middle class parents. He is undoubtably brilliant, charasmatic, and driven judging from the number of books he has written and his practically oracle status among the political, if not necessarily the academic, elite. He does seem to be one of the few who recognize the almost unimaginable changes that technology has, and is bringing to mankind (for good and ill) and brings a message of hope for mankind. My problem with that message is it fails utterly in addressing what I feel is the most important question of all, namely who..or what, will raise the children of the future and will that be reflected in those future leaders BEING more empathetic. Also, though he sees certain technologies as dangerous, he none the less offers thecnology itself as the salvation of mankind, by changing the way they think and making them more empathetic. Where have I heard this "new age" and "spiritual consciousness" stuff before...The flower children?? Not that those kids of the sixties were malevolent in any way. Indeed their hearts were in the right place, its was their common sense that was misplaced, and we as a society are still looking for it. JMO Now as for the " winner and loser" model, this is Gods (Natures) decree, not something I cooked up or "discovered" it is at the very foundation of all creation, therefore it encompasses everything else, love, hate, and even sympathy and EMPATHY. So I don't agree with his theory that empathy is at the core of human existance...I probably would if I was subjected to his chasmatic presence face to face, just as anyone listening to hitler was swept away (not saying he is hitler) but from what I have read, I'm not buying the whole hog...maybe just a pork chop, till I look around the farm a little more:cool: And thanks for the info, I will be looking into this further as time permits as it is right down my ally:)