The Future is Questions — and Roundup #32

While lifeform mergers, mutant space bacteria, and universal donor blood are discovered, we’re off hacking happiness, slowing time, returning to playgrounds, and baring it all on the ocean.

Kim Mesches’ color-changing resin tops and dresses, called Collection 5

Since my last issue, there has been a big spike in subscribers across the various platforms where this is published—welcome!

Thank you for joining me on this perch where I take aim at fueling foresight.

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In this issue, we’re digging deeper into just one big topic and then flowing into one of the most robust, most intriguing roundups yet. It’s filled with incredible discoveries across science, medicine, technology, and another dose of head-scratching cultural and business trends.

Let’s roll into the big thing and then down into the roundup.

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One Big Thing

The Future is Questions

Why rediscovering the art of asking great questions is the next great superpower skill to develop.

We live in a world obsessed with telling stories. Between Zoom's spotlight effect, social media's "look-at-me" culture, and our shrinking social circles, conversations are increasingly one-sided.

The art—and power—of asking questions is getting lost.

This is why questions are having a moment in the media spotlight. Question-centric thinking has recently been showcased by Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan, and Fast Company. Even these 14-year-old quotes from Jensen Huang, today’s superstar CEO of Nvidia, are making the rounds again: “The best way to get smarter is to ask a lot of questions” and “The only way to solve hard problems is to ask the right questions.”

Business leaders and researchers are again championing the art and science of asking brilliant questions. There are frameworks for the five types of questions to ask during strategic decision-making: investigative, speculative, productive, interpretive, and subjective. There are techniques to learn, like “question burst” and “catalytic questioning.” 

So, why is this more important than ever? Why is “the art of asking great questions” hot again?

First, there are the social implications. 

In an era of loneliness, questions foster deeper connections and improve interpersonal bonding—studies also show that questions are a powerful way of making people feel needed or valued. 

Then there are the business implications.

Businesses are operating in a stakeholder economy that is moving into a post-growth era. 

This is a time when we all crave to be heard as stakeholders—and businesses who listen through questions build stronger relationships with their customers and employees.

Meanwhile, inside businesses, the avenues of innovation are opened through curiosity. In a recent study, 49% of employees reported they don’t regularly contribute new ideas because no one asks them questions.

Finally, AI — and questions are intertwining with the future of work.

AI excels at automating tasks and crunching data but can't ask the insightful questions that unlock its true potential. With AI, we need to increase our question velocity, question variety, and question novelty. The people who will write the best prompts will be the ones who ask the best questions. 

Together, this is the bottom line: 
Those who will succeed in the future—at work, at home, and everywhere in between—will elevate the talents and skills that make them uniquely human. They will develop their talent for taste and the skill of asking great questions.

Are you ready for questions to be the answer?

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The Roundup

Discover

Merged Lifeforms,
a once-in-a-billion-years evolutionary event where one organism engulfs another and starts using it like an internal organ (the last time this happened, Earth got plants)

Mutant Space Bacteria,
discovered aboard the ISS—and is already the inspiration for thousands of science fiction plots

Gravity-free Materials,
creating a levitating platform that operates without relying on external power sources

Build 

Seaweed Mining,
becoming a salty, slimy way to trap and store precious minerals

Sponge Furniture,
flat packed for efficient shipping, just add water and let dry, then, presto, you have new furniture

Legends Tower,
it will be the tallest building in the US—and will be in… Oklahoma

Broadband Nutrition Labels,
in the US, internet service providers (ISPs) now need to break down key information on their plans and associated fees in the format of the nutrition label found on food packaging

Live

Dead Internet Theory,
starting to look less conspiracy and more prophetic—well, at least in part

Universal Donor Blood,
stripping away blood types by using a common gut bacteria

Old Medicines,
psychedelic treatments, once shunned by the medical community and embraced by the counterculture, are going mainstream

Feel

Hacking Happiness,
by providing people with personalized insights into their brain chemistry

Slowing Time,
entering a perceived state of slow motion during exercise

Sleep Tourism,
straight with pillow menus, hotels are helping guests get a healthy dose of rest

Stay

Floatels,
turning former cruise ships into floating hotels

Bare-adise Adventures,
a once in a lifetime experience sets sail next year—leave your clothes at home

Palatial Places,
courting travelers who want to live like modern royalty

Play

Teenage Playgrounds,
transforming swings’ standards into “something challenging, unusual, beautiful, and rewarding”

Tenniscore,
this style trend is what it sounds like (and included here because we’ve not had a “core” trend in the roundup in a while)

Powerpoint Parties,
the 2018 trend that spiked during the pandemic is hot again 

Between Letters,
urging people to "look between" certain letters on their keyboard

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Parallel Newness

It must be a May thing.

For this throwback block, it’s time to resurface Issue 24. Originally published last May, this past issue also focused on AI, science, time, tech labeling, and its own collection of quirky social media-led cultural developments. 

The issue started by unpacking the difference between the task-focused Generative AI and the human-like intelligence of AGI—and it ended by introducing us to AI Contribution Badges.

In between, the roundup took a break from AI to prepare us for genetically engineered super-bugs, space labs brewing new drugs, and brain-computer interfaces that translate your thoughts. From social media oddities like "Skeets" on a new platform to indulging your furry friend with Doggy Dim Sum, this past issue had something for everyone—and everything. 

Oh, and are you curious about streaming underwear and operatic escapism? Then click back — the intrigue (and oddities) are still fresh.

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The New New’s mission is to fuel foresight. Every issue delivers a curated view into the discoveries, launches, trends, and movements shaping tomorrow—all explored through broad landscapes, from labs and studios to businesses and culture.

Each month(ish), this is pulled together by me, Brent Turner, and published on LinkedIn, Substack, and my site.

Okay, I'm off to slow time.

- B

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