Savor a candy that will protect us from cavities, drink from bottles made from paper, drive a car that runs on sea water, buy vegan ice cream at IKEA, these are some ideas mapped out by Alain McKenna and then exposed. in 100 things you absolutely need to know in 2022. News, trends, discoveries… The future is here!, book just published by Guy Saint-Jean editor.
In these pages, the columnist and journalist at To have to is a broker of discoveries in order to shine the spotlight on solutions to societal problems, but also to democratize and make accessible recent scientific, technological and cultural advances. “When you are a journalist, you receive so much information that the bulk of the work these days – it was less the case before – is to filter all that and find what is most interesting for our readers. There are weeks that I have no research to do [la nouvelle] falls on me. “
When the time came for him to find the famous 100 ideas that make up this book, abundance was at the rendezvous. And the format of the book, unlike the more traditional media format which occupies the daily life of the reporter, appeared to him as the best tool to push his thinking a little further, he explains. Detailing, explaining, giving people time to immerse themselves in it, the book allows you to “take small bites, read one or two chapters one evening and come back to it the next day”.
After It will happen in 2021. The 100 things to know before everyone else, this new opus by Alain McKenna does not offer a way to foresee the future, but to see it under a hopeful and reassuring eye. ” [Le propos du livre] makes it seem like something else is going on than just bickering about viruses – because at some point it’s an obsession and you never get out of it. There are people who continue to do research, to innovate. “
If we read the newspaper, he continues, we see mainly problems: the pandemic, climate change…. “There, at least, we have the means to express with a certain positivism, or at least a little hope, our ability to innovate and find solutions to problems. I myself am a little anxious about what is to come. But it’s a driving force, that’s what makes me look for subjects and search them. “
Fans of horoscopes and other esoteric predictions about the future will find little to feed their anxieties. Everything here is real, based on ongoing research. “It is a work of general culture. My editor will say that this is theAlmanac revised version XXIe century. He’s pushing hard on it. Everything is true, there are no inventions in my book. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword because, yes, there is a lot of noise in information, especially thanks to digital today, but there are still things that are true and what is in it. the book is the result of work in the laboratory, in universities, in research centers or in companies. These are things that are documented. “
These melting candies that will strengthen tooth enamel do indeed exist. “That doesn’t mean that it’s marketed and that you can find it next to Dentyne’s boxes at the convenience store, but it’s coming,” says Alain McKenna.
The importance of acting
At the end of these 100 things, the reporter announces great progress, bearer of hope and solutions. Above all, he notes the importance of acting, moving forward and looking ahead to improve our lot. “In 1995, we thought that the year 2000 was going to be crazy […] I think at some point you have to stop dreaming and you have to create it. This is what is missing, and it has been missing for 25 years. Because there are issues that we sweep under the carpet just because we are afraid to commit to solutions. It was a bit like that in the year 2000 […] We were afraid that the planes would fall from the sky, we were afraid of a lot of business because of the change of date. The journalist thus deplores the fact that instead of fully understanding our tools, they have become mystical.
Avoiding going around in circles, Alain McKenna hopes that his book will launch discussions on subjects as eclectic as gin made from elephant excrement or the use of hydrogen in the manufacture of engines. Although the pandemic has somewhat stopped the machine, the author emphasizes that the challenges in health and education are the same as five years ago.
“Socially speaking, we go around in circles. […] I find that we shovel forward a lot of these problems and that’s not how we’re going to solve them […] If we had a more robust health system, we would not have had the confinement we had. We were confined for a year and a half because, essentially, we did not have enough room in the emergency room to accommodate sick people. Just because everyone was dying from COVID, doesn’t mean there is that nuance to be made […] So, it is not because there are no solutions to solve the problems, it is because we are too lazy to do so. “