Physicist Richard Feynman once said that if all knowledge about physics was about to expire the one sentence he would tell the future is that "Everything is made of atoms". What one sentence would you tell the future about your own area, whether it's entrepreneurship, hedge funds, venture capital, or something else?
Examples: An economist might say that "People respond to incentives". I had an engineering professor years ago who said all of that field could be reduced to "F=MA and you can't push on a rope".
Off the top of my head, speaking about the intersection between media, technology, and culture, I would say "People power culture with the tools they have at hand".
» Rafe answers the challenge with a sentence about programming.
» The User Experience community at Adaptive Path has taken up the challenge.
Update: There are a few people whose sentences I'd especially like to read, so I'm going to tag them here in the hope they will respond.
- Security expert Bruce Schneier
- Storyteller-about-ideas Malcolm Gladwell
- Futurist Jamais Cascio. [Jamais responds and tags seven more interesting people.]
- Founder Alex Steffen and every single one of the contributors at World Changing
- Communications expert Alan Nelson [Alan responds]
- Nanotechnologist George Elvin
- Storyteller Neil Gaiman
What would you say to the future?
Every human is creative, so make something, anything, at least once a day. - Ms. Jen, artist
Of all the water on earth, only one percent is drinkable, making it a resource to be cherished not squandered. - Buzz, water industry operations manager.
"The Secret to Existance is Movement"
That was the one thing I could remember after the accident and I thought that up when I was about 6.
I walked within 20 minutes of coming to with a crushed skull and the doctors seem to think my recovery is because I didn't stop.
"we only are gods to ourselves".
"The future is a choice."
Even if a human child shows distinct signs of intelligence, they will still eat crayons.
I don't recall from whom this quote originated, but it is certainly worth remembering:
"The greatest human vanity is to confine reality to that which we understand."
Laziness - Apathy = Efficiency
Familiarity breeds.
"Sadly, each of us is only as moral as we feel we can afford to be."
Your own wisdom will arrive at the intersection of inner and outer experience.