[inaudible conversations] .. >> we also took a look at some of the new technology on display. >> host: this is peter nowak of toronto, canada. humans 3 .0 is his most recent book the upgrading of the

species. what do you mean by 3.0? >> guest: well, i guess there's a couple ways to look at it. when i first started the book, i talked to anthropologists and got a sense of what stage of evolution we were in scientifically, and there's not really agreement there. some of them are saying we could be considered humans 4.0 actually. but where i kind of starts from was the earliest humans were the ones that were largely subjugated by nature. nature's perceived and then we involve, of course, through technology. technology played a major role. i think for the last 200,000 years or so we have been humans 2 .0 and that's more of a case of humans living in relative harmony with nature. you know, it hasn't kicked our butt basically completely. humans 3 .0, i think is where anthropologists call it the -- [inaudible] and that's where humans are

starting to affect nature, master nature both in the sense of the environment and our own biology through technology. and there's debate over when that started. some say it was the industrial revolution others say it's more recent more of the digital revolution and the internet. whichever the case is, we're certainly in the midst of it now where we're starting to develop things like getting really into bioengineering and neuroscience and all these things. so these are all fields that are going to be big over the next couple of decades. so we're definitely in the -- [inaudible] as i worked on the books it took about three years to do. i developed a more complex idea of what humans 3 .0 is -- 3.0 is. and it has to do once i went through all these various chapters which we'll talk about i came to the conclusion that humans for most of our history have been, we've been kind of

torn between these two historical forces between competition and cooperation. and when i say competition, that includes conflict and killing each other as well as more, you know mundane subjects. and i think humans 3.0 is kind of a, we're starting to realize that both of those forces work for us together and they're synthesizing. we can compete with each other not kill each other do the mundane competition but also cooperate with each other. and this actually benefits us all. i think we're slowly realizing it. that's my more in depth definition of humans 3.0. >> host: so do you believe that we became humans 3.0 through your research during the industrial era or through the digital era? >> guest: i think it's -- i don't think you can draw a line. i think it's ongoing. one thing that i try to do in the book is i think -- i didn't have this conclusion when i

started. i kind of -- i followed the data. and i looked at each different aspect of society and culture and what we are as people. so the chapters are kind of neatly divided into here's where we are on, in economics here's where we are in health life expectancy relationships religion and beliefs, privacy happiness u all this stuff. i tried to chart the evolution through sensory through cave men and cave women. and then come to conclusions from that. so again, i don't think there's -- i didn't draw any lines between the industrial revolution and digital revolution. i just kind of looked at it all -- in some cases though, it was hard to come up with any kind of numbers or data because we haven't been tracking a lot of things for a long time. so asking basic questions like are we more private today than we were 2,000 years ago that's very hard to tell because how

would you have tracked that 2,000 years ago? same as in the chapter i have on relationships -- of my favorites because it deals with things all of us can represent to -- i talked to founder of ashley job madison.com which is a web site for extramarital affairs, and i asked him if we were having more affairs than 30 years ago and he's not sure because the data that they're getting now is going to give him a lot of information, going to give us a lot of information years from now, but we don't really have anything back in the '60s and '70s. we don't have anything to compare against. >> host: one of the recurring themes in your book is the issue of solitariness. an increased solitariness. is that a downside to the digital revolution? >> guest: i think so if you look at some of the numbers. the one i found a little, maybe not disturbing, but disheartening was that studies have shown people are today

identifying that they have fewer close confidants than ever before. i don't remember the exact numbers, but it's something like 30 years ago the average person would say they would have four or five close confidants whereas now they might have one or two. and that's really interesting compared to what we know about the internet and social media and the digital revolution, is everybody has hundreds of friends on -- friends on facebook and thousands of followers on twitter. so kind of our social circles have theoretically expanded, but a lot of the other -- and not just the information about the close con my adapts, but you look at family sizes, family sizes are shrinking, the marriage rate is going down people are not joining things like clubs. they're not joining things like kiwanis as often. and you also have religion. relidge juicety people who identify as part of religion, that's also going down

dramatically. so people are not joining things as much. i don't know if they're substituting that with joining groups on facebook, i don't know. but that is i think, that is one of the downsides. there is a kind of reaction to this internet-based social explosion that we're kind of shrinking inwards. >> host: now mr. nowak this overall -- is it fair to say that your book, "humans 3.0," is a positive look at technology, or you take a positive attitude towards advancement? >> guest: i think so. yeah, generally it's an optimistic book, and i think that's almost its selling point because as a journalist, you know, i know we often focus on the negative. and one of the -- i spoke to a veteran science journalist in denmark. i went to denmark to talk to happiness experts because denmark is the happiest country on earth according to many of the surveys. he said something really

poignant that i remember because he was talking about -- or we were, i was asking him why are, why is the media focused so much on negativity, and his answer was that the media is kind of like our nervous system. it's our collective nervous system where we are our own nervous system doesn't tell us we're perfectly fine today. if we had all that information bombarding us, we wouldn't know what to do it, but it does tell us when something's wrong. and that's kind of what the media's there for, i suppose. so i think it's counterintuitive to say things are getting better largely thanks to technological -- technology doesn't magically solve problems but it does enable things particularly in terms of economics. one of the great untold stories that i mention in this book is the united nations and the world bank both of them both officials there are almost

unexpected that their stories aren't being told more that extreme poverty has been cut in half in the world faster than they thought was possible. infant mortality is dropping faster in africa than anywhere at any point in history. these are massively good news stories, but we don't hear a lot about them. so it is counterintuitive to come out with a book that, a book that has a relatively optimistic and positive conclusion. it was hard for me to believe my own data because everybody has bad things happen to them in their daily lives. i'm a journalist, and we have layoffs and cutbacks on a daily basis. so it's hard to step back from the day-to-day and remember and take a look at the data from a distance and say, no, things are actually getting better. so it's kind of -- that was a hard thing. but, yeah, it is an optimistic

book. >> host: three examples of technology you talk about in your book, neuroscience, robots, youtube. >> guest: yes. well robots, i think is an especially interesting one because 2014 i think was the year of robot angst. i don't know if i could a day went by when i didn't see some kind of story about how robots are stealing jobs from humans and that we're all going to end up out of work. on a daily basis you hear stories about there's a better robot who's a better bartender than humans, waiter or waitress than humans and so on and so on. the point that i think is missed a lot in that is that every prior revolution or advance in automation has actually resulted in better jobs for humans. is so to give you an example 200 years ago over 75% of the american population was farming. now it's about 1%. those farmers could not have imagined that 200 years from now

jobs like web designer or video game designer or whatever they couldn't imagine those jobs would be possible. and i think we're in that same situation right now where we're really worried about the robots taking our jobs and having a hard time imagining what we're going to be doing even ten years from now. i think that history has shown that we will figure out a way to combine with the robots to create new jobs again that were previously unimaginable. >> host: neuroscience. >> guest: neuroscience is an interesting area too. we have some major projects underway both in the united states and in europe to try to understand the brain. and that's going to have incredible effects. just as the human genome project has led to a lot of different therapies for all kinds of physical ailments, neuroscience the brain projects are going to result in a lot of things

positive, amazing developments. what they're going to be is hard to imagine but you can kind of project forward some possibilities are we'll finally come to understand the brain and there's some periods out there, some of the futurists out there believe that the brain's just pattern, and once you understand that pattern, you can replicate that a pattern. if that's true, then that's going to be amazing because that means we'll be able to replicate our brain our personalities and transfer them into virtual worlds robots whatever and, of course, live forever. in the more short term, it's going to result in neuroscience. you can combine neuroscience with genetic, for example. the sequencing of dna is getting cheaper every year and i think we're -- it's not too far into the future where we're all going to be able to sequence our dna. that's going to result in more individualized drugs which is

going to give us better treatment for whatever ails us. i know you watch commercials for certain medicines on tv, and they have this horrifying list of side effects. laugh hopefully, that's going to change soon because drugs today are done, they're created to service a mass market. and then so you're going to have all these side effects. you'll have to take this drug to count they are side effect and so on and so on. so i think you going to have more tailored and effective drugs, and that's going to result in better health. >> host: finally youtube. >> guest: youtube is, i think youtube is a good proxy for what's happening creatively for humans, for people. we have -- and this is, i think mostly endemic to the internet digital revolution -- is we've had an explosion of creativity and expression. so people now, anybody can take a photo. people take photos on their cameras. we take thousands of photos a

day, and you can dump them all out if you want online and you can show somebody that ham sandwich you had for lunch. that's not art. most people wouldn't consider that art but it is a form of expression. that wasn't possible just 20 years ago. to take a photo 20 years ago actually cost you a lot of money. you had to develop it, print it, wait a couple weeks. so that's happening. photos blogs youtube videos, video games. the same people are able to -- are getting better tool toss create their own video games. so the question a lot of people have been asking is, well how do we -- how do artists and people who do this stuff professionally how do they get paid? that's a valid question, but the point that shouldn't be forgotten is that everybody can do this now. everybody's able to express themselves, and i think that's a massive leap forward for us as people. >> host: you have a chapter in here marx was right, sort that. [laughter] >> guest: it's karl marx not

groucho. that was i kind of delved back into high school sociology and politics in that one i think. marx, i think is associated with the dialectics, historical dialectics of, you know, briefly it's masters slaves, and then they have conflict between them that results in the two merging and the ultimate roots of communism was eventually people would get sick and tired of that, and there would be no ruling class and under class. in some ways i think we're still very far from that, but i don't think -- where i think some of what 20th century communism got wrong is some of the world leaders tried to impose it. but i think going back to the original definition of humans 3.0 where we're subconsciously learning that we can cooperate and compete at the same time, further to that is the

understanding that we actually do benefit if -- without somebody else losing, you know what i mean? so i think we're getting towards that, we're getting closer to that understanding. and some countries i think, are further ahead than others. again, i bring up denmark because i visited denmark. denmark is considered by many to be a socialist country. but one thing that they do have there is a very large sense of trust amongst all their people. and even the, you know, business owners understand that taxes and that sort of thing are necessary because they can result in, say, transportation systems that get their workers to the jobs on time, and they're not miserable when they get there. that improves their own productivity and so on. so that's, i think that's a more enlightened understanding of my neighbor doesn't have to suffer in order for me to benefit. and i think that's, if i can bring marx into that, then i think that's where he was right.

>> host: and how does that tie into technology? >> guest: because technology -- and that conclusion is, that is the conclusion of the book, and i think all the other chapters where we look into all the other enabling factors whether it's health life expectancy whether it's economics, whether it's jobs and is so on, technology is fueling all of those aspects so that it may not directly fuel that conclusion, but it is fueling all of the contributing factors to that conclusion. >> host: and your conclusion in "humans 3.0," if you could expound on this just a little bit, as for humans 4.0, i can't wait to transfer my essence into a machine and fly across the galaxy, but we won't have to cross that bridge or write that book for at least another two -- [inaudible] >> guest: yes. well, i think, first of all by the time we get to humans 4.0 maybe people won't be writing books anymore. maybe it'll be robots writing

them, i don't know. that's also another wink back to the future as we believe we can transfer our minds into machines eventually at some point in the future. that's still largely science fiction, and i am a science fiction fan, so i think that's a tongue in cheek way of ending the book. and i think that is one thing i guess i should mention is that although the book is very data driven, it's not -- i didn't write it for geeks, i didn't write it for the numbers nuts. i'm very much, i very much like pop culture. i play video games, i go to movies. so i try to take those numbers and illustrate them or shine them through a pop culture lens. so i talk to writers, i talk to video game makers, and i got their input on this. so it's not just numbers it's also, i guess colorful interpretations of some of those numbers as well. >> host: now finally, why are you here at ces international in las vegas?

>> guest: well, i'm always here. i've been here, i think this is my eighth show. i'm generally here as a journalist seeing what's happening and writing about it and talking about it. this year i'm also on the other side of the fence where i'm part of the gary's book club which is the book showcase that they have -- >> host: gary shapiro cea head. >> guest: exactly. so they have some books technology books that they showcase here at the show, and i was fortunate enough to be selected for that club. so i'm on both sides of the fence here. i'm wearing two hats. >> host: peter nowak, "humans 3.0" is the name of the book, thanks for being on the program. >> guest: my pleasure. >> host: "the communicators" is on location at ces international, the consumer technology trade show held every year in las vegas. and one of the areas here that we're looking at is the new technology area and start-up companies. and we want to introduce you to clement rosset -- >> guest: yes. >> host: and the company is called iskn.

mr. rosset, what to can you make? >> guest: we started with six authors one year ago, we need to go to $35,000 and finally we reached $350,000 -- >> host: to develop what? >> guest: yes. we went here to the ces last year and today we continue -- [inaudible] you can put any paper and any notebook on it. and with the realtime, it tells you -- >> host: this is like a slate. this is a slate correct? >> guest: this is a slate correct. >> host: all right. so you can draw anything you want here, and it will immediately -- >> guest: digitize. >> host: -- on to your laptop or your phone? okay. demonstrate the project. >> guest: so i can demonstrate with a new page, for example. maybe that one. i'm not a good drawer, so i'm

going to use a template. [laughter] okay? so with the realtime -- >> host: and when you say a real pen, is this a difference from -- the samsung note -- >> guest: actually, there is no battery and no electronics inside the pen. >> host: just a normal pen. >> guest: just a normal pen with a magnet that's right here. we can see that this time we're using -- [inaudible] no battery no electronics, just a simple, permanent -- [inaudible] >> host: okay. >> guest: because with our technology, there is a -- [inaudible] and we're about to track the orientation of the pen. so this is the first bit, just make the eyes. and then for production -- [inaudible] >> host: okay. >> guest: or maybe something

larger. you can change size of the lines, and then you can have the replay of your drawing and you can share it with your friend on your social media. >> host: now, has that drawing been downloaded to your tablet? it's already on the tablet, correct? >> guest: it's already on the tablet and you can even use the plate without the ipad. there is a battery and memory inside -- >> host: and blue tooth connected? >> guest: yes. at the end of the day, you can transfer the day. >> host: where did you get the idea for this technology? >> guest: actually, we are a french start-up, again but we are a spin-off of -- [inaudible] so the project started three years ago, and we were four people last year and today we're 16 people in france with more than 15 partners. >> host: and is this on the market? >> guest: yes. actually, you can preorder. we started to ship out in december first 2,000 projects.

now we're in mass production, and we're going to -- [inaudible] >> host: iskn is the name of the company. >> guest: yes. >> host: and what's the product culled? >> guest: the pad is the slate and -- [inaudible] >> host: thank you for your time. another new product being displayed here at ces in vegas is a product called fuel tech developed by a company named nova the ach what is your company? >> guest: wearable devices only using the sense of touch. >> host: and this is it right here. >> guest: yes. and it's using to communicate in many situations silently. >> host: and it's a softer, kind of flexible wristband.

>> guest: allows you to communicate without speaking without read aring or without writing, only using your sense of touch. >> host: and how would you communicate if you wanted to send somebody a message to say help me or -- >> guest: we have -- [inaudible] around the wristband so i can sense -- [inaudible] >> host: so that right here is, i feltal buzz there. >> guest: yes. i receive vibrations on my wrist. >> host: and where do those messages go? [inaudible] >> host: okay. >> guest: relay of information. here is the mobile help we use to define the -- [inaudible] i use with my colleagues, for instance. if i push the button here, it would mean that i'm injured, two

big vibrations on their wrist. if i push these buttons here, i say then that, it's okay, all is under control. and they will feel a cycle around their wrist. so we have designed like a library of patterns of vibration s depending on intensity, duration and sequence of vibrations, so you can have many -- >> host: can you create your own messages? >> guest: yes. you create your own with your friends, with your family, with your colleagues. >> host: now ms. cane yacht, is this product on the market now? >> guest: it's on the french market now. we work with professionals that try to increase the safety of their employees. for instance, we equip women working in the field women working in emergency services --

[inaudible] professionals like this. >> host: and they could discreetly if they were in trouble -- >> guest: they can discan creasely use the -- discreetly use the wristband. by pushing a button they will receive a vibration that will mean that the -- [inaudible] and someone will come through to help them. >> host: you're in vegas in ces are you trying to break into the u.s. market? >> guest: yes. it's really key for us to be international. we must be -- [inaudible] and the u.s. is a key market. >> host: we've noticed a lot of french companies tech companies are here. is there a silicon valley in france? >> guest: we have like a

french -- [inaudible] there is 66 start-up companies this year at the ces in las vegas. >> host: the coo of novatact, here is the product. >> you've been watching "the communicators" on c-span. if you'd like to see more programs, go to c-span.org/communicators. >> two sunni leaders from iraq discuss the security situation and the political future in their country. hosted by the brookings institution, live coverage begins today at 9 a.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> defense secretary ashton carter and joint chiefs of staff chair general martin dempsey held a news conference thursday at the pentagon. they discussed the fight against isis, the u.s.-led training program of syrian forces and the potential effects of sequestration. this is just over 30 minutes.

[inaudible conversations] >> okay. well, good afternoon. it's been a very busy week, so let me provide a few updates. first, earlier today i met with iraqi kurdistan regional president barzani. we talked about our progress in the fight against isil. i recognized the sacrifice that all iraqis have made in this struggle and congratulated him on retaking territory lost to isil. we reaffirmed our commitment to working together by, with and through the government of iraq to deliver a lasting defeat to isil. i understand that some on

capitol hill would like to bypass the iraqi government and directly arm the kurds and some iraqi tribes. but we oppose such a move because we believe a unified iraq is critical to the long-term defeat of isil and because it could put some of our personnel at risk. second, we're announcing today that combat training has begun for a company-sized group from the new syrian forces. this program is critical and a complex part of our counter-isil efforts. we expect a second group to begin training in the next few weeks. third, the chairman and i testified yesterday before the senate appropriations committee subcommittee on defense. given that the current budget approach is, as i said

yesterday, a road to nowhere we need members of congress to come together as they've done in the past -- including in 2013 -- and agree to a multiyear budget agreement that provides the stability dod needs and the resources our troops deserve. fourth and to change gears a bit, i want to commend seven former secretaries of defense and ten retired four-star general and flag officers for releasing a letter today encouraging congress to pass the trade promotion authority or tpa so that the president can finalize two critical trade agreements; the trans-pacific partnership, tpp and the transatlantic trade and investment partnership ttip. this important letter builds on what i said last month at arizona state university, and i encourage every member of congress and all of you to read it.