We picked up on four major trends in Watts' talk, to share with you:

• What a Small World! Watts says we should all get used to the concept of a global culture -- not a U.S. culture, not a European culture, but a global one. Frenchmen go to a DisneyWorld for vacation and eat Big Macs. The world's culture knows no geographic borders anymore.



• Information is King. "The value of information about goods and services eclipses the value of the goods and services themselves," he says. Watts gave as an example certain collectible Campbell's Soup labels. The soup cans cost far less than the labels, which are being sold on eBay for more than 10 times the price of the soup.



• Paradox -- Get Used to the Word. As Watts pointed out, we will be seeing more paradoxes, where society moves in multiple different directions at the same time. For example, low carb diets are hot, at the same time cooking is hot. This is a reflection of the complexity of our world.



• Capitalism Rules and China Ascends.The last two decades have seen the rise of capitalism, affecting China greatly as that country's economic system transforms and morphs. China now has a US$1 Trillion economy and is poised to be a major economic power moving forward.