Eric Schmidt: Global knowledge means that ‘eventually technology disappears’

The ease with which technology connects us, means that at a global level, human knowledge is accelerating. With this increased knowledge we will be able to create a new set of wealth and opportunities.

That’s according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt, who argues that technology offers far more solutions than problems, particularly when it comes to education, human governance, and conflict.

Speaking at Google Zeitgeist Americas, Schmidt uses the example of how massively open courses like the Khan Academy and Coursra are changing the face of education. Because all of these courses have to get the edge on each other, they bring competition to a sector that’s never had it before. That’s without even going into the potential for collaboration, the ease with which they can be used by people already holding down full-time jobs, and the manner in which they spread knowledge, which would have once been restricted to a small locale, around the globe.

The same kind of thing applies to nearly every other sector of our lives.

Further in the future, Schmidt, knowledge about “the things that bind us as a species” will not slow down, contrary to popular expectations. “The simultaneous science means that core learning grows ever faster…the global science has sort of no restrictions,” he says.

“If we get this right, I believe we can fix all the world’s problems,” he adds.

Google Zeitgeist means “the spirit of the times,” and this spirit can be seen through the aggregation of millions of search queries Google receives every day. The annual Zeitgeist report reveals what captured the world’s attention in the past year along with Google’s passions, interests and defining moments as seen through search.