Africa, the continent with the youngest population in the world, is very literally the future. More specially, South Africa, with its progressive constitution that lead the world in terms of dealing with questions around gender and race relations; and it’s early warnings around the limits of the social contract and the (now global) energy crunch, … Continue reading Africa is (literally) the future
It's about time you reclaimed the future. Especially the far future, which we all seem to have forgotten about. The possibility of the far future has got lost amongst the perma-crisis that clouds geopolitics literally (or less so, depending on where in the world you live...). But here's the thing : there are no rules … Continue reading the 1000 Year Project
David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity is such an important book. For a start it's unashamedly optimistic (which is heretical these days). Indeed, it defends optimism as not only being rational (after all, if we project the likelihood of tomorrows's problems with today;'s technology and understanding, we are bound to err on the side of … Continue reading The Beginning of Infinity
"We don’t exist unless there is someone who can see us existing . . . to be surrounded by friends is constantly to have our identity confirmed."~ Alain de Botton Tracey Follows is one of my favourite contemporary futurists. Her new book, The Future of You explains why I love the way she thinks. For … Continue reading The Future of You
I'm currently trying to get the following self-created ideas/ terms to catch on, since I think they explain things about the future: The WIFI curtain (which I first wrote about anonymously, under cover, for Future World) as the 21st century's version of the Iron Curtain. Only this one is a 4D (it stretches across space … Continue reading Ideas that need to catch on
Virtuocracy : A society which is ruled by the most virtuous. Aristocracy, where one's station in life is tied to the accident of birth, is plainly unfair. Theocracy, where one's station in life is tied to one's proximity to the nexus of clerical power is likewise unjust. Meritocracy, where one's station in life is tied … Continue reading The Rise of Virtuocracy
It has been rather depressing to watch people get exactly what they want. In South Africa in March, people begged to "be lead" through the COVID crisis - and they were. Crop-bottom pant regulations, arbitrary prohibition and all. They are now number three on the global misery index. In the UK, people demanded schools were shut down - … Continue reading Be careful what you beg for
Minecraft users have been building a 1:1 replica of Earth to preserve a record of our planet and our current civilisation in event of its destruction (and goodness knows there are enough options for total world-ending destruction available these days) for some time now. As a sub-plot to that grand plan, Reporters Without Borders is … Continue reading The Uncensored New Library of Alexandra
Money gets surreal when it becomes untethered from reality; and a lot of strange financial wizardry began decoupling real value and nominal financial money in and around the 1970's. The website wfthappendin1978.com tells the story in pictures, in a series of economic charts that illustrate better than a thousand essays would, what happens when the rules … Continue reading WTF Happened in the 1970s?
"The winner takes it all" ~ ABBA The quote above really sums up the near-term effects of the combined COVID-19 and social crises on the 2020s ahead. I was recently asked to submit a chapter to Aftershocks and Opportunities, and I wrote on exactly that; how crises highlight and amplify the deep-seated cracks and devastating … Continue reading The Winner Takes it All
