"You will own nothing (aside from NFTs), but you will be happy (in VR anyway)”. There is a twisted idea floating around the richer corners of the internet - the idea of "reality privilege". The reality privilege idea is best summed up in this quote from Marc Andreessen: “Your question is a great example of … Continue reading Let them eat VR nFT cake
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
As futurists, our role is to help others understand the world as it is; the likely futures ahead if we don't do anything about it; the trade offs and choices we face; and the complicated potential and probable unintended consequences and collateral damage of our present and future decisions and the incentives that shape them. … Continue reading Bad frames
Society is being virtualised in two different ways. Firstly, in the literal sense, as in how more and more of our experience is being digitised. The continuous is continuously being made discrete. What is digitised and discrete can be codified, flattened, and managed into "computer says no/go" rules which allow us to (at least pretend … Continue reading Virtualised and Discrete
On reading We have been harmonised I was reminded the if you want to control a large group, one of easiest ways to do that is to get them all 1) naked and 2) alone. Naked, so that they feel watched by the authority, their peers and -more importantly - by their own selves. Religion … Continue reading Naked, and alone
Two quotes to get you through chaotic times, when it feels like things are spiralling out of control: Tend your own garden "Life is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one's garden." ~ Voltaire In a literal and figurative sense : look after yourself, take responsibility for your own … Continue reading Tend your garden, Defend your garden
We Have Been Harmonised by Kai Strittmatter makes for uncomfortable reading. The book details the seemingly unstoppable slide towards the total surveillance state (or the 360 degree, 4D WiFi curtain, as I like to call our emerging omniscient open air prison reality), not just in the Communist Party of China's China, but all over the … Continue reading We have been harmonised
"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"~ Terry Pratchett When it comes down to it, although our day to day lives may be driven by envy; what we want, what we really, really want, as conscious human beings, is immortality. Traditionally, this has taken one of three routes … Continue reading Deed, seed, creed – and the war on death
"If one merchant or one group was as good as another in gathering information and guessing about supply and demand, the one able to operate with lower costs would gain larger profits. A very substantial part of costs was what had to be paid for protection and for insurance against losses that might be inflicted … Continue reading The Social Contract
“Rabbit's clever," said Pooh thoughtfully. "Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit's clever." "And he has Brain." "Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit has Brain." There was a long silence. "I suppose," said Pooh, "that that's why he never understands anything.” ~ Benjamin Hoff The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff is a wonderful, whimsical, entertaining little book on the principles of enlightenment - with plenty of … Continue reading On the Foolishness of the Wise
