Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report

As more and more of us sit with the question of what sits beyond intelligence as our true human premium, it seems that we’re doubling down on that ineffable quality that, as of yet, lies beyond the grasp of the machine: intuition.

It’s an entrance into a new era — a noetic era — coined and elaborated upon by Concept Bureau’s Zach Lamb, a brand stra... See more

As Ari Melenciano, a recent guest speaker at RADAR’s Into: Our Centaur Future, has written: “We’re currently unaware of many aspects of our own psyches yet are automating its design through technologies. The better we know ourselves, the better we’re able to design systems, technologies, lenses that intentionally empower our lights vs. blindly perp... See more

Just as factory owners of the 19th century dismissed the skills of their workers in favor of profit and productivity, so do the tech leaders of today dismiss human craft in favor of what they believe is “good enough” productivity. It’s telling that in the development of AI, tech companies often use the term “ median human ” to describe the aspirati... See more

On another, we might peer into the machine itself. After all, as it stands today, one of AI’s greatest strengths is in highlighting its own weaknesses (and thereby, illuminating those qualities that we’re uniquely suited to as living, breathing thinkers and makers). We might consider our imagination a strength, or our capacity for recursive thought... See more

When you start to disentangle production, identity, and the matter of survival from one another, that relationship to doing can become much clearer, especially for those in the spaces of art and craft.

As Kevin Abosch, the Irish conceptual artist and pioneer of blockchain art, aptly put it: “The wise artist doesn’t fear emergent technology, but rather asks, ‘How can I use this tool in a meaningful way?’” Asking the question, ‘how might I empower, scale, or otherwise supercharge my creativity by experimenting and engaging with the technology befor... See more

these are matriarchal cultures with deep respect for what we would call feminine values and qualities; while zero-sum thinking is inherently more masculine in its mighty, competitive, winner-take-all mindset.

In adopting this more fluid, relational perspective and opening our minds to viewing our more-than-human counterparts as kin rather than competition, our perspective on cooperation and collaboration shifts dramatically — or, to quote Making Kin with the Machines once more, allows us to “open up our imaginations and dream wildly and radically about ... See more

Quantitative indicators — faulty proxies for qualitative truths — are our primary measure of success, and considerations of life beyond our own have, until now, been largely absent from our day-to-day decision making. What magic might unfold if we just adjust our aperture? And what’s at risk if we don’t?