In William Gibson’s 2003 cyberpunk novel Pattern Recognition, the protagonist Cayce Pollard, a coolhunter and creative consultant, utilises her body’s visceral reaction to the world around her to detect irregularities and deviations. Like Pollard, spotting weird signals requires us to tune into our nervous system to cut through the noise to find... See more

collecting without connecting is just hoarding—a library full of signals collecting digital dust.

look for, more specifically, are ‘weird’ signals. Weird signals are behaviours and phenomena that feel strange or out of place. But importantly, they also tend to hint at unanticipated future cultural upheavals. As cultural futurist Jasmine Binaexplains: “weird signals usually give us a glimpse into the future we can’t see yet. Every major cultural... See more

LLMs will raise the standards for our trend research. Machine and human sense-making operating in tandem, expanding what’s possible and helping us break free from our filter bubbles.

AI offers breadth - it aids me in cross-referencing unprecedented amounts of disparate information sources and millions of data points. With Sublime’s ‘Chat’ function,... See more

We are living through an era where trend cycles move at hyper-speed, compressed into 24-hour cycles. Every day, there’s a new shiny fad, a new viral moment, flocks of forecasters and oracles eager to crown them with a new catchy title, in an attempt to drive engagement and visibility in the feed. Yet, these isolated spikes flatten the story and... See more

With Sublime, instead of traditional tagging, I’ll curate research by specific questions or theses. Perhaps it’s a provocation, or a question I’m aiming to explore, or a shower thought about the future of culture. But it’s always based on an intention. Something specific I’m personally intrigued by, or niggling problem I’m trying to explore for a... See more

Instead, what I have trained myself to look for, more specifically, are ‘weird’ signals. Weird signals are behaviours and phenomena that feel strange or out of place. But importantly, they also tend to hint at unanticipated future cultural upheavals. As cultural futurist Jasmine Binaexplains: “weird signals usually give us a glimpse into the future... See more

Yet, despite this abundance of enthusiasm for cultural research, it often feels like it’s easier than ever to slip into the gravity well of banality. Cookie-cutter essays optimized for algorithmic engagement. Hot takes stripped of depth. Fleeting fads interpreted as extreme, paradigm-shifting hyperbole. We resort to dramatic binaries, either... See more

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”