Thomas

No longer will we need to learn to navigate through apps like Uber or complex systems like those of SAP or Oracle. Thus far, we’ve always adapted to software—learning its intricacies, remembering layered menus and so forth to communicate with machines. “Training” to use complex apps is commonplace. Now, AI is enabling software to adapt to humans... See more

Why are we seeing a global homogenizing of culture across every dimension that counts? Why has Hollywood become so creatively bankrupt that nobody bothers watching that oh-so-predictable-52nd sequel to a superhero movie? Why have pop songs become so objectively similar? Why is everyone following the same formula for their posts on Instagram and hum... See more

The result is that most people have thought jobs without being given much time to think, which is the equivalent of making a ditch-digger work without a shovel. Maybe this is why productivity growth is half of what it used to be.

At the very root of failing societal systems is a particular system of thought, with origins in the European ‘Enlightenment’. This dominant mindset has underpinned modern scientific advancement, bringing extraordinary material comfort to large parts of the world. At the same time its reductionist tendency has shaped over centuries a mass culture of... See more

Four-and-a-half years ago, as the COVID epidemic hit its first, horrible spike, Jamais Cascio , a professional futurist, wrote a prescient and helpful post titled, “Facing the Age of Chaos.” He began with this simple insight: “This current moment of political mayhem, climate disasters, and global pandemic — and so much more — vividly demonstrates... See more