“There are many exciting new technologies that will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare. Here are eleven of them.”
Very true; even some added the question “is it insane enough?” in the mix. I noticed that Jack Ma seems to like this one.
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My sociology of knowledge students read Yuval Harari’s bestselling first book, Sapiens, to think about the right frame of reference for understanding the overall trajectory of the human condition. Homo Deus follows the example of Sapiens, using contemporary events to launch into what nowadays is called ‘big history’ but has been also called ‘deep history’ and ‘long history’. Whatever you call it, the orientation sees the human condition as subject to multiple overlapping rhythms of change which generate the sorts of ‘events’ that are the stuff of history lessons. But Harari’s history is nothing like the version you half remember from school.
In school historical events were explained in terms more or less recognizable to the agents involved. In contrast, Harari reaches for accounts that scientifically update the idea of ‘perennial philosophy’. Aldous Huxley popularized this phrase in his quest to seek common patterns of thought in the great world religions which could be leveraged as a global ethic in the aftermath of the Second World War. Harari similarly leverages bits of genetics, ecology, neuroscience and cognitive science to advance a broadly evolutionary narrative. But unlike Darwin’s version, Harari’s points towards the incipient apotheosis of our species; hence, the book’s title.
This invariably means that events are treated as symptoms if not omens of the shape of things to come. Harari’s central thesis is that whereas in the past we cowered in the face of impersonal natural forces beyond our control, nowadays our biggest enemy is the one that faces us in the mirror, which may or may not be able within our control. Thus, the sort of deity into which we are evolving is one whose superhuman powers may well result in self-destruction. Harari’s attitude towards this prospect is one of slightly awestruck bemusement.
Here Harari equivocates where his predecessors dared to distinguish. Writing with the bracing clarity afforded by the Existentialist horizons of the Cold War, cybernetics founder Norbert Wiener declared that humanity’s survival depends on knowing whether what we don’t know is actually trying to hurt us. If so, then any apparent advance in knowledge will always be illusory. As for Harari, he does not seem to see humanity in some never-ending diabolical chess match against an implacable foe, as in The Seventh Seal. Instead he takes refuge in the so-called law of unintended consequences. So while the shape of our ignorance does indeed shift as our knowledge advances, it does so in ways that keep Harari at a comfortable distance from passing judgement on our long term prognosis.
Interesting perspective.
James Dyson is an evangelist for the creative process of change, quoting ‘People think of creativity as a mystical process. Creativity is something that has to be worked at, and it has specific characteristics. Unless we understand how it happens, we will not improve our creativity, as a society or as a world’. Creativity in corporates often defaults to ‘brainstorming’.
If brainstorming sessions are nothing more than an excuse for people to sit in a room, say they are not really sure what to do and then discuss last night’s television, then yes they are a waste of time. In fact, they are worse than that, they are a force for stagnation and serve only to reinforce the idea that there are no original thinkers in the team and that those present are incapable of coming up with any ideas that are interesting, innovative, exploratory or adventurous.
Travelling into the darkest depths of the universe could soon be as easy as flicking on a switch, or at least a switch for a giant laser system that will fire a spacecraft at 150m kmph to Alpha Centauri.
Back in April 2016, the philanthropic research group Breakthrough Initiatives announced it was putting millions of dollars into developing a spacecraft capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in the next 20 years.
Continue reading “How Starshot will get us to Alpha Centauri in 20 years” »
China means business; and what will the long-term impacts to SV be? Could the US see a brain drain soon?
China has been encouraging its industrial firms to rise up the value chain through technical innovation and tougher efficiency standards, with the aim of creating globally competitive conglomerates.
It has vowed to be more selective in the way it disburses funds, and aims to cut off credit for non-competitive firms that are unable to upgrade.
Continue reading “China launches $30 billion state-controlled venture capital fund” »
Researchers have developed a liquid material that repairs torn clothes, and it it able to withstand subsequent washes in a washing machine.
Every invention starts with an idea. And a group of researchers at Pennsylvania State University have a rather great idea—making a piece of torn fabric heal itself.
After years of working on the concept, the team is more than pleased to have created a biodegradable liquid material that allows torn fabric to bind to itself back together, sans needles.
Continue reading “Self-Healing Textile: Welcome to the Age of Clothes That Can Heal Themselves” »
Keith Comito from LEAF/Lifespan.io talking about the need for a unified call to action and how we have reached a turning point in the life extension movement.
In this talk LEAF President Keith Comito explains how initatives like Lifespan.io (https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/sens-control-alt-delete-cancer/) fit into the broader goal of building a grassroots movement in support of life extension, with the eventual aim of effecting massive societial change on the issue. If you are looking for a deep dive into the full scope of life extension advocacy, from the dawn of history to current breakthroughs and opportunities, this is it.
This presentation is part of the Designing New Advances conference held by the Institute of Exponential Sciences in the Netherlands, orchestrated by Demian Hoed and Lotte van Noort.
“An ultimate goal of stem cell research is to turn on the regenerative potential of one’s own stem cells for tissue and organ repair and disease therapy,” said Dr. Kang Zhang of the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
You’ll soon be able to see the future with eyes grown in petri dishes. Scientists in Japan’s Osaka University have found a new way to turn stem cells into a human eyeball in what is (needless to say) a remarkable breakthrough for the medical community. According to lead biologist Kohji Nishida, a small sample of adult skin is all that would be required in order to grow retinas, corneas, lenses, and other key components of the eye.
Continue reading “Stem cell breakthrough allows scientists to grow and assemble human eyes” »
