Flash Talks: Envisioning the Future

Pathways to Human and Planetary Thriving - Long Now Boston FLASH TALKS 2020.

On January 6, 02020, five Long Now Boston members shared their ideas for improving the long term future for planet earth and the human civilization that inhabits it.  In one way or another, all five speakers touched on the importance of working together towards outcomes that better match our human values and aspirations.   The top vote-getter for the night was Ye Tao of Harvard’s Rowland Institute for his presentation on Mirrors for Earth’s Energy Rebalancing (MEER:ReflEction).  Long Now Boston Board Member George Gantz (ineligible for votes) concluded the event with a presentation on Empathy: The Secret Sauce for Human Thriving.

Climate Change Solutions

Ye Tao highlighted the imperative of climate change, noting that immediately ending carbon dioxide emissions is both insufficient and economically impossible. Addressing the complex issue requires simultaneously solving five individually challenging problems: (1) planetary overheating, (2) energy, (3) ocean acidification, (4) positive climate feedbacks, and (5) food security.  MEER:ReflEction is a grand, versatile, and comprehensive engineering project that would address these threats.  By deploying aluminum thin film coated glass mirror arrays we could efficiently achieve dynamic control of surface albedo and increase renewable energy production.  The approach could support atmospheric carbon dioxide drawdown (through ocean liming), photochemical removal of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide, and eventual geographic restructuring of agricultural primary production.  MEER:ReflEction optimizes the chances for human and planetary survival beyond the coming decades.

Empathy

George Gantz pointed out that while evolution has historically been characterized as “survival of the fittest,” modern science has demonstrated this notion is false.  Evolutionary success is a function of mutual interdependence and collaboration. From the remarkable behaviors of slime mold, the sophisticated engineering of cathedral termites, the magnificent swirling patterns of bird murmurations and the interdependencies of healthy ecosystems, the successful adaptations are the ones that maximize mutual benefit.  Humans are the most collaborative and interdependent of species.  Humans created the collaborative enterprise of modern science, they inhabit complex and highly networked cities and, like termites, they build magnificent cathedrals.  In small groups facing adversity, empathic leadership can mean the difference between thriving and dying.  Trust, cooperation, mutual support, empathy and love — these are the secret sauce for human thriving.  We all need to promote human empathy to ensure human thriving – in our individual behaviors and by incentivizing our institutions to reward these virtues.

The TAO of DAO

Nathan Towianski envisions a work environment characterized by decentralized autonomous organizations (“DAOs”) that offer the creativity, flexibility and resilience to optimize human value creation.  As humans continue to move from the role of muscle, to operators, to designers, to decision-makers, the value we create will be in the choices and values we select.  Conventional business systems that maximize financial value by building moats will fade.  These will be replaced with online groups creating things, new tools, data collectives, and component libraries that enable scaling up of decentralized systems of production.  Ultimately, such systems will enable transaction processing through distributed ledgers and will vastly lower existing transactional friction.

STEM

Fredo Darling called on us to imagine a world where people in STEM dominate the celebrity landscape – a world where funding is limitless, politics and policy are science driven, global diversity in STEM is meaningfully achieved, and children dream of working in a STEM field and science denial is a thing of the past. He maintained this future is not an idealistic fantasy, but an inevitable reality of emerging opportunities in Science Communications.  Applying fundamental marketing principles and the latest research, scientists can reach and inspire a much broader audience and achieve more positive benefits.

Tribalism to Utopia

Robin Harper challenged us to resist the dark instincts of our tribal conditioning and create a movement toward utopia.   The world today is worse than you think, and the causes of the problems we have created are known – human tribal behaviors including conformity, greed, aggression and narcissism.   We need to expose these and inspire a mass movement toward utopia.  This will include a UN that prevents oppressive governments & dangerous militaries, a media that provides quick factual references and infographics, transparency in governance, and technological solutions to climate and ecological crises.  In short – we need to start a “revolution” following the guidance in WikiHow.

After the talks, a lively Q&A session ensued.