Grandiose narcissists wreck everything they touch, and there is a trail of debris behind them that will take years to clear up.
Changing Our Deep Narratives
I ordered John Higgs’ 2019 book The Future Starts Here from the library because I wanted to see how he addressed the subject of “the future.”
I ordered John Higgs’ 2019 book The Future Starts Here from the library because I wanted to see how he addressed the subject of “the future.”
From Photography to “Promptography”
“Promptography is done with prompts. Photography is done with light.”
“Promptography is done with prompts. Photography is done with light.”
Looking for the Money in the AI Business
I’ve been following the noise since ChatGPT was launched a few months ago, and am struck by the way that it seems to have fired up some of the old tropes about the inevitability of technology that emerged much earlier in the long digital wave.
I’ve been following the noise since ChatGPT was launched a few months ago, and am struck by the way that it seems to have fired up some of the old tropes about the inevitability of technology that emerged much earlier in the long digital wave.
‘Industrial Wheatscapes Have Many Ghosts’
One of the most interesting things I have been involved in over the last eighteen months or so has been a private discussion group on what might be called, broadly, the ‘more than human’ futures.
One of the most interesting things I have been involved in over the last eighteen months or so has been a private discussion group on what might be called, broadly, the ‘more than human’ futures.
Changing How Businesses Think About Transition
This conflict is partly an argument about the difference between 20th century businesses and 21st century businesses.
This conflict is partly an argument about the difference between 20th century businesses and 21st century businesses.
Making Business Sustainable
I went recently to hear the futurist and sustainability adviser David Bent talk on ‘business policy and transformation’ at the Bartlett School in London.
I went recently to hear the futurist and sustainability adviser David Bent talk on ‘business policy and transformation’ at the Bartlett School in London.
How Britain’s Four-Day Week Pilot Turned Out
I’ve been meaning to write here for some time about the British six-month pilot of the four-day week, because it involved a decent number of firms across a reasonable spectrum of the economy.
I’ve been meaning to write here for some time about the British six-month pilot of the four-day week, because it involved a decent number of firms across a reasonable spectrum of the economy.
A Lexicon of Time
The four examples in the post are ‘time-blinkered’, ‘temporal stresses’, ‘temporal habits’, and ‘long-minded’.
The four examples in the post are ‘time-blinkered’, ‘temporal stresses’, ‘temporal habits’, and ‘long-minded’.
The End Times (or Why I Am No Longer Talking About Climate)
Dougald Hine's new book "At Work in the Ruins: Finding our place in the time of science, climate change, pandemics, & all the other emergencies" has us thinking about endings -- and how to begin again.
Dougald Hine’s new book “At Work in the Ruins: Finding our place in the time of science, climate change, pandemics, & all the other emergencies” has us thinking about endings — and how to begin again.
The Future of Cities and the Future of Work
You can’t talk about the the future of work without thinking about the future city, since the shape and structure of work is bound up more or less completely with the shape and structure of cities.
You can’t talk about the the future of work without thinking about the future city, since the shape and structure of work is bound up more or less completely with the shape and structure of cities.
Giant Leap, or Too Little Too Late
“One of the things we learn right at the start of our futures journey is that “there are no future facts”. It is hard-coded into the literature. But—it isn’t clear why."
“One of the things we learn right at the start of our futures journey is that “there are no future facts”. It is hard-coded into the literature. But—it isn’t clear why.”
The ‘Enshittification’ of the Corporate World
Cory Doctorow has added a neologism to the language, even if it is both ugly and memorable.
Cory Doctorow has added a neologism to the language, even if it is both ugly and memorable.
The Long Century of the Car
A review of Tom Standage’s book A Brief History of Motion.
A review of Tom Standage’s book A Brief History of Motion.
Making Change
One of the things I like about Three Horizons is that in mapping a model of change in a single space, it also does two more things.
One of the things I like about Three Horizons is that in mapping a model of change in a single space, it also does two more things.
Modernity and Our Crisis of Meaning
I went last week to hear Richard McNeill Douglas, who’s an academic at the CUSP research programme, talk about the idea that 1972 was “the high water mark of modernity”.
I went last week to hear Richard McNeill Douglas, who’s an academic at the CUSP research programme, talk about the idea that 1972 was “the high water mark of modernity”.