Updated: December 29, 2021
“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
-African Proverb
I believe happiness comes from growth (learning new things) and collaboration (working hard with others).
I believe to survive and thrive we have to adapt. I believe to adapt we have to communicate and collaborate.
I believe the biggest challenge for our society at this moment in time is communication.
I believe the challenges in communicating are impacting economics, education, healthcare and politics.
Communication. I believe the increase in available information has made communication more challenging. As individuals, we’re only exposed to a portion of the story and we each have different filters for the limited information we have available. More individual digital information and less shared physical experience (and the feedback it provides) means less common knowledge to build conversations from. I believe communication will improve as we develop a deeper understanding of how we form beliefs, filter information and communicate.
Collaboration. I believe working with others to make things better is essential to mental health and happiness. I believe the current information paradox we’re experiencing (where we have access to more individual information but less shared information) makes it harder to collaborate. I’m optimistic about collaboration improving because working with others is an innate desire for the majority of the population.
Economics (Livelihood / Employment). I believe the risk involved with working for (most) large organizations continues to increase. I believe the main drivers of the increasing risk are the pursuit of automation and a priority of short term profit over contribution. I believe blockchain technology (distributed ledgers, smart contracts and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)) will radically transform businesses, starting with the financial industry. I believe the opportunity associated with sharing well understood personal talent continues to improve. I believe the ability to work with others and provide value is essential to mental health and happiness. I believe our innate desire to work with others will continue to lead to new opportunities.
Education. I believe the cost of college education continues to increase while the value of a college education continues to fall. I believe the current trajectory is unsustainable. I believe education (as opposed to the credentialing process applied by gatekeepers) will improve because the methods of learning and the tools for learning are improving at an exponential rate. I believe the demand for education will increase as more of us are required to learn more new skills more often. I believe blockchain technology (distributed ledgers) will shift value away from diplomas and credentials and towards portfolios (i.e. demonstrated capabilities).
Healthcare. COVID-19 exposed deep flaws in the current US healthcare system. Specifically, the current system is based on a business funded by the treatment of symptoms as opposed to establishing and maintaining health. On the promising side, the practice of functional medicine (restoring and maintaining the basic functioning of the body) continues to improve and spread.
Politics. I believe uncertainty is driving more people to the extremes of the political spectrum, autocratic rule on the right and socialism on the left. I believe the far right is more inclined to use violence and support the use of violence to suppress the left while the far left is more inclined to use social pressure and support the use of social pressure to suppress the right. I believe communication is being blocked at both extremes and that both approaches are bad for adapting to a changing world. I believe politics is one area where the increase in available information will help us. I believe that as we learn more about how communities, societies and nations can communicate and collaborate we’ll improve the system. I believe governing is best when it’s something done with the people, not for the people or to the people.