We already have all the resources to feed the world's population and then some, to shelter everyone, to provide health care, to stop global warming, to end poverty. We already have enough technology and then some.
The reality is that it's politics, war and corruption that gets in the way.
Sadly, our understanding of how to get along with each other for our mutual benefit is far behind our scientific understanding.
The most meaningful progress over the next century, I believe, is not going to come from technology. It's going to come from political science, sociology, and related fields like behavioral economics.
How do we fix the polarization that is tearing democracies apart? How do we make international cooperation to mitigate climate change realistic? How do we neutralize the threats from authoritarian regimes?
If you want to help people, then today these are the questions that matter most.
And the debate over whether these are "sciences" or not is just distracting and pointless -- mere semantics. They help us design institutions to improve the human good, which is what is meaningful and matters.
The hardest question is how do we replace money. How do we split out luxury, leisure, fun etc then? How do we determine what is rentable and what's not? How do we decide who and whether has e.g. the latest gaming computer? How do we decide what is worthwhile usage of natural resources?
We already have all the resources to feed the world's population and then some, to shelter everyone, to provide health care, to stop global warming, to end poverty. We already have enough technology and then some.
The reality is that it's politics, war and corruption that gets in the way.
Sadly, our understanding of how to get along with each other for our mutual benefit is far behind our scientific understanding.
The most meaningful progress over the next century, I believe, is not going to come from technology. It's going to come from political science, sociology, and related fields like behavioral economics.
How do we fix the polarization that is tearing democracies apart? How do we make international cooperation to mitigate climate change realistic? How do we neutralize the threats from authoritarian regimes?
If you want to help people, then today these are the questions that matter most.
And the debate over whether these are "sciences" or not is just distracting and pointless -- mere semantics. They help us design institutions to improve the human good, which is what is meaningful and matters.