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Are you interested in rethinking the future?

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Our summary today works with the article titled Rethinking the future: The path to freedom from 2020 by James Arbib and Tony Seba, published on the RethinkX website. This is a great preparation to our next interview with Adam Dorr in episode 222 talking about rethinking the future in a brighter way. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see whether a new organising system could help avoid societal collapse in the future. This article investigates changes, choices, challenges and opportunities for a new system with extraordinary potentials to emerge.

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Welcome to today’s What is The Future For Cities podcast and its Research episode; my name is Fanni, and today I will introduce a research paper by summarising it. The episode really is just a short summary of the original paper, and, in case it is interesting enough, I would encourage everyone to check out the whole paper. Stay tuned until because I will give you the 3 most important things and some questions which would be interesting to discuss.

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Our society’s traditional systems, like democracy and capitalism, are really set in their ways because they’re built on long-standing beliefs. It’s hard for people to imagine these systems changing dramatically. Historically, when big changes are needed, societies often resist until it’s too late, preferring small fixes over major transformations. If we keep resisting change, our society’s systems will likely fail. However, there’s hope: if we can create a new system that adapts to modern challenges, especially those brought by technology, we might avoid collapse. We’re at a crossroads where we could either breakthrough with a new system or follow past civilizations into collapse if we don’t adapt in time.

Historical societal breakthroughs emerged accidentally from trials across various cultures, leading to new organizing systems like those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome, and the UK. The future global leader will be the one that creates a new system aligning with modern technologies, outperforming current methods and becoming widely adopted. If designed to prioritize humanity’s welfare, this new system could make essentials like food and energy extremely affordable, potentially eradicating poverty and enabling a globally equitable quality of life. Local communities could become self-sufficient, reducing the importance of geography and replacing centralized government systems with networked, digital communities using transparent technologies like blockchain.

However, without fair ownership structures, there’s a risk of a dystopian outcome where power is concentrated in the hands of a few, misusing technology. Fair participation in the new system is critical to avoid exploitation and ensure a stable, prosperous future. Alternatively, if we fail to adapt, our current system might collapse into a new dark age that supports only a small fraction of today’s population. This breakdown could be caused by a mix of factors such as climate change, famine, rising inequality, disease, and social unrest. These issues could escalate into widespread warfare or the failure of states, all underpinned by a civilization that has hit its limits and an Organizing System unable to keep up with rapid changes.

For the first time in history, humanity has a chance to create a new organizing system before our current one collapses, potentially avoiding a descent into a new dark age. This opportunity involves three main challenges: rethinking our current and future systems, creating conditions for a new system to emerge, and managing the transition without causing disruption. The change won’t be linear or predictable, and it can’t be centrally planned by any single country or large state because their existing systems and success make them resistant to drastic change. Instead, smaller, more adaptable communities or cities might lead the way by innovating and adopting new systems that better fit the rapidly changing world. This might include new ways of thinking about democracy, capitalism, and our social contracts.

The transition to this future will be tumultuous and will require a complete re-evaluation of our beliefs and systems. It will be like managing a controlled chaos, experimenting with new ideas while keeping our society stable enough to support the change. This process will need a lot of flexibility and openness to failure and learning from mistakes. Ultimately, the goal is to decentralize decision-making to local communities while still managing global issues like technology governance and climate control. The journey will be difficult, but a strong vision and clear communication might help garner the support needed to navigate through this transformative period without falling into extreme social or political turmoil.

Maintaining stability during this period of transformation will be incredibly challenging, as no major civilization has successfully navigated such a transition without collapsing. Our ability to break this historical pattern hinges on the choices we make now. We can either resist change due to fear of losing our current way of life, which is likely a losing battle since the decline of our existing system is already underway. Clinging to outdated principles will only hasten this collapse. Alternatively, we can choose to create a remarkable future where poverty is eradicated, and everyone’s basic needs are met sustainably within the Earth’s limits, achieving true freedom for the first time.

This positive change begins by abandoning our outdated, linear mindset and adopting a new framework that appreciates the complexity of our world. This will allow us to understand our challenges in a new light and unlock incredible possibilities for the future. Ultimately, the regions that adapt to and adopt a more suitable organizing system will succeed and lead, while those that resist change will fall behind. Indifference or resistance to change leads to destruction. The path we take will depend on our willingness to embrace technological progress and innovate our social systems, creating a healthier, fairer, and more resilient world. It’s an opportunity we must seize.

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What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Do you have any follow up question? Let me know on Twitter at WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the transcripts and show notes are available! Additionally, I will highly appreciate if you consider subscribing to the podcast or on the website. I hope this was an interesting paper for you as well, and thanks for tuning in!

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Finally, as the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Our society faces a critical choice between clinging to outdated systems and risking collapse, or embracing new systems that adapt to modern challenges and technologies, potentially eradicating poverty and improving global quality of life.
2. Historically, societies often resist change until it’s too late, leading to collapse, thus embracing change and avoiding the inertia of old systems is crucial for avoiding a dystopian future where power is concentrated in the hands of a few.
3. For the first time in history, we have the chance to proactively create a new organizing system before our current one fails which involves rethinking our current systems, encouraging flexible and adaptable new approaches, and managing a potentially tumultuous transition to ensure a fair and prosperous future.

Additionally, it would be great to talk about the following questions:

1. Which regions or cities around the world do you think are best positioned to lead the way in adopting new organizing systems, and why?
2. What proactive steps should we take now to prevent societal collapse?
3. What are the biggest obstacles we face in transitioning from our current systems to new ones? How might we overcome these challenges?

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