New World Same Humans #26 – Audio Edition

Welcome to the podcast version of New World Same Humans, a weekly newsletter on trends, technology, and society by David Mattin. If you’re listening to this and you haven’t yet subscribed, then join 10,000+ curious souls on a journey to build a better shared future 🚀🔮 We’re living in fractious times. You’ve probably noticed. This week, two thoughts related to that observation. First, an attempt to take a long view on the 2020 culture wars. Second, a simple formula that captures the promise consumer societies make to their inhabitants, and the way that promise is now breaking down. If you prefer to read this week’s instalment, go here for the the text version of New World Same Humans #26. Links in this week’s instalment Revolution in the head: 1. The open letter to Harper’s Magazine in which 150 eminent authors, journalists and academics complain about a new ‘cancel culture. Time slips away: 1. An article in Noema magazine says it’s time to haul democracy out of the 19th-century. 2. Google have published a new report on how consumers make purchasing decisions online. TL:DR: they don’t do it rationally. 3. BA have retired their fleet of 747s earlier than expected. 4. An essay by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says time has dissolved during the pandemic. New patented formula: 1. The UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility says unemployment could rise to 4 million. Fix up look sharp Thanks so much for listening this week. New technologies may be eroding the link between work and value, but no machine can do what we, the New World Same Humans community, are trying to do together. That is, to look out to the world, make sense of it, and find ways to build a better shared future. It’s a project that I’ve become pretty obsessed with. I’m like: Whether you’re a founder, innovator, product designer, marketer, policy maker, and much else besides, New World Same Humans wants to provide content and tools that will help you sharpen yourself, and enable you to think more clearly about the trends reshaping the decades ahead. Soon, we’ll all be learning from one another in a New World Same Humans community platform. So if you found today’s instalment useful, please forward this email to one person – a friend, family member or colleague – who’d also enjoy it. Or share New World Same Humans across one of your social networks, and let people know why you find this newsletter valuable. All you have to do is navigate back to the article page where this podcast is embedded and hit the share button. I’ll be back next Sunday; until then, be well. David. David Mattin sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Consumption. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.newworldsamehumans.xyz