From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Right now, it's a bit like the early stages of the universe. Lots of hot plasma gas everywhere, but structure takes time to emerge… We have the opportunity to re-imagine this, it's not a deal that's been done, and it's not too late to imagine a different way of organising, regulating, collecting, contributing and benefiting.
Our entire civilisation is a manifestation of the complex inner worlds we carry with us. Everything around us, our buildings, cultures, politics, economies, statues, art and music are reflections of who we were, are and want to be.
The only way social media can work is if you are incredibly authentic. If you try and cultivate and curate too much it can be very obvious and transparent.
In times of crisis, whether through conflict or nature, it is not an option for us to assist people but an obligation.
Too often, businesses today are driven solely by academic numbers. But customers aren't numbers. They're human beings who care about storytelling and integrity. You can tell when a product is made by people who care.
When it comes to guns, the trend of covering of mass-shootings leads the public to think the big problem is mass shootings. However, the big problems are suicides, domestic violence, known people, and gangs shooting at each other.
I remember we used to have much better family ties too… parents very often lived with you, little children learned from the older generations, there was a deep personal link between generations… now? if I give advice to one of my grandchildren they laugh and say, 'oh my, you don't know about our lives today…'
It feels to us that the festival is owned by the people, and me and my Dad are kind-of custodians of it. In that sense, it's a bit like a sailing ship… me and my Dad drive it, but the ship is made of a few hundred people.
If you have a bottle of water in your house, it belongs to you. Nobody can touch it without your permission, nobody can get into your house without your permission. This doesn't apply to the internet world. Facebook can access your room and your house without your consent. They can tear down your house, they can delete and block your digital life.
Backlash is sadly an intrinsic part of social progress. When oppressed people make their claim for justice, they trigger a response – a fightback by those who want to maintain the status-quo.
In today's United States, asking a republican parent if it was OK for their daughter to marry a democrat would elicit a response similar to asking parents years ago if their daughter could marry a black person – the polarization is astounding.
Economies are built on free flow of capital within the market, which drives trade. Business and individuals need debt (finance) to invest, develop, trade and grow. This is a fundamental truth of how markets operate.