From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We have learned that the things that matter are not the physical, and material things. What matters in life is hope. Tomorrow is not a given, and we must be happy about small things and we must seize the day.
Architecture has the power to democratize space - to create environments where all people, regardless of their background, can participate in civic life.
Morality represents the way we would like the world to work, and economics represents how it actually does work.
Contemporary photography is quite exploitative – and looks at people as objects in a display-case rather than as individuals with whom we have a shared common humanity, connection, and solidarity. Photography has gone from I am part of this, to look at this.
Inside all of us though, is that inner deviant – who wants to unleash chaos, collect power and acquire status. The internet provides a perfect medium for this deviant (our inner 'troll') to flourish – giving anonymity and 'identity loss' – breaking that social contract and freeing us to test the boundaries of the acceptable.
While people may have more connections than ever, these connections often lack depth; they are rarely reciprocal and seldom provide emotional sustenance. The pain of loneliness is something else entirely—stemming from being deliberately excluded, ostracized, or bullied. This type of isolation is literally painful, as it activates the pain centers in the brain.
The neo-liberal capitalist mindset has been a huge contributor to loneliness. Since the 1980s, a new form of economics came to the fore which enshrined the pursuit of self-interest over the pursuit of collective good. That generated the mindset we see today- me first, dog-eat-dog, greed is good.
Rumours are unofficial information that passes from person to person. People share rumours because it makes them more part of their community. It's very pro-social. You hear something that sounds interesting—it piques your interest—you share it with your neighbour: 'Hey, did you hear…?' This is just a social behaviour that people have done in groups forever; it's just part of human society.
We are living longer and measuring GDP growth is not the way to decide whether a society or an economy are flourishing.
On the whole, science is seen as one of the most trusted professions- and we need to retain that trust. It is essential that the public knows how deeply science and technology affect their lives.
When you're young, you're basically a time billionaire, sitting on billions of seconds stretching out ahead of you. But here's the thing—most young people, even folks in the middle of life, don't see it that way.
My big contention is that we've misread Adam Smith. People don't realise that Adam Smith was a moral philosopher before an economics expert. His first book, before he wrote 'The Wealth of Nations' was, 'The Theory on Moral Sentiments'. In that book, you find the answer for what the invisible hand really is! He never accelerated the narrative that there should be completely unfettered free markets. He believed markets took place in the context of a moral framework and foundation.