From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We all inhabit distinctive inner universes. We all see and experience the world in a slightly different way. There are some extremely viral examples such as the dress which people perceived as being different colours – these things go viral and get popular because they reveal something that is essentially true but often hidden- that people can be exposed to the same image or be in the same place and be having very different experiences.
Even though we still have approximately twenty thousand hydrogen bombs in the arsenals of the United States and Russia (many of them ready to use at a moment's notice) the two risks that most experts think are the greatest and most likely are the risks of a single bomb being used by a terrorist group or the risk of a regional war involving dozens of weapons.
We have been interested in celebrities since the dawn of time. Jesus was the first celebrity, then the royal families. Celebrity culture exists even at a micro-level... It's human nature to be interested in the captain of the football team, the head cheerleader or who is doing what with who.
Being able to trust is actually what makes us human. It's a very innate thing. And often, distrust and mistrust are learned behaviours that start to set in around the age of four.
In a society where everything is for sale, life is harder for those of modest means. The more money can buy, the more affluence (or the lack of it) matters.
Why does torture happen? There are a variety of reasons, paramount is the role of torture as a 'shortcut' to investigating crime- many investigators and police have used this from time immemorial, and the efforts to abolish and curb it have been progressing over the years.
Pakistan has sought to reassure international donors that funds to help victims of its devastating flooding will not fall into extremists' hands. The Taliban would not be allowed to take advantage of the crisis to increase its support.
I think the democratisation of the image is probably one of the most important things that's happening right now. Everyone's a photographer now, everyone's got a camera, everyone's taking pictures. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean we have to be more critical about what we're looking at.
80% of ten-year-olds in these countries struggle with basic comprehension, even though they can technically read individual words. This lack of understanding severely hinders their future productivity.
We're pro-tech, but we need technology that works for us and intersects with our interests. Today, we have technology which is specifically designed to hack and invade our attention – and it doesn't need to be that way.
The basic problem is that if you attempt to commit suicide with a gun, you typically succeed. It's also true that there is a more violent culture generally in the US. The US in general, has broader problems with crime, with social dysfunction, narcotics often, and all these work together with guns to create this epidemic.
Dehumanizing the victim through the internet has enabled people to commit crimes and not worry about their conscience.