Society

Right now, biological evolution is not the main engine of change in the human condition. Instead, social and technological development, which occur on shorter timescales, are the predominant change-makers.

Philosopher & Director of Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford

In my view, all the big existential risks are anthropogenic, arising out of human activity. More specifically, the biggest existential risks in this century arise out of anticipated future technological advances.

Philosopher & Director of Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford

The average American worker was subject to danger every bit as great as soldiers in war.

Connection is why we're here. It gives purpose and meaning to our lives. The ability to feel connected is neurobiologically wired into us.

Researcher & Author on Vulnerability, Shame, and Leadership

Men are cheaper than shingles.

The developed world actually has worse demographics when looking at competitiveness and systemic issues, and has a lot of work to do in order to shore up financial systems.

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New media conducive to fostering participation can indeed increase freedoms… just as the printing press, the postal service, the telegraph and the telephone did before.

Internet theorist & author on cognitive surplus and social media's impact.

The printing press helped democratise Europe by providing space for discussion and agreement among politically engaged citizens, often before the state had fully democratised.

German Philosopher & Social Theorist; Developed Theory of Communicative Action

It's not just the internet which is contributing to these changes, its mobile and digital technology generally, it makes everyone a journalist. This is why the internet has blown apart the notion of journalism, because it gets rid of the gatekeepers.

FCC Nominee and Net Neutrality Advocate

The internet has had a tremendous positive impact because it's the most democratised and decentralised medium ever known. Along comes the internet, and it changes all that, it puts the power of communication in everyone's hand, at least everyone who can afford access.

FCC Nominee and Net Neutrality Advocate

Our nations cannot exist independently, we are intrinsically linked to the global economy, and another-nations problems will, invariably, affect us.

Roughly 100 countries in the world have already eliminated malaria (most of them since the Second World War). Of the 100 countries in the world that still have endemic malaria, 39 are in the process of eliminating while the remaining 61 are making steady progress.

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HIV/AIDS is the greatest pandemic in human history. It is chronic pandemic, in the sense that its rise and fall is measured in decades. The known part of this pandemic is now three decades old, and it has several decades still to run.

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We are no longer sovereign-islands protected by fortified walls and arbitrary map-lines- we are an interconnected global family who depend on each other in incredibly profound ways.

In times of crisis, whether through conflict or nature, it is not an option for us to assist people but an obligation.

We have been able to continue reactively where the pace of change has not outstripped our ability to react to it, but increasingly this is not the case and the pace of global change is pivotally now balanced with our ability to react, and soon will have a greater momentum than that.