From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
What if we move to a world where, because robots are so cheap... cheap labour doesn't really matter anymore? What will be China's main comparative advantage after that?
After each strike the drone would be updated with information about the actual destruction caused. If it did more damage than expected, then it could use this information to restrict its choice of weapon in future engagements.
The 'Silicon Valley' mindset is one where you race ahead and build technology, and if people adopt it and use it, you scale. Success in this mindset is measured in terms of numbers of users, revenue and valuation. How do these measures illustrate social good though?
Technology, scale and globalisation has helped people involved in business- and led to increased incomes for many groups. The conundrum we have in society is that many of the 'less-skilled' members of the population have not done so well from these trends and that's part of the reason for backlash.
For the iPad it's game over in terms of market-share… Apple has won! It's a preposterously cheap stock…
Because of connectivity, India has increased mobility. People from Orissa work in Gujarat, people from Gujarat can start businesses elsewhere. Because of telecommunications, a farmer can now get information on seeds and fertilisers.
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.
We are very porous now, and it isn't just through neurotechnology, it is through all modes of technology that are designed to interpret and change our cognitive and effective functioning. So as I wrote this book, it is more of a call to recognise that in the modern era we have to expand our notion of liberty to include the right to cognitive liberty.
About ten years, a guy told me about his father's death. He had to send twenty seven people on different buses and trains to inform relatives all over the country because phones didn't work. When his mother died, there were STD/PCO facilities in most-all villages. He had to only make twenty seven calls, and they were all informed in under half an hour.
Remote work has turned the lights on in the room, it's allowing us to see the cracks and cobwebs, and we can never switch that light off again.
It's quite rare to enhance the product experience and simultaneously challenge an existing business model. Typically, you manage to achieve either one or the other. However, Perplexity introduces a superior product experience by saving users time and eliminating the need for them to click through links. This disruption is nothing short of revolutionary.
I don't believe social media has transformed the essence of our social dynamics; rather, it has introduced a novel arena for the age-old status games we've always played. Human social interactions are fundamentally structured around three types of status games: dominance, virtue, and competence.