From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We have engineered a world where going into leadership or public office creates huge worry. That's a problem as it means that the people who go forward for these roles are those for whom power is the reward, not doing the work.
At the end of the day, the platforms will complain, but they exist to serve society—society doesn't exist to serve them.
Society feels broken because society is broken. When the most powerful nations in the world are spending billions of dollars on ways to kill each-other, and a fraction of those resources on ways to heal each other, we're broken.
I am hopeful that we, in Western countries, are on the path towards a post-homophobic society. I was very gratified a couple of years ago to see a survey of 16-24 year olds. When asked about their own sexuality, 49% said they would not define themselves as 100% straight.
Empowerment means we are able to sustain hope in a situation that may – to many outsiders – look hopeless.
We're such a 'more is better' culture and we have to redefine what we value, what creates satisfaction, and the 'currency' of our lives. In America, what are we told are the two most important things we need in life? Money and fame, baby! That's fine, but you can't chase those goals at the expense of your own character, that makes you a paper tiger, a fool.
What's beautiful is when you're filling your bank account and your soul account. There are two accounts! Look, I like money, I like fame… I happen to be rich and famous… I don't apologise for those things, nor do I boohoo them or approach my appreciation for them with false modesty.
According to Global Witness, 4 environmental activists are killed somewhere in the world each week, predominantly in Latin America but also in Africa and Asia. These are individuals doing everything from defending water, land and forests to the rights of indigenous communities.
Around the world you've got somewhere between 1 and 2 billion people who are living in abject poverty. Economic growth offers the opportunity to reduce that 1 or 2 billion to 100,000–200,000 in the next phase.
Right now, only 2% of Europeans have studied outside of their home country – I would want to raise that to 45%. The provincialism that reigns in so many countries would be considerably lessened if it was just considered normal that you would spend at least a year in some other country.
One basis for society is that of helping your neighbour — but in the software world this is piracy. To prevent this, the U.S. is putting in place practices which are like those in the former Soviet Union — computerized guards, propaganda in favour of licensing, rewards for informing on co-workers, and penalties which make distributing software as serious a crime
I can't advertise chewing gum to my children because it's unethical, but I can feed them all sorts of narratives that will have a profound impact on their personal trajectories. It's quite an extraordinarily hypocritical position.