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While @july has never felt more optimistic about the future, I'm slowly veering in the opposite direction.

A few people asked why, so I wrote this short essay.

After years of working with century long time horizons, I'm noticing a shift in my optimism. I believe it partly stems from a paradox around unprecedented global connectivity alongside deepening fragmentation. 

It makes me wonder if our technological ingenuity can truly outpace our collective dysfunction when planetary challenges demand wisdom.

https://cyrusclarke.substack.com/p/why-an-optimist-is-slowly-veering

If you, like me, or Cyrus, struggles with pessimism or the sense We Have Lost Our Way — Michael Nielsen’s Wise Optimism essay has brought me a lot of comfort https://michaelnotebook.com/optimism/

The Farcaster formerly known as Kchamp. Books, beats, bodybuilding, bright ideas and beautiful things.

katherinechampagne.com

ah I don't think I'm a pessimist quite yet :) just healthily re-examining my previously unfettered optimism

would you consider yourself a pessimist? 

I'll also have to check out the article you shared.

Researcher at MIT Media Lab | Creating futures | https://cyrus.website/info

Struggle with pessimism might have been too harsh! 

I try really hard not to be a pessimist. But I am not hopeful for the short term future. I think it will take a century or more to realize the promise of some of what we have started in the past few decades.

Not sure. But we can see some flickers of signs 

- widespread support for a CEO murderer
- nihilism to the degree people feel the only chance they have at a good life is gambling. This is supported by the state through the legalization of sports gambling and today, memecoins. 
- trust in every authority rapidly declining; many illegitimate, corrupt and predatory figures rising to fill the void. All our elites feel and seem Bad
- economic insecurity felt to the point it provokes selfishness and low trust society behavior
- the food, the air, the water, the environment all are some degree of poisonous to us 
- value extraction has been normalized vs value creation, causing deep resentment of capitalism from those who can’t see the difference between the two and trash the whole capitalist idea. 
- Everything feels fake and it often is fake. From AI slop to in real life filler face to the aforementioned value extractive jobs

All of this burbling and gurgling and formenting into ….. something. Who knows

Interesting. What do you think happens in between?