Millions of books. Computational power Neil Armstrong couldn't have dreamt of. If we can't think about the future, no one can. So why is effectively no one trying?

The Filter Bubble No One Talks About

Medieval men despaired of the will. They thought of humans as wounded and weak. But they respected the intellect.

Modern men worship the will, but they despair of the intellect. The wisdom of crowds; the swerve of random particles; the influence of unconscious biases: all of these contemporary clichés are ways to talk about intellectual weakness-or ways to talk ourselves into it.

– Peter Thiel's preface to The Sovereign Individual

Either it's a terminator that will kill you or it's The Matrix that will enslave you. Nothing to be done – perhaps start an underground fight club. Culture in its current form is not optimistic, does not encourage inventiveness.

But one way to break out of our increasingly homogenous, Netflix-watching, Uber-eating culture, is to not take great ideas for granted. Choose a tested book and reread it 15 times – and by God, do not log it on Goodreads.

The Status Trap

Thinking about the future cannot be tracked. To think about the future does not mean getting another certificate or high-status job. Pursuing these things will put you on a track towards short-term stability and social acceptance, but it is not thinking about the future, because thinking about the future cannot be tracked.

The future is different, and you must be bold enough to think you know how.