The new era of net mortality will require major adaptation. A perilous new era for planet Earth. A caveat about the power of AI to destroy human kind from within. How will China’s ‘anaconda’ in Taiwan play out in the long term? Some guidance for the path ‘beyond religion’.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Nicholas Eberstadt, The Age of Depopulation
(Foreign Affairs, 10 October 2024)
We return to this theme because it is so fundamental: it will recast economies, societies and politics, everywhere. As societies shrink and age, a rising number of countries (eventually all of them) will head into an era of pervasive and indefinite depopulation. This new phenomenon driven by a worldwide reduction in the desire for children implies that net mortality (i.e.: when a country experiences more deaths than births) will become the new norm. The bottom line: societies will have fewer workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators; and more people dependent on care and assistance. But this is not necessarily tantamount to a catastrophe. It is just a difficult new context in which countries can still find ways to thrive. Read on to understand how (metered paywall requiring prior registration, 10-15 min).
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William Ripple and al., The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth
(BioScience, 8 October 2024)
It’s been said (and explained) so many times that it’s a bit like crying wolf. Yet, the scientific evidence is incontrovertible. The 14 prominent academics who wrote this article say it as it is: “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis.” This doesn’t make happy reading, but this is a must-read. Very comprehensive and, if not followed by a collective call-to-action, deeply concerning (metered paywall, reads in 10-15 min).
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Yuval Noah Harari, Al Will Take Over Human Systems From Within
(Noema Magazine, 9 October 2024)
In this interview, Harari argues that AI is not a tool, but an alien agent. Core to his argument is the critics of a “naïve view of information” (common in places like Silicon Valley) that equates information with truth. But “most information in the world is not truth. Most information is junk. Most information is fiction and fantasies, delusions, illusions and lies. While truth is costly, fiction is cheap.” To sum up: “If you just flood the world with information, truth is bound to lose.” Harari fears that AI could tilt the balance decisively in favor of centralized information networks, leading to dictatorships (metered paywall, reads in 8-10 min).
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Hal Brands, China’s ‘Anaconda Strategy’ Is Slowly Choking Taiwan
(Bloomberg, 9 October 2024)
If the crisis that many were expecting around Taiwan hasn’t erupted yet, it may be because of what Taiwanese officials dub the “anaconda strategy”. China is squeezing Taiwan, albeit slowly rather than quickly; acting militarily, economically, diplomatically and psychologically to convince the leadership and the population that resistance is futile and the reunification inevitable. But could this eerie sense of calm be deceptive and form the prelude to a more violent showdown in the future? Possibly, concludes the author (gifted article, reads in 4-5 min).
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Daryl Van Tongeren, Why People Quit Religion—and How They Find Meaning Again
(Greater Good Magazine, 24 September 2024)
All over the world, the landscape of religion is changing, with a rising number of people walking away from religion and seeking new ways to find meaning and experience a flourishing life. This article is based on a recent book (“Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion”) that weaves together cutting-edge data from empirical science with practical applications to directly help people who are experiencing religious change. Not always as easy as it may seem (free access, reads in 5-7 min).
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