Synopsis of “Postcards from 2035”
The new speculative book describing a healthy future civilisation — coming soon — and unfolding here, postcard by postcard
Postcards from 2035 is speculative fiction describing life in 2035 as experienced by the author’s real-life daughter, who will be 21 years old in 2035. It’s a mix of fact and fiction — faction — and its the author’s attempt to make sense of the world in 2017, by describing one possible positive outcome of the radical transition he sees the world experiencing.
“We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.” — Vernor Vinge, American science fiction author and retired educator
Many can sense that we stand on the cusp of something new; few can describe likely outcomes of the transition. The default description is dystopian. This book is an attempt to describe — in detail — a possible realistic, utopian outcome.
“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at… Progress is the realisation of Utopias.” — Oscar Wilde
Although the book is fiction, it takes the form of realistic futuristic thought. The writing is informed by deep experience and immersion in intentional communities, brain lateralisation, pro-sociality, futurology, exponential technology, holism, quantum theory, cultural evolution, Wilber’s Integral Theory, Beck and Cowan’s Spiral Dynamics, systems thinking, biomimicry, education transformation and noetic science.
Why this book?
If it is true that we are living through the collapse of Western civilisation in general and capitalism in particular, this could be the first truly global collapse. The good news is that there is always life after collapse. Our ancestors survived, even though their civilisations may not have. A total of 32 “advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilisations” have collapsed in the past. Despite their sophistication, civilisations are both fragile and impermanent.
Right now, all over the world, a network of culture design labs is slowly emerging. The aim of these labs is to help humanity navigate through collapse and renewal. But without a seemingly preposterous vision, will these labs be capable of designing transcendent solutions? This book tables a possible future reality — built on already-existing technology. The intention is to plant a seed that allows the thought “Perhaps there is a different way after all” to germinate. I hope the writing will ignite rigorous debate and — most importantly — inspire grassroots discussion. If we can change our conversations we can change our future.
“We have to awaken to new ways of thinking. It makes no sense to attack current realities. It is time to create new models that have in them the complexity that makes the older systems obsolete.” — Don Beck, American teacher, geopolitical advisor, and theorist
Why was the author compelled to write this book?
Very simply the book is an attempt to bridge the gaping chasm between the world we need and the world that exists. The idea for the book was formed while spending time in Silicon Valley raising funding for a tech startup in 2015. The author was struck by the intense energy in the Valley, but couldn’t help wondering why the vast majority of startups focussed on efficiency, productivity and control, when what the world needs most is empathy, connection and nurturing. It is the author’s dream that in future Venture Capitalists (who essentially shape culture) will make funding decisions based on the ideas introduced in this book.
“There is always the risk of contradiction. But sometimes you have to speak because you feel the moral obligation to say something, not because you have the ‘scientific’ certainty that you are saying it in an unassailable way.” — Umberto Eco, Travels in HyperReality
What the book is not
This is neither a detailed blueprint of what, nor a guided process of how to get to the envisioned future. The author leaves that to experts in their field far more qualified to address. These experts include education reformers, empathic technologists, civic leaders, thought leaders, storytellers, venture capitalists and startup founders.
“A person who creates a new discipline does not have the task of enumerating all the problems connected with it. His task is to specify the subject of the discipline and its various branches and the discussions connected with it. His successors, then, may gradually add more problems, until the discipline is completely (presented).” — Ibn Khaldun, Franz Rosenthal, N. J. Dawood, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History
In dealing with the future, it is more important to be imaginative and insightful than to be one hundred percent “right”. Even error has its uses. The maps of the world drawn by medieval cartographers were so hopelessly inaccurate, so filled with factual error, that they elicit condescending smiles today. Yet the great explorers could never have discovered the New World without them. Nor could the better, more accurate maps of today been drawn until men, working with the limited evidence available to them, set down their bold conception of worlds they had never seen. — Alvin Toffler, Future Shock
About the author
The author has been on a lifelong sense-making mission, which started in his teenage years when he turned his back on formalised religion. A two-and-a-half year Sabbatical, which started in 2004, triggered a 12-year quest (and counting) to solve some of his own most perplexing questions about life on this pale blue dot. What he learned fascinated him, and increasingly isolated him from family, friends, peers and society because his mindset had been indelibly and radically altered. In 2017 he stumbled across vertical learning and was delighted to find that his maverick method of lifelong learning — and more importantly, the methodology — had been qualified, quantified and codified by a third party. This validation of his learnings prompted the author to take the bold step of sharing publicly the vision he’s held of a utopian society. The author has no letters behind his name and no formal qualifications. What he offers instead is the result of 12+ years’ of vertical learning.
Who the book is for
Postcards from 2035 is primarily for Millennials and Generation Z (and their parents), who feel a disconnect between what life should be like and the world they were born into. Others may be interested in the book too:
- Educators
- Researchers and Scientists
- Futurologists
- Culture Design Labs
- Venture Capitalists and Investors
- Empathic Designers and Technologists
Book club discussion questions
A core premise of the book is that planetary challenges are essentially cultural. The author believes that the best place to nurture culture is in small groups who work collaboratively, rather than a mass movement of individuals. The author has previously been struck by the power of structured Community Conversations to achieve lasting change in any community, through the process of asking Big Questions. A similar methodology has been included in the book, and each postcard (chapter) ends with a series of Big Questions and an encouragement to discuss the questions in the reader’s communities. Examples of these questions are:
- How can empathy and other ‘soft skills’ be taught and measured?
- What is required for individuals to stop concerning themselves about online privacy?
- How can the ownership of data be shifted from a corporation to an individual?
- How can technology like the blockchain transcend middlemen?
Timeline
Postcards will be published online for public discussion as they become available. Writing commenced in June 2017 and the intention is to complete all postcards by December 2017, at which stage they will be edited into a book, ready for publication in early 2018.
