Guest: Jane McGonigal
Host: Tim Ferriss
Did large scale (100s to 1000s of participants) social simulation in 2010 that predicted a lot of covid pandemic problems (eg, women stopping work to take care of kids; people violating quarantine restrictions for religious gatherings)
Many of these players were then faster to prepare and adapt to the pandemic – “pre-recognition”
Another simulated scenario was severe disruptions to power supply
5 minutes of vivid imagination (worst case scenario planning) is enough to help you prepare in case
Next pandemic fear is tick-borne
Alpha-gal (sp?) syndrome
Tim’s mom has it, Tim also had Lyme disease twice
Causes allergic reactions to meat and gelatin products – even airborne meat like outdoor bbq can cause adverse fx
Reducing meat in diets can be preventative
There’s infected ticks in public parks, on public beaches – and spreading
Climate change is big driver, as well as closer co-habitation (btw humans and animals)
Caused an epi-pen shortage due to this outbreak
Number one most under-rated threat: Global Youth Disillusionment
Youth rejecting global capitalist trends
16-25yo – majority across 10 countries believe humanity is doomed, future is hopeless
Main reason – “Confusion about government failure to act on climate change”
“Lie flat” movement – Chinese 躺平 – just opt out of modern life
Recently learned about MMT (modern monetary theory)
Makes UBI (universal basic income) more possible
She wants people to work less, care more for their families and communities
Why not a 3-day workweek?
Successful pilots of 20-hour workweeks
Tim: very productive professional writers max out around 4 hours / day (= 20 hours / week)
“Food is medicine movement”
US gov funding allowing at-risk / lower income to buy unlimited healthy foods
Government will create their own cryptocurrencies to replace decentralized ones via bribes / regulation
Play 2 earn – games will create revenue sharing systems w players
AI tech can blend faces – eg, blend friend’s face + your mother’s – to further persuade you in ads or fake media
Trust goes up when faces are familiar
“Trust warfare”
Audio fakes may lag because the datasets aren’t as big as photo / video (tho podcasters are definitely at risk)
Tim: “Ready Player One probably closer than a lot of people think”
Porn / VR sex
Porn at vanguard of new tech
Younger generations having less sex
Rise in neural implants – first wave of adoption is depression / mania – but second wave could be simulated / virtual sex
Neuro-stimulation wouldn’t require imagery – could be better / safer
In porn, violence is being normalized – slapping + choking – which turns off young women
Oscar Wilde: “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power”
Visit UrgentOptimists.org – will have a “future of sex” workshop
What is urgent optimism? Things I can do TODAY to improve our future
Gamers have a well developed reward circuitry system – “I got this”, can-do attitude
Every game is a psychological experiment to convince people they have power
Simple habit – whatever problem you’re worried about, just search Google for that problem + the word “solution” (climate solution, pandemic solutions, etc)
Future Fridays
Once a week, do a search for “future of [X]” eg, lab cultured meat
Gives you hope for future, signals for future
She learned how to operate a drone – very empowering experience
stopped ~3/5 of the way