MONTHLY WRAP - NOVEMBER - 2024

Another month, another surfeit of news as we try and make sense in a world of cognitive overload. Here we scan horizons for emerging technologies, science, and trends affecting our human needs to ease that load. Institutions and their impacts. And the human behaviors that so challenge our dreams and goals. How do we balance that triad and flourish?

On the project end, I've nearly completed the third volume in the children's YES! series. And number four is already well underway. The www.my-yes.org website has been beefed up with teaching and media materials for the series. I've also been doing a bit of work on the upcoming Walking a Strange Savanna book for adults. I've added its Preface to the end of this newsletter for those interested.

Olivia and DOT! say hello. And now for the month!

TECHNOLOGY

• NVIDIA'S Hover controller promises "a future where robots are not just tools but flexible partners in everyday tasks, transforming how industries incorporate robotic assistance." NVIDIA's Breakthrough in Humanoid Robotics Explained - Geeky Gadgets
• As drones and robots advance in ever-growing numbers and areas DRONES and robots to transform last-mile delivery in South Africa
• Or show up in press releases in perhaps less-expected areas here Romanian robots Naratix have reached 4 continents and are already operating in 30 countries, 9 months after launch | Romania Insider
• What if you trained an AI on genomes rather than languages? A ChatGPT-Like AI Can Now Design Whole New Genomes From Scratch
• And then, more specifically on the aging front, a nice piece for the technically inclined Foundation Models for DNA Methylation Analysis
• And even a bit of longevity research not affiliated with AI Doctors Intrigued by Treatment That Makes Dead Brains Show Signs of Life
• Unsurprisingly, "Two years in, generative AI’s value to the world is still unclear. But these charts show that it’s been a bonanza for the?largest tech firms." ChatGPT Turns 2 and Gives $8 Trillion Birthday Gift to Big Tech - Bloomberg
• Expansion of communications transfer capabilities FCC approves Starlink plan for cellular phone service, with some limits - Ars Technica
• After silicon, what? Silicon chips are no longer sustainable. Here’s what’s next. - Big Think
• Stellar engines and other fine futures speculation Star Harvest: Civilizations in Search of Energy | Centauri Dreams
• Online safety tool worth a read Tracy Chou built a startup to “deep clean” your socials
• Underwater space exploration NASA Underwater Robots to Search for Life on Moons With Oceans Like Europa | NextBigFuture.com
• Bit of evolutionary "meet and greet" All Life on Earth Today Descended From a Single Cell. Meet LUCA. | Quanta Magazine
• And how about the potential threats inherent in modeling our specific personalities for algorithmic manipulation? - " OpenAI's GPT-4o Makes AI Clones of Real People With Surprising Ease
• And yet another Fermi Paradox speculation, but it's that more interesting than the title would indicate Scientists Say Aliens May Be Hiding in the Multiverse
• And thinking about paradoxes, a good quantum mechanics refresher How to make peace with the weirdness of quantum mechanics - Big Think

US

• In this time of "culture wars," perhaps a primer revisit is useful. Digging Up the Roots of Human Culture | RealClearScience
• Insightful and compelling, Erin Kissane's essay - "[Yancey} Strickler’s initial formulation, published in 2019, translates a central idea from Liu’s Three Body series into a way of understanding the social internet." against the dark forest
• And is it a surprise that Oxford's word-of-the-year is "brain rot?" ‘Brain rot’: Oxford word of the year 2024 reflects ‘trivial’ use of social media | Social media | The Guardian
• "Civilizations come and go. Civilization continues." So far. But 12,000 years of Neolithic experiment is but a blip in human evolutionary time. Elements of a Durable Civilization - Long Now
• We evolved to be a social species. It isn't always easy. But neither is the alternative. Community is hard, isolation is harder
• Worth a read and a ponder. "When we are bound in a system of reciprocity, not return on investment, we will be closer to being the kind of ancestors future people need." And the kind of evolutionary ancestors we were. In "The Ministry for the Future," New Ideas From Ancient Wisdom - Long Now
• "I think, therefore, I am" and the age of AI Mechanized minds: AI's hidden impact on human thought - Big Think

WALKING A STRANGE SAVANNA - PREFACE

The world we inhabit today is both familiar and strange. It teems with life, connection, and possibility, yet it feels unsteady, as if the ground beneath us has shifted. We find ourselves in a moment of profound transformation, shaped by forces we only partially understand—forces of our own making.

On one level, this story is deeply familiar. For millennia, humans have faced challenges born of the mismatch between who we are and the worlds we create. We are a species hardwired for small groups and simple tools, navigating a global, digital civilization of billions. Our minds were forged in the scarcity of the Paleolithic, yet we now contend with the paradox of abundance. Our institutions, designed for slower, more predictable eras, falter under the weight of exponential change. And our technologies, which amplify both our wisdom and our folly, demand a level of foresight we have barely begun to develop.

On another level, this story is entirely new. Never before have the stakes been so high or the opportunities so immense. The choices we make today will shape the lives of billions—and the legacy of humanity—for generations to come. Will we navigate this strange new savanna with the wisdom it demands? Or will we stumble, weighed down by the mismatches of our wiring, the inertia of our institutions, and the blind spots of our technologies?

This book is an invitation to explore these questions. It is a journey through the forces that shape our world—human nature, societal structures, and technological systems—and how they interact in ways that often seem chaotic, even overwhelming. But it is also a journey of hope. For as much as humanity is defined by its flaws, it is also defined by its capacity to adapt, to learn, and to create.

The framework at the heart of this book—Balance the Triangle—proposes a way to understand and address the tensions of our time. It begins with three elements:

Human Wiring: The instincts and behaviors that have guided us for tens of thousands of years.

Institutions: The systems and structures that channel those instincts into collective action.

Technology: The tools that magnify our abilities and reshape our environment.

When these elements are in harmony, humanity flourishes. When they fall out of balance, we face conflict, stagnation, and collapse. The digital age has pushed this Triangle out of alignment, but it has also given us the tools to restore it.

This book is written for those who shape the world—leaders, innovators, thinkers, and doers. It is for anyone who feels the dissonance of the present moment and wonders how we might resolve it. It draws on insights from evolutionary psychology, philosophy, technology, and history, but its purpose is practical: to chart a path toward a world where humanity thrives, not just survives.

Throughout these pages, we will explore the past to understand how we arrived here, examine the present to confront our challenges, and imagine the future to envision what we might become. This is not a book of easy answers but a call to engage with the complexity of our time—and to act.

The strange savanna we walk today is not without its dangers, but it is also rich with promise. Together, we can find our way, guided by the lessons of the past and the vision of a better future.

Let’s begin.

It's been, as always, an interesting month. Science and technology advances continue despite societal challenges. For great good if we allow. Or great harm if we fail to control the instinctive, emotional, and cognitive behaviors that have historically facilitated our harm. The glass is always half Hope. The half Despair never has to define our containers or our contexts.

Remain hopeful., be well, and flourish.

Chuck