Was 2022 the year the world changed? Part I
Author: Hank Kune Issue: 2022-12-21
Was 2022 the year the world changed? (Part I)
by Hank Kune
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At the end of this unusual year, my head is full of questions.
That’s a good thing, because I still believe that good questions are better than bad answers. And questions like I pose in the title of this short piece are very prone to easy, and often wrong, answers.
As has often been noted, the quality of an answer depends on the quality of the questions asked.
I invite us to pause and consider the questions we have been asking during the past months. And the answers we are getting.
What questions are we asking now? Are we asking about next year?
Are there other questions we could be asking?
If the state of the world anno 2022 is a result of the questions people asked in the past, what questions should we be asking now?
Are we still asking Jaron Lanier’s iconic question, “Who owns the future?”
Or Kevin Kelly’s question, “What does technology want?”
It’s nearly the end of the year, and I’m busy with questions. Many are questions about tomorrow, many are also questions about yesterday. Some of mine are:
Does the Metaverse have roads? Traffic protocols? Rules of engagement?
Who will teach us how to navigate there?
What does the future want? What is it asking us?
What are the futures of cities of the future? The futures of sustainability?
What kind of knowledge and skills are needed to safely reach Midcentury?
What collective stories, concepts, myths will we need to safely arrive at 2300?
I am writing now while on a personal winter retreat, on the far shores of Europe, on west coast of Ireland, on the shortest day of the year.
With the holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas coinciding, both celebrations of giving light to the world, I am glad that there are still people who are able to light candles instead of cursing the darkness.
Today the sun ‘stands still’, however metaphorically, and then inches on towards more light.
Be happy with your questions, and the New Year to come.
[to be continued]
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