John Brockman let me publish the following lengthy talk he had with Doug Rushkoff in my book, Follow for Now. As much fertile ground is covered and many prescient ideas are discussed, I’m reposting it here.

Until recently, media and technology guru Douglas Rushkoff believed that we should let technology develop at its own pace and in its own way. “I thought that this rapid acceleration of culture would allow us to achieve the kind of turbulence necessary to initiate a dynamical system,” he says. “And I saw everyone who called for us to put on the brakes, or to put new governors on the development of culture, as the enemy to our evolution forward. Their vigilance would prevent us from reaching the next level of complexity.” Read more

One of the major things that differentiates the human species from all other species on Earth is our ability to externalize subjective memory. To write things down. To store and exchange ideas outside of our brains. This all started with cave paintings and etchings. Graffiti, if you will, was the beginning of written history. Read more