The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. And, it is becoming increasingly so as machine intelligence powers its way beyond intelligent minds and algorithms begin to guide emotions. Far from maximising human potential, such technological transformation is upgrading computers to the extent that it will empower a handful of tiny elite over most others who not only stand to be exploited but are being made irrelevant. The cumulative impact of the emerging infotech revolution is fuelling global inequality like never before, while increasing social tensions and dividing humankind into hostile camps.
Unless the situation is peeled to its last layer, it may not be clear where the world is headed and how we should protect ourselves and future generations. From ecological cataclysm to the fake news epidemic and from chauvinistic nationalism to underrated bioterrorism, the world is fast becoming a theatre of the absurd where the bull of progress is raging wild with anxiety and anger. In the emerging...