Stuck @Om With John Markoff
In this episode, I\u2019m Stuck@Om with John Markoff\u2014a renowned technology reporter for the New York Times. John currently allocates his time to writing a biography for Stewart Brand\u2014a writer, editor, and entrepreneur\u2014who is famous for saying \u201cWe are as God\u2019s and we might as well get good at it\u201d. John and I discuss topics revolving around the biography, such as the Whole Earth Catalogue and Stewart\u2019s organizations \u201cThe Long Now Foundation\u201d and \u201cRevive & Restore\u201d.\xa0
During our conversation, we talk about the importance of our history. As the pandemic is sweeping through the world and we\u2019re losing many of our elderly population\u2014the realization hits me that we are losing a piece of our past. Collective wisdom is being snuffed out and it cannot be replaced.\xa0
We also talk about the evolution of the internet and social networks. We once believed a connected world was a better world \u2014 but is that our reality? With the Coronavirus pandemic; will we see a fundamental transformation of the way we communicate? Children are now growing up with iPads, Facetime, and interacting with \u2018Alexa\u2019 is normal. We\u2019re already seeing a fundamental shift that will likely be perpetuated.\xa0
Could the pandemic be preparing us for something bigger? A changed planet \u2014 perhaps a dystopian future where we are forced to live indoors? John points out that the futures that happen tend to surprise us and come out of nowhere. This world is a giant game of \u2018wait and see\u2019. Listen to this conversation for a full exploration of the future of our world, communication, and technology.\xa0
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Outline of This Episode- John Markoff is staying busy writing Steward Brand\u2019s biography
- The controversial world of Revive and Restore
- John\u2019s origin story is tied to the 1918 Spanish Flu
- Why John had to get out of cybercrime
- The evolution of the internet \u2014 good and bad
- Why John wouldn\u2019t permit anonymity across the internet
- The development of language models and artificial intelligence
- The line between machine and human creativity
- A fundamental transformation of the way we communicate
- What the future of tech media looks like