I’m anticipating a new renaissance, based on the history of the Medieval Renaissance:
1400-1550 | Our time | |
Conversation about | Pandemics, plagues, wealth inequality, social norms, the roles of government and citizens, what to preserve from the past and what to jettison for progress | Pandemics, plagues, wealth inequality, social norms, the roles of government and citizens, what to preserve from the past and what to jettison for progress |
Technology revolution | Printing press (1440) Architecture Art | Digitization & connectivity Medical Materials |
New worlds inspiring imagination and creating economic expansion | North and South America | Space – asteroid mining, colonize the Moon and Mars Virtual environments |
Human beings remain fundamentally human beings – deeply flawed, awesome potential.
A key insight: the Medieval Renaissance was led by ordinary people to make extra-ordinary choices about what questions to ask, what new things to study, what to try, what imagination could be made real, and how to use their time. A very small fraction of the population created a massively different future.
We don’t need a giant renaissance for you to have one. But if a critical 1% of people do, then the world will experience a new renaissance.
Choose.