By Devin Deen
Last week I went to my local library for Yuval Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. In July, I read the graphic novel version of it and wanted to wade through more detailed points of view that would be in the literary format. It wasn't on the shelf, but like a gargoyle guarding the prescient 303.431 section (Science and Technology), Pablos Holman's Deep Future baited me to enter his realm.
I thought this was going to be a self-aggrandising autobiography. Instead, it challenged my thinking about my purpose on the planet.
A Hacker's Tour Through the Problems That Matter
Pablos meanders through well known and lesser known stories regarding the wins and learnings that he and his fellow hackers have dedicated themselves toward solving problems that matter. It canvases his vocation from the mid-90s through to 2025 and covers space exploration, malaria, self-driving autonomous ships, cryptocurrency, nuclear power, breaking into wireless networks and locks, carbon emissions and climate change, planetary impacts from shipping, aviation and concrete production (the worst thing), and of course, AI and robots.
His storytelling is captivating. I could not put this book down and blitzed through it in less than a week, including going down the rabbit hole of knowledge with links to all of the case stories he cites, bookmarking pages as I went.
Why Deep Tech Needs Software Nerds
I'm a shallow tech software and data guy, and Pablos says that deep tech needs people like me: people who have lived through having an idea, building it, shipping it, scaling it, and selling it, and likely crashing the company and rinsing and repeating it again and again. The world needs software nerds who can disrupt legacy industries like Tesla and SpaceX did by hiring software nerds and saying to them, "go build me a car" or "go build me a rocket." Those companies work in the same way as modern software companies, exemplifying rapid iteration.
Where the Message Hit Home: Problems That Matter
Where his message hit home with me is in the "Problems that Matter" chapter, when he gets pretty frank and a little lippy about each of us deciding the future we want to build. He begins benignly by congratulating the reader about all the problems we care about and things we think could be better, in the whole world. Then he portrays the conundrum with having that list (we each probably have 10 or so) and our dilution of time and energy for each if we attempted to contribute.
Instead, he leads the reader through a mathematical process illuminating the requirement to choose one or two, stop being a spectator, and get on the pitch and play for real. Get involved locally, meet co-conspirators and hackers, and decide that you are going to build that future.
The Verdict
I highly recommend this book. It's an easy read on a cross country or international flight, or over brekkie and before bed a few nights a week. And, like me, it may motivate you to solve problems that matter, even in your own community.
A Nerdy Aside
I find it interesting that the Dewey Decimal system canonises social change being spurred by science and technology.
303: Social Processes (how society functions and changes)
303.4: Social Change
303.48: Causes of Social Change
303.483: Science and Technology
