Abundance
The Future Is Better Than You Think
by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler · first published 2012
73% recommend20% neutral7% critical
roviding abundance is humanity’s grandest challenge—this is a book about how we rise to meet it. We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. This bold, contrarian view, backed up by exhaustive research, introduces our near-term future, where exponentially growing technologies and three other powerful forces are conspiring to better the lives of billions. An antidote to pessimism by tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler. Since t
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A few highlights for me... Abundance - Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler. Diamandis has an almost infectiously positive way of looking at the world. And a hope that's not just based on a philosophical belief but is backed up with hard data.…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗Each "mouth" has a chance of yielding infinitely scalable innovation. For example, the Haber-Bosch process supplies 50% of the nitrogen found in human tissues. Check out the book "Abundance" by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler.
on “The De-Population Bomb” ↗Abundance; great book that's insanely optimistic about the future. Sure it cherrypicks the "what went well" part of our history, but a lot more has went well compared to a couple of failing industries.. http://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/...
on “Why Is Peter Thiel Pessimistic About Technological Innovation?” ↗…existential pessimism: https://www.amazon.com/Fewer-Richer-Greener-Prosperity-Popul... Here's a book about how innovation progresses exponentially, and what it means for the masses: https://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp... Here's that classic video by Hans Rosling giving us some perspective on the progress over the last century: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo Here's another…
on “You Are Jeff Bezos” ↗Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Abundance by Peter H. Diamandis
on “Ask HN: What was the best book you read in 2013?” ↗…James Loewen - The Four Agreements, Miguel Ruiz - Man's Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl - Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky - The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander - Good To Great, Jim Collins - Abundance, Peter Diamandis - The Mystery Of Capital, Hernando De Soto - Pathologies Of Power, Paul Farmer - Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff - Seeing Like A State, James Scott - Ishmael, Daniel Quinn -…
on “Ask HN: book suggestions in non-tech fields (e.g. psychology, philosophy…)” ↗Here are 3 that I particularly liked in the last few years: The Information, James Gleick A Universe from Nothing, Lawrence Krauss Abundance, Peter Diamandis
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗I've enjoyed Abundance by Peter Diamandis, CEO of the X-Prize foundation. It's by no means laden down with details, but it is an entertaining overview of emerging technologies and how they might be put to use. http://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/...
on “Ask HN: Summer reading” ↗If the concept of exponentially growing technologies intrigues you, I can recommend Peter Diamandis' book Abundance [1]. [1] http://www.diamandis.com/abundance/
on “The World in 2050 [video]” ↗Abundance by Peter Diamandis totally changed the way I look at businesses and future technology and helped me clearly see the difference between exponential growth and linear growth changing the world.
on “Ask HN: What book impacted your life the most and how?” ↗Cannot agree. For neoteny on human, Peter Diamandis’ Abundance might give a better attribution.
on “Why are so many adults acting just like children?” ↗…product/industry, and then for related companies to grow into an economic ecosystem. So one would expect to see some spectacular economics over the next couple of centuries. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp...
on “Historical Tech Tree” ↗> So the solution is probably to help them develop ASAP. There are two kinds of mythologies that have been the cause of reckless and thoughtless procreation leading to overpopulation: 1. Religion 2. ‘Abundance’ mythologies penned by the Peter Diamandis/Steven Kotler ilk.
on “Kenyan recycles plastic waste into bricks stronger than concrete” ↗Some think decreasing poverty/disease actually decreases population growth. This is what Peter Diamandis argues in his book "Abundance: the future is better than you think". His reasoning (based on correlations and maybe causational data) is poor families have a lot of kids because they think many of the kids are going to die. But once…
on “Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge” ↗…book Factfulness makes a pretty good case that people generally think the world is falling apart but that objectively the world is currently in better shape than any other period of history. The book, Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler also makes the same point about how focusing on the negative can obscure the good that is happening in the world. https://www.diamandis.com/blog/the-world-is-still-better-tha...
on “Mean World Syndrome” ↗