The world after capital

In his book “the world after capital“, investor Albert Wenger describes our modern world and what it takes to flourish in it.

Quick summary of paradigm-shifts in our history:

• Agricultural Revolution (~10,000 BCE): Humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farming and settled communities.
• Scientific Revolution (~1543 CE onward): Systematic observation, experimentation, and empirical reasoning took root.
• Industrial Revolution (~1750–1900 CE): Machines began to replace manual labor in manufacturing and agriculture.
• Digital Revolution (~1950s–2000s): Introduction of computers, the internet, and digital communication.
• AI Revolution (2010s–today): Rapid development of artificial intelligence, especially generative models, robotics, and machine learning.

Currently, we are in the AI Revolution and the pace of change is so extreme, that it is difficult for people to keep up with.

Why? Because we’ve established an ecosystem in which a vast amount of information is available to us anytime.

Not only the internet (distribution network, ca. 60% of the worlds population has access in 2024), also smartphones (access to the network, ca. 6.5 billion in 2024) and social platforms (e.g. Facebook, YouTube etc. on which information is shared) is available to billions of people, which makes the creation and distribution of information so drastic.

With all of that information at our fingertips, the question becomes, how we can remain calm and not get overwhelmed.

Each of us only has 24 h available per day. With (on average) 8 h of sleep and 8 h at work, we have 8 h remaining for friends/family, sport, hobbies, reading books, watching movies, cooking etc.

Regarding SOAX, the average social media user spends 2.5 h on social platforms, which reduces the available time for other activities to even 5.5 h (and the time spent on social media is increasing fast).

How can you gain back control over your day, with the external factors (job, news, politics etc.) pulling so heavily and drowning your brains capacity?

Three ideas from Wenger’s book (the world after capital) on how to cope with the recent AI Revolution:

• Allocate attention wisely:
  • Wenger argues that as physical capital becomes abundant, attention is the true limiting resource in our digital era. He urges us to actively choose what we focus on, both personally and collectively.
  • This means prioritizing meaningful activities, like spending time with loved ones, exploring purpose, or tackling existential threats, over digital distractions.
• Pursue the three freedoms:
  • Economic freedom: Through mechanisms like Universal Basic Income, we free ourselves from mandatory, low-value jobs, enabling the pursuit of creative or meaningful endeavors (well OK, he’s a billionaire, but you get the idea).
  • Informational freedom: We must reclaim control over our digital environments, e.g., who controls our data and algorithmic experiences, to ensure technology serves us, not the attention economy (e.g. Instagram pushing advertisements in our directions, why not having a bot on your phone that blocks such ads…?)
  • Psychological freedom: Cultivating habits like mindfulness empowers us to resist attention traps and stay deliberate about our focus. (BIG ONE)
• Enter and strengthen the knowledge-loop: The “Knowledge Loop” (learn → create → share) is the engine of progress. Wenger notes that digital tech has made sharing new knowledge nearly cost-free but only if individuals are free and purposeful.

In my opinion, meditation (calming the mind) and systematic coaching (a process that helps to set the right focus and helps to stick to your intended change) helps big time to flourish during this next paradigm-shift in a sustainable fashion!