New World Same Humans
New World Same Humans
The End of History – Audio Version
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The End of History – Audio Version

For 40,000 years we sapiens have shaped the human story. But is a post-human future just around the corner?

Welcome to New World Same Humans, a weekly newsletter on trends, technology, and society by David Mattin.

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This instalment of NWSH is brought to you by Skillful.

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This week, reflections on the deep human past. And on the prospect of a post-human future. All thanks to an amazing discovery in China’s Heilongjiang province.

Hit play!

If you’d prefer to read this week’s instalment, go here for the text version of The End of History.


Links in this week’s instalment

1. Scientists say the Dragon Man – Heilongjiang means Black Dragon River poses a challenge to the story of human evolution as we know it.

2. In 2018, Chinese biologist He Jiankui shocked the world with claims that he had created the world’s first CRISPR-edited babies.

3. Meanwhile, the emergence of new forms of human-machine interface – see Elon Musk’s Neuralink for an example – point to a future in which we merge with our technologies.

4. In his 2016 blockbuster Homo Deus, he argues that human history as we know it is about to end, because we sapiens are about to upgrade ourselves and become something else entirely.

5. Researchers believe our sapiens ancestors killed off the Neanderthals in a long war of attrition that raged on and off for over 60,000 years.


Random access humans

Thanks for listening to a particularly philosophical NWSH this week.

This newsletter will continue to investigate the implications of genetic technologies, human-machine interfaces, and the post-human era that so many futurists seem keen to usher us into.

And there’s one thing you can do to help: share!

If this week’s instalment resonated with you, why not consider spreading the word? You could forward the email to someone who’d also enjoy it. Or share across one of your social networks. Remember: the larger and more diverse the NWSH community becomes, the better for all of us.

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I’ll be back on Wednesday with New Week Same Humans. Until then, be well,

David.


David Mattin is the founder of the Strategy and Futures Research Unit. He sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Consumption.

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New World Same Humans
New World Same Humans
New World Same Humans is a weekly newsletter on trends, technology and our shared future by David Mattin.
Born in 2020, the NWSH community has grown to include 25,000+ technologists, designers, founders, policy-makers and more.
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