Humanity needs to fundamentally reorient itself in a world of abundant intelligence.

Abysmally few people understand how we got here, what is happening, and where we are going as a species. We look to politicians, economists, intellectuals, and tech CEOs for answers, but they are failing miserably to provide us assurity.

If you feel scared, confused, trepidatious, or on-edge with the world we’re stepping into, you’re not alone.

So how did we hairless apes get here? What is shifting beneath our feet? And where does this all lead?

That is the central focus of this publication.

Why this matters

This matters because the answers to the aforementioned questions have major consequences on your personal life and society at large.

For you personally, it should help answer questions like “What should I study in school? What is the right career move for me? How should I raise my kids? What does it mean to be human when a machine can do most things better than me?”

For society, it should help answer “How do we make sure the benefits of intelligence are broadly shared? How do we redesign our tax and distribution system? How do we make the system work for everyone rather than the few?”

These are extremely consequential questions to say the least.

What this publication will cover

To get us oriented, we need to understand how we got here. We will analyze past periods of technological progress through the lens of anthropology, psychology, politics, geography, and economics. History doesn’t repeat, but it certainly rhymes.

We will also cover recent developments, contextualizing it within what came before and the trends underlying it. This will span from major developments in AI/SI to tecno-industrial policy to geopolitics.

Orienting ourselves also requires understanding our existing systems (political, legal, sociological, economical, psychological), what they were built for, and where they might fail in this new age.

Lastly, we will contemplate possible future states. Armed with greater perspective and awareness, we can make much more accurate predictions.

About me

In a nutshell, I’m a techno-realist, entrepreneurial, ex-Mormon nerd living in San Francisco.

I was born in Utah in 1995. From as far back as I can remember, I was insatiably curious, bombarding my mom with unknowable questions.

Space, neuroscience, history, and business were deeply fascinating to me. Just to give you a sense of the type of nerd I was, I saved up $1,000 when I was 12 years old to go to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

At the age of 18, I moved to Taiwan for two years to serve a Mormon mission. I learned Mandarin and became intertwined with the people there.

Upon returning home, I wanted to study biomechanical engineering. However, having realized that sitting in a lab focused on one problem for many years would not suit my personality, I decided to go the route of business and studied finance at BYU.

My career started in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division covering financial technology and asset management clients. I then migrated to the “buy side” working as an associate at a venture capital firm spun out of Kleiner Perkins called G2 Venture Partners.

Since then, I have been building and operating (primarily) tech companies. Most recently, I was a co-founder of an agent building platform called Velanir.

The underlying goal of my life has been to learn and progress. My curiosity has taken me down countless rabbit holes, exploring diverse subjects and making valuable connections within.

But most importantly, I’m a deep thinker who profoundly cares about the future of humanity.

(If you want to learn more about me, check out my website)

Why subscribe

If you’re like most people, you’re at least a little scared and unsure how to plan your life in this world of abundant intelligence. It’s so easy to get caught in the day-to-day minutia of what’s happening and lose sight of the bigger picture.

I don’t have all the answers, but I promise that I will help you orient yourself in this world of abundant intelligence so that you can make better decisions for your life and your family.

Come on this journey with me. We’re in for a wild ride.

Nathan (Nate) Ricks is a San Francisco–based operator and writer. He co-founded an AI startup and now writes about artificial intelligence, geopolitics, the economy, and the future of humanity.

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