In Search of the Third Attractor (part 1) Daniel Schmachtenberger (2022)

In Search of the Third Attractor (part1) | Daniel Schmachtenberger

Timestamps

• 00:00:01 Introduction 
• 00:02:10 Sensemaking 
• 00:06:09 The Two Attractors 
• 00:09:01 Existential Hope? 
• 00:14:33 Interconnectedness 
• 00:18:33 Failures Of Activism 
• 00:25:08 Catastrophic Risk 
• 00:38:40 The Post Ww2 System 
• 00:45:02 Exponential Destructive Technology 
• 00:50:48 Near-Term Risks 
• 00:58:10 The Energy Trap 
• 01:03:54 Perverse Incentives 
• 01:09:38 Private Gains, External Losses 
• 01:14:13 Biotech Risks 
• 01:19:29 Artificial Intelligence 
• 01:29:03 Multipolar Traps 
• 01:46:54 Corporations Versus Individuals 
• 01:53:27 New Governance Systems 
• 01:58:41 Network Dynamics 
• 02:06:51 Solving Multi-Polar Traps? 
• 02:17:47 Centralising Power 
• 02:33:00 Collective Intelligence 

Where are we headed as a species? What is the landscape of risks and challenges that we need to confront over the next decades, and are there a small number of key factors that we need to solve to avoid catastrophe?

As he describes it, the power of ever-increasing technological capacity (exponential tech) means that both destructive and creative capacities are increasing exponentially. Two of the most likely outcomes (attractors) are either some kind of chaotic breakdown or the development of powerful control systems in response to oppressive authoritarian control.

Given this, what does a third option, a ‘third attractor’, look like?

Credit: Adapted from Rebel Wisdom

The Third Attractor Video Series

1. In Search of the Third Attractor (part 1) Daniel Schmachtenberger (2022)
2. In Search of the Third Attractor (part 2) Daniel Schmachtenberger (2022)