How did we end up here, masters of scientific insight, purveyors of ever more powerful technologies, astride the burning planet that created us, and now responsible for cleaning up the mess and determining the future direction of all of life? And what do we do about it?
Technology is Dead attempts to answer both of those questions. It is a book of both challenge and hope, written for those who are able or willing to lead us out of our global predicament. It is for the politicians, CEOs, community leaders, everyday parents, and young people who understand that we must change our ways to ensure a sustainable future for all living things and the planet we rely on. The book’s premise is that technology (like capitalism) has been an unprecedented force for prosperity, while at the same time bringing unrelenting, and unplanned, downsides. Technology has insinuated itself into every nook and cranny of modern society, ignoring many of our human truths while preying on our vulnerabilities. It has resulted in both profound economic progress and a multitude of troubling unintended consequences, from deepening divides and loss of collective responsibility to a growing list of existential threats.
The only viable response is to reconnect with our collaborative roots and undertake what the authors call a humanist revolution, a global effort to redefine human progress, rebuild our core systems to contribute to that progress, and reset our all too human behaviors and aspirations, while becoming the active, careful human-first stewards of technology itself.
The revolution, guided by what the authors call a 21st Century Humanist Code asks all of us to work towards the world we want to live in – for each and every human to become the center and source of change in their lives, in their communities, and the world beyond. The future of humankind and our planet depends on it.
Introduction
PART I: THE TECHNOLOGY TRAIN
Chapter One How Technology Changed the World
Chapter Two The Growing Gap Between Us and It
Chapter Three Decoding Humans
PART II: THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Chapter Four The Emerging Specters of Threat
Chapter Five Deepening Divisions
Chapter Six The Shifting Sands of Power
PART III: THE HUMANIST REVOLUTION
Chapter Seven Beginning with the End in Mind
Chapter Eight Establishing a New Paradigm of Rule
Chapter Nine Re-engineering Our Systems
Chapter Ten Changing the Ways of Us
Epilogue Re-writing Our Narrative
References
Biography
Christopher Colbert is the former Managing Director of the Harvard Innovation Labs, and a global speaker and advisor on the convergence between technology, innovation, and humanity.
"A convincing case for taking the reins of technology and steering it towards outcomes that benefit all of humanity"
Alan Hassenfeld, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hasbro Toys
“Chris Colbert is one of the most insightful and essential thinkers today on the rising threat technology poses to all of us. In Technology Is Dead, Colbert not only identifies those threats with uncommon clarity, he also provides a roadmap for a more human and humane relationship with machinery that, after all, we created. A must-read for anyone who hungers for a future where the needs of people, not technology, inform our most vital decisions.”
Eric Weiner, award-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss, The Geography of Genius, Man Seeks God and The Socrates Express.
“Technology is Dead” provides a practical pathway to embed the best parts of our humanity into our most powerful tools. This book is a must-read for any human who wants to utilize technology to contribute to human progress while minimizing risks and negative consequences. Embedded with compassionate wisdom and a birds-eye view of our species, this book is highly significant for our current era.”
Raya Bidshahri, Founder & CEO, School of Humanity
“In our modern society everyone champions innovation as the cure all, the printing press gave us knowledge but also misinformation, the internet democratized access but also created tribalism, Chris rightfully raises the alarm to the potential unintended consequences of the next stage of innovation and what we can do about it.”
Jon Levy, New York TImes Best Selling author of Your Invited, Behavioral Scientist, Founder of the Influencers
"Paraphrasing Churchill, first we create technology and thereafter it creates us. Chris questions if the emerging ‘us' is who we want to be. ‘Technology is Dead’ is an important note in the music of desirable humane change. It is an invitation to be one of the composers, not one of the composed!"
Robert Lengel, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at San Antonio,
President, LeaderWork Inc.
"Technology is Dead is a vitally important book for our times. Chris Colbert takes an unflinching look at many of the interconnected crises unfolding before our eyes, and illuminates the ways that technology is currently so often part of the problem. His call for a New Humanism is prophetic. It's a must-read for anyone wondering how we might find our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in today."
Dr. Max Klau, Chief Program Officer, the New Politics Leadership Academy
