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

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? These are the questions Daniel Schmachtenberger is laying out in a new two part series on Rebel Wisdom, called ’In Search of the Third Attractor’. 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, oppressive authoritarian control. Given this, what does a third option, a ’third attractor’ look like? Daniel will be speaking at the Rebel Wisdom festival, ’the Last Campfire’ in London on November 5th. To check it out and buy tickets, go to: To find out more about the topics Daniel is discussing, check out his work on civilisation, at Civilization Emerging: And for more on his work around the Sensemaking crisis, check out the Consilience Project: Timecodes: INTRODUCTION: 00:00:00 SENSEMAKING: 00:02:10 THE TWO ATTRACTORS: 00:06:09 EXISTENTIAL HOPE?: 00:09:01 INTERCONNECTEDNESS: 00:14:33 FAILURES OF ACTIVISM: 00:18:33 CATASTROPHIC RISK: 00:25:08 THE POST WW2 SYSTEM: 00:38:40 EXPONENTIAL DESTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY: 00:45:02 NEAR-TERM RISKS: 00:50:48 THE ENERGY TRAP: 00:58:10 PERVERSE INCENTIVES: 01:03:54 PRIVATE GAINS, EXTERNAL LOSSES: 01:09:38 BIOTECH RISKS: 01:14:13 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: 01:19:29 MULTIPOLAR TRAPS: 01:29:03 CORPORATIONS VERSUS INDIVIDUALS: 01:46:54 NEW GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS: 01:53:27 NETWORK DYNAMICS: 01:58:41 SOLVING MULTI-POLAR TRAPS?: 02:06:51 CENTRALISING POWER: 02:17:47 COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: 02:33:00