š āStopping climate changeā is the wrong goal
We should be more ambitious, say techno-humanists.
Hey Freethinkers,
The weather in Pittsburgh is incredibly erratic this time of year.
In just the past two weeks, weāve experienced snow flurries, hail the size of ping-pong balls, and a thunderstorm loud enough to keep my pomsky up all night. Weāve also had temperatures high enough to inspire me to pull my e-bike out of storage, and on Sunday afternoon, the sound of lawnmowers drifted through my open windows.
Thankfully, Iām blessed with an HVAC system that allows me to control the temperature in my home with the push of a button, so whether itās snowing or sunny outside, Iām always able to maintain a comfy temperature in my home (just donāt ask to see my electric or gas bills).
In the latest edition of his Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Jason Crawford argues that humanity needs to develop a way to monitor and control the global climate the same way I can already control the temperature in my house ā and he has a few ideas about the buttons we could try pushing.
Also on deck: Rohit Krishnan, Freethinkās newest Voices contributor, breaks down what Chinese startup DeepSeek means for the race to AGI.
Read on,
Kristin
FREETHINK VOICES
āStopping climate changeā is the wrong goal
The past century of industrial activity is changing the climate in ways that could potentially cost us trillions of dollars every year. In response, some think we should be doing whatever it takes to stop climate change, including cutting back on our energy usage. To Jason Crawford, thatās unacceptable. In the latest installment of his Techno-Humanist Manifesto, he argues that what we should be doing instead is focusing on how we can control the climate ā and heās already identified ways we could start to do that.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
How DeepSeek rewrote the rules of the AI race
DeepSeek has rocked the foundation of the AI industry. On January 20, 2025, the Chinese startup unveiled its remarkable R1 language model, proving that you donāt need a huge team, a ton of money, and cutting-edge chips to create world-class AI. In the first installment of his new Freethink Voices series, author and investor Rohit Krishnan breaks down what makes DeepSeek so special and what the startup means for the future of AI.
THE GREAT PROGRESSION
Kevin Kelly points a new way forward into the Age of AI
by Peter Leyden
Peter Leyden and Kevin Kelly go way back. As the founding executive editor of WIRED magazine, Kelly offered Leyden a writing job, and more than three decades later, Leyden still goes to his old mentor for insights into the future of technology. The latest meeting of their minds is detailed in the newest article in Leydenās Freethink Voices series, The Great Progression: 2025 to 2050. In it, Kelly talks about the pace of AI adoption, the ācognificationā of things, and what he thinks will be the āscariestā thing about AI for many people.
WORTH SHARING
America underestimates the difficulty of bringing manufacturing back
On April 2, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced major new tariffs on goods imported from foreign nations. The goal? Bringing manufacturing back stateside. This week, Freethink syndicated a blog post in which Molson Hart, founder and president of educational toy company Viahart, details 14 reasons tariffs wonāt be able to accomplish this goal and shares what might actually get more products made in America.
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I have to say I started laughing at controlling the weather like your home... with the push of a button and then I read on and saw that you were serious....
AI might make you think you live in an alternate reality but seriously you are not going to control the weather without many unintended consequences.
Nature will crush you like a bug my friend, spit us all out and this earth will keep on going despite us all. The best we can do is control our immediate surroundings. Keep warm, or keep cool, but be thankful for what we can control and how we got here.