The Evolution of Cities: Centralization vs. Decentralization

David speaks with Jonathan Hillis, founder of Cabin, a place for creators to gather together to work on exciting projects 'IRL'. Prior to founding Cabin, he was Director of Product, Shoppers, and Marketplace at Instacart, where, during the pandemic, he grew their workforce of shoppers fivefold.

They talked about:

🏡 Five principles for stronger communities

🏙️ How cities have centralised and decentralised

❤️ Why smaller neighbourhoods are better

💻 The need for technology in communities

⚖️ The power of decentralisation

🧠 The importance of diverse governance

🌍 Can we make democracy better?

This is just one part of a longer conversation, and it's the second part. You can listen to the earlier episode here:

Part 1: 🎙️ Innovation, Technology, and Human Connection with Jonathan Hillis (Episode 116)

📜 Full transcript:

theknowledge.io/jonathanhillis-2/

📹 Watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/ea0bvUQ8Uv0

🗣 Mentioned in the show:

Cabin | https://www.cabin.city/

Gall's law | https://www.myddelton.co.uk/blog/24-galls-law

A brief history of decentralised cities and centralised states | https://jon.mirror.xyz/

Dunbar's number | https://www.newscientist.com/definition/dunbars-number/

Kibbutz | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz

Blockchain | https://theknowledge.io/what-is-cryptocurrency/

Decentralised Autonomous Organization (DAO) | https://www.investopedia.com/tech/what-dao/

Liron Shapira | https://theknowledge.io/lironshapira/

Hollow Abstraction | https://x.com/liron/status/1562589538848874498

Peace of Westphalia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia

French Revolution | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution

Thomas Hobbes | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes

Jean-Jacques Rousseau | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau

David Graeber | https://davidgraeber.org/

Francis Fukuyama | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Fukuyama

The End of History and the Last Man | https://amzn.to/4eq9wX7

Yamabushi Mountain Monks | https://theknowledge.io/issue34/

The Dawn of Everything | https://amzn.to/4ePxgUj

Çatalhöyük | https://www.catalhoyuk.com/

Uruk | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruk

Haudenosaunee | https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/who-we-are/

Nebelivka | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebelivka

Garrett Jones | https://theknowledge.io/garettjones/

👤 Connect with Jonathan:

Twitter: https://x.com/JonathanHillis

Website: https://jonhillis.com/

Cabin: https://www.cabin.city/

👨🏾‍💻 About David Elikwu:

David Elikwu FRSA is a serial entrepreneur, strategist, and writer. David is the founder of The Knowledge, a platform helping people think deeper and work smarter.

🐣 Twitter: @Delikwu / @itstheknowledge

🌐 Website: https://www.davidelikwu.com

📽️ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/davidelikwu

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delikwu/

🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@delikwu

🎙️ Podcast: http://plnk.to/theknowledge

📖 Free Book: https://pro.theknowledge.io/frames

My Online Course

🖥️ Decision Hacker: http://www.decisionhacker.io/

Decision Hacker will help you hack your default patterns and become an intentional architect of your life. You’ll learn everything you need to transform your decisions, your habits, and your outcomes.

The Knowledge

📩 Newsletter: https://theknowledge.io

The Knowledge is a weekly newsletter for people who want to get more out of life. It's full of insights from psychology, philosophy, productivity, and business, all designed to make you more productive, creative, and decisive.

My Favorite Tools

🎞️ Descript: https://bit.ly/descript-de

📨 Convertkit: https://bit.ly/convertkit-de

🔰 NordVPN: https://bit.ly/nordvpn-de

💹 Nutmeg: http://bit.ly/nutmegde

🎧 Audible: https://bit.ly/audiblede