The Authority Company The Possibilist’s Playbook: Solving Humanity’s Trillion-Dollar Problems With Futurist Pablos Holman
Aug 6, 2025
44:28
Inventor and futurist Pablos Holman cuts through AI hype, branding it "just computational models," and argues humans retain agency over dystopian fears. He dismantles Silicon Valley’s obsession with apps, revealing how we’ve prioritized software over transformative deep tech—igniting a call to redirect talent toward trillion-dollar problems like clean energy, disease eradication, and sustainable food/water systems. Rejecting both optimism and pessimism, Holman champions a "possibilist" mindset: "We decide what an awesome future looks like—then build it."
Holman unpacks hard truths: modern nuclear reactors (safer than solar panels) could’ve prevented climate change had we "outlawed bombs, not reactors," and the metaverse failed because "people crave meat space." He urges technologists to "build apps for practice" before solving humanity’s deepest challenges and shares breakthroughs in energy, computational modeling, and startup experimentation. Packed with contrarian insights, this episode is a roadmap to creating technology that truly matters.
Holman unpacks hard truths: modern nuclear reactors (safer than solar panels) could’ve prevented climate change had we "outlawed bombs, not reactors," and the metaverse failed because "people crave meat space." He urges technologists to "build apps for practice" before solving humanity’s deepest challenges and shares breakthroughs in energy, computational modeling, and startup experimentation. Packed with contrarian insights, this episode is a roadmap to creating technology that truly matters.