@jasoncrawford.org.bsky.social
The Roots of Progress (rootsofprogress.org)
Seeking a freelance project manager to help me publish and launch my book, The Techno-Humanist Manifesto.
Must have near-superhuman organizational skills and attention to detail. Experience with publishing projects is a bonus.
Apply here: rootsofprogress.notion.site/23e543614e97...
The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 8: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1
Is industrial production the end of economic history? Or could AI usher in a fourth age of humanity—an intelligence age?
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-unlimi...
The combinatorial vastness of possibility space means that solutions are out there. The structure of that space, and the power of intelligence to navigate it, means that we can find them.
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...
We're looking for people to project trends beyond current tools, but to do so in concrete ways in specific fields, rather than abstract speculation about how all of the economy or society will be transformed by a general tool that can do everything
19.06.2025 15:56 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
In part 1 of this chapter, I argued that economic growth is not limited by resources—because growth is not driven by resources, but by ideas. One might well ask, then: will we run out of ideas?
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...
Obviously AGI is a form of AI, but I think if you're too worried about that distinction you might not be approaching this from the angle we're looking for
19.06.2025 15:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Steven Pinker's approach to humanism closely aligns with my own viewpoints on the world. (I may have a more favorable view of certain forms of collectivism though). Here's a great summary by @jasoncrawford.org of one of Pinker's books: "Enlightenment Now".
blog.rootsofprogress.org/enlightenmen...
The Roots of Progress Institute is seeking to commission stories for a new article series, “Intelligence Age,” on future applications of AI
We are looking for stories of ~3k words, and will pay $2 per word.
Details and apply within: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/we-want-yo...
As long as people have noticed progress, they have wondered: will we run out of natural resources? But there are no natural resources. All resources are artificial: the product of knowledge
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...
The Roots of Progress fellowship deadline is tomorrow!
Also, I’ll be at Edge Esmeralda this coming week, find me there!
Plus many more announcements, links, charts and more in the latest links digest:
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...
I was initially skeptical about claims of stagnation, but I was eventually convinced by a systematic survey of the evidence. Progress has not ground to a halt, but in the US, it has slowed relative to its peak in the late 19th to mid-20th century:
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-flywhe...
Where is the YIMBY-style movement for healthcare? Where are those pointing out the gross violation of economic wisdom and campaigning for reform against the worst inefficiencies?
This field is wide open, and someone should step in and fill the vacuum.
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/where-is-t...
Reminds me of this from “The Curse of Xanadu” by Gary Wolf in WIRED (1995)
02.05.2025 20:37 — 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Applications now open for the 2025 Roots of Progress Blog-Building Intensive!
Improve your writing skills, learn from leading progress builders and intellectuals, and publish essays about progress:
rootsofprogress.org/fellowship
Impossible sci-fi nonsense, the shadow of the Great War, heliocentrism, the bottom-up abundance agenda, institutional sclerosis, and much more:
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...
Why was progress so slow, for so long? And were the last few centuries a fluke, a lucky windfall of progress, after which we should expect a regression to the mean of slow growth? Or were they part of a trend that we can expect to continue?
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-flywheel
Innovation is not linear — by @jasoncrawford.org
The more I read science history, the more I think this piece was brilliant.
I am advocating for due process for Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
17.04.2025 06:46 — 👍 142 🔁 25 💬 14 📌 3Announcing Progress Conference 2025! Oct 16-19 in Berkeley, CA
Speakers include Sam Altman, Tyler Cowen, Jennifer Pahlka, and Blake Scholl
Last year several people said it was the best conference they had ever attended, full stop (!)
Applications are open now!
rootsofprogress.org/conference
“Stopping climate change” is the wrong goal. It is an anti-human, anti-agency framing, focused on negating the impacts of human activity. The techno-humanist framing is that humanity should create *climate control*
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/we-should-...
People who are looking for a way to fight Trump, I have it for you in one name: Kilmar Abrego-Garcia.
He's the poor guy who got pulled off the street, declared a gang member for no reason, then sent off to that hell-hole in El Salvador.
Fight for him because this case will unravel everything. 🧵
Solar + batteries can be great for specific applications that don’t need very high availability; and they can work as part of an overall system of supplying power to the grid; but they won’t supply all power to the grid in the foreseeable future
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/how-much-d...
The 150-year history of d/acc, a $120M progress fund, fertility on demand, 19th-century kids' sci-fi, the real lesson of Cassandra’s curse, giving the Devil the benefit of law, and more:
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...
d/acc Day livestream: www.youtube.com/live/b45hakf...
Vitalik starts us off at 10am Pacific; I'm slated for 10:40
A visible sonic boom, AI in SaaS, progress on permitting reform, fewer tornado deaths, the closing of the frontier, Rousseau and Kant vs. the Age of Reason, and more
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...
"Progress is messy. Its benefits come with inextricable costs and risks: pollution, accidents, radiation, carcinogens, rogue AI," writes TPN member @jasoncrawford.org.
"Solutionism acknowledges, even embraces, this fact."
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/solutionis...
Good thread by @swiftonsecurity.com about the literal security practices of the literal Taylor Swift
09.03.2025 20:25 — 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0 @jasoncrawford.org asks what media portrays science positively, and it is the book “All the Light We Cannot See.”
The boy is obsessed with science and radio. Best friend with ornithology
The girl is obsessed with mollusks. Her dad with miniaturization and locks.
Even the villain is a gemologist!
The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 5: Solutionism (part 2)
There is no tradeoff between health/safety and progress, because health and safety are a part of progress. But the technical work of health and safety has gone mostly unsung
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/solutionis...
Progress studies in university and high school, a positive supply shock for truth, the hinge of history, Elon in perpetual wartime, Dean Ball on AI liability, Kevin Kelly on the handoff to bots, and more:
newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...
