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From the nomadic footpaths of the first people to orbiting satellites that spin the world wide web, humans have laid out a complex layer atop the world at an accelerating pace.
Short migration paths following food sources came first, small settlements next. Shipping routes emerged to overcome unsurmountable geographies. Trade routes were established, connecting regions, countries, and continents.
Swiftly then came global rail, road and flight routes. Supply chains and electrical grids. We developed trade, transport and energy networks, which acted as communication highways too.
It wasn’t just goods and people that made their way across borders, but languages, traditions and customs, arts, skills and knowledge - connecting us in unexpected ways.
Information moved faster and faster through these networks. But data transfer wasn’t quick enough.
At some point, telegraph cables beneath the seas paved the way for the current communication networks that connect us all around the planet.
As we digitised information pathways, we eroded the physical constraints of the space we lived in. Social media replaced not only legacy broadcasting but also community by proxy. New digital railways replace legacy financial ones.
The rewiring is never complete.
Connecting with anyone in the world with ease, the flows of information became harder to manage. To the point where we started building barriers, moats and dams to protect ourselves.
Data tries to flow unbound: information wants to be free.
The communication layer we laid out upon the planet is a sense-making network. As we rewire the world, we reshape and transform how we interact, engage and understand ourselves. Changing the way we do business, politics and everything in between.
The ground shakes beneath us and new geographies rise. What we once took for granted is now displaced, repositioned and redistributed. Around us, everything is changing, moving and transforming.
One thing is certain: we cannot know what’s coming.
Our highlights
✍ Content
Laura Lopez, Medium
Many people's paths into content design are squiggly, and Laura's path is no different. Here, Laura reflects on how curiosity, lay offs and opening the dang door of opportunity created a path to content design.
💡Ideas
Jordan Fisher Smith, Aeon magazine
A wonderful guide on how to rediscover the art of wandering. Slow down, engage your senses, and think like a ranger to inject joy and spontaneity into your walks.
📣 Language
Emily Liu, Rest of world
A new generation of influencers dubbed 'translator-creators' are making waves in China. Translating and editing short videos from banned foreign social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok, these influencers are breaching the Great Firewall and giving Chinese internet users a window into the outside world.
🔮 Trends
Anab Jain, Neoma Magazine
In this anthropological and philosophical deep dive into how we bridge the fault lines between human and nature, Anab shows that the knotty challenges we face rarely have neat solutions. But if we knit stories of care, justice, collaboration, love and tolerance that, like myth, can we endure and enact ecological relationality?
💻 Digital
Civilla
We love a good library, and this digital one from US-based agency Civillia is well worth a visit. It’s full of resources from human-centered design experts to help put theory into practice.
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