The risks of the modern age present humanity with our greatest challenges yet.

Our Novel Strategy

In our work at Humanity 2050, we offer a fresh way to tackle the challenges of the Anthropocene. We think that all other challenges of the modern age are entangled in a “web of complexity,” which—itself—now presents one of the most fundamental challenges for humanity.

This crisis of complexity has been created over time by the many moving parts that now converge and interact—billions of people and computers, endless books and websites, and stacks of regulations and legal documents. This rise of complexity leads to challenges that now threaten to overwhelm the human mind, making it almost impossible to find clearly defined, actionable solutions that are both effective and widely acceptable.

To address problems like climate change, environmental degradation, and risks posed by the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, we must first—or at least simultaneously—deal with the growing complexity crisis by developing new, more careful, more disciplined modes of thought.

Humanity 2050 offers a fresh approach to help society deal with this complexity. We are assembling special focus teams, and are using new tools for thought developed by Humanity 2050’s founder, Dr. Carl O. Pabo. Our teams take a distinctive stance that spans all concerns about science and all concerns about public policy; and we work to develop explicit, actionable, science-based plans for addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene.

Our first special focus team is using this approach—setting out a tentative “master plan” for climate intervention via the use of stratospheric aerosols. We use this planning process as a way of highlighting remaining areas of risk and uncertainty (in the hope that they can then be addressed/resolved as quickly as possible). Read more about this project here.

To learn more about this crisis of complexity and the paradigm shift behind our new approach, you can read our white paper, entitled “‘Special Focus Teams’ to Help Solve the Problems of the Anthropocene.” Or join Dr. Pabo for a talk on “Governance Amidst a Crisis of Complexity: How to Refocus Thought to Meet the Challenges of the Anthropocene.” (Please send a note to info@humanity2050.org with a few sentences about your own background and interests, if you’d like to attend one of these Zoom presentations.)