PickVidsBest Futurism & technology and society Videos
The 116 Futurism & technology and society videos here were recommended by different people across different months. Choose by who it is for: 2 introductory, 4 intermediate, 110 for a general viewer, and 0 for someone who wants the harder derivation. Most of them are a talk. What they share is that one speaker finishes a claim, and the examples exist to hold that claim up. Channels you will keep seeing include TED, Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, Isaac Arthur.
Human Computation
A 2006 Google TechTalk in which Luis von Ahn introduces human computation, using people's effort to solve problems like image recognition that computers cannot yet handle.
IBM RFID Commercial-The Future Supermarket
A 2006 IBM commercial depicting a future supermarket where shoppers walk out and RFID automatically charges them for their items.
von Neumann probes, Dyson spheres, exploratory engineering and the Fermi paradox
Stuart Armstrong of the Future of Humanity Institute gives an Oxford physics talk on what exploratory engineering suggests about the Fermi paradox.
Where good ideas come from | Steven Johnson
Steven Johnson's TED talk argues that good ideas come from connected, slow-building hunches and liquid networks, from London coffee houses to Darwin to the modern web, rather than lone Eureka moments.
Tony Seba: Clean Disruption - Energy & Transportation
Stanford futurist Tony Seba argues that electric vehicles, battery storage, solar and autonomous vehicles form a 10x exponential disruption that will make fossil fuels obsolete within about a decade.
The Fake Futurism of Elon Musk
A video essay by Tom Nicholas critiquing Elon Musk's futurism, covering SpaceX's Mars plans, Tesla versus Ford and the idea of a slow cancellation of the future.
Matrioshka Brains: Star-Powered Computers
Isaac Arthur explains the Matrioshka Brain, a hypothetical computer or artificial mind powered by an entire star using nested shells.
Who is Manipulating Facebook? - Smarter Every Day 215
Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day investigates manipulation on Facebook, interviewing the company's team about content moderation.
Software is in Decline - Jonathan Blow
A ten-minute clip from Jonathan Blow's talk on preventing the collapse of civilization, arguing that software quality and the knowledge to build it are in decline.
Dyson Spheres
Isaac Arthur examines Dyson spheres and swarms, including common myths and misconceptions.
Welcome to Life: the singularity, ruined by lawyers
Tom Scott's three-minute satirical short about a corporate-run, DRM-and-ads-laden afterlife after mind uploading.
The Last Human – A Glimpse Into The Far Future
A Kurzgesagt animation on longtermism, arguing that because the future could hold trillions of people, our actions' effect on future generations may be what matters most.
Rethinking Energy -- 100% Solar, Wind and Batteries Is Just The Beginning
Tony Seba of RethinkX presents the case that solar, wind and batteries are on a cost-decline path that makes a fully renewable grid achievable.
Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO Social Capital, on Money as an Instrument of Change
Chamath Palihapitiya's Stanford GSB View From The Top talk on money as an instrument of change.
There's No Tomorrow (limits to growth & the future)
An animated short on limits to growth, covering oil formation, peak oil, energy, economic growth and resource depletion.
HYPER-REALITY
Keiichi Matsuda's short concept film depicting a future where physical and virtual realities have merged and the city is saturated with media and advertising.
Balaji Srinivasan at Startup School 2013
Balaji Srinivasan's Startup School 2013 talk on Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit, arguing for building alternatives outside existing institutions.
Future Shock Documentary (1972)
The 1972 documentary based on Alvin Toffler's book Future Shock, narrated by Orson Welles.
Paul Otlet, visioning a web in 1934
A one-minute clip about Paul Otlet, the Belgian bibliographer who in 1934 imagined users accessing a remote database through an electric telescope over a phone line.
Peter Thiel on Stagnation, Innovation, and What Not To Name Your Company | Conversations with Tyler
Tyler Cowen interviews Peter Thiel about technological stagnation, innovation, and lessons from Zero to One.
The nightmare videos of childrens' YouTube — and what's wrong with the internet today | James Bridle
Writer and artist James Bridle shows how strange and disturbing children's videos on YouTube, from surprise eggs to algorithmic mashups, are produced for ad revenue.
UTOPIA | Omeleto
A short Australian dystopian film in which a man returns home to find citizens fining each other for infractions via a government app, with cameras everywhere.
A.I., Mars and Immortality: Are We Dreaming Big Enough? | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
Ross Douthat interviews Peter Thiel about technological stagnation, AI, longevity, space travel and politics.
Microsoft: Productivity Future Vision
Microsoft's 2015 concept video imagining how ubiquitous computing, collaboration services and data analytics might change work 5-10 years later.