David Wood

Chair, London Futurists. Executive Director of LEV Foundation. Author or Lead Editor of 12 books about the future. PDA/smartphone pioneer. Symbian co-founder

[David Wood @dw2]

A thread of threads - the mini-book reviews that I have posted here during 2025. In chronological order. I happily recommend all but one of these books

[David Wood @dw2]

@tszzl I strongly recommend reading "Biological War: A Scenario" by Annie Jacobsen. The analogies will be clear, between the development and subsequent escape of horrific biological malware, and similar development and escape of uncontrollable AI systems with their own alien purposes

[David Wood @dw2]

Meanwhile "Seoul is bracing for its first ever 'severe heatwave warning' on Tuesday, as South Korea reels from a deadly heatwave that has seen the country record its highest ever temperature" https://t.co/4eAzAf6hmA

[David Wood @dw2]

Some of the questions likely to feature in this discussion:

What's really happening to our climate? Are we facing risks of even greater disruption, as planetary systems are pushed beyond tipping points? How does El Niño complicate matters?

(continued)

[David Wood @dw2]

Which factors are obstructing the use of these levers, and how can these obstacles be addressed? What are the overlapping roles of technologies, economics, institutions, narratives, and social movements, in avoiding widespread tragedy? How quickly are course corrections needed?

[David Wood @dw2]

Just announced: a @LondonFuturists webinar on Saturday 15th August: "Disruptive Climate Futures - The physics, the feedback, the levers, and the implications of possible responses", with Dr Tom Harris

More details and RSVP here: https://t.co/5Blxi6TsnD

[David Wood @dw2]

When different scientists disagree about future scenarios, how can we transcend ideological biases to understand the underlying physics and feedback cycles? Which levers are available for our consideration, to alter the climate trajectory?

(continued 2)

[David Wood @dw2]

@strygah I reposted that diagram here (after deleting the original thread to fix something I had mistyped, oops) https://t.co/QYFF5YntYC

[David Wood @dw2]

@strygah If that diagram of falling dominos appears overly simple, here's a deeper dive

[Shakeel @ShakeelHashim]

Extremely confident that this take is going to age poorly

[David Wood @dw2]

@strygah For the thinking underpinning this sequence of positive feedback cycles, see my article "Ten ways to help accelerate the end of aging" https://t.co/srfETossaW

[David Wood @dw2]

@strygah If that diagram of falling dominos appears overly simple, here's a deeper dive

[David Wood @dw2]

Finally, consider attending the forthcoming conference "The Technoprogressive Opportunity", where a variety of speakers will be sharing recommendations on how society can best respond to the challenges and opportunities of highly disruptive technologies https://t.co/A8Bcoie5gh

[David Wood @dw2]

Which tasks should be priorities for the UK government's AIEI (AI Economics Institute) and Minister of State for the Future of Work? Oliver Ritchie has some recommendations in the latest @LondonFuturists Podcast episode, "Waking up economists"

[David Wood @dw2]

Read here about the Future of Life Institute's project "AI’s Role in Reshaping Power Distribution" ("To ensure AI serves the public good, we must build resilient institutions, competitive markets, and systems that widely share the benefits") https://t.co/tN5ZCGANCk