How did we end up here, masters of scientific insight, purveyors of ever more powerful technologies, astride the burning planet that created us, and now responsible for cleaning up the mess and determining the future direction of all of life? And what do we do about it?
Technology is Dead is a book that attempts to answer both of those questions. It is a book of both challenge and hope, written for those who are able or willing to lead us out of our global predicament. It is a book for everybody: the politicians, CEOs, community leaders, everyday parents, and young people who understand that we must change our ways to ensure a sustainable future for all living things and the planet we rely on.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
PART I: THE TECHNOLOGY TRAIN
Chapter One How Technology Changed the World
Chapter Two The Growing Gap Between Us and It
Chapter Three Decoding Humans
PART II: THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Chapter Four The Emerging Specters of Threat
Chapter Five Deepening Divisions
Chapter Six The Shifting Sands of Power
PART III: THE HUMANIST REVOLUTION
Chapter Seven Beginning with the End in Mind
Chapter Eight Establishing a New Paradigm of Rule
Chapter Nine Re-engineering our Systems
Chapter Ten Changing the Ways of Us
Epilogue Re-writing our Narrative
References
About the Author :
Chris has a long and deep track record of using his intimate understanding of technology, innovation, and humanity to build compelling brands and high performing organizations. His career story includes founding several startups, leading two brand and direct marketing agencies, and overseeing a strategic revamp of Scholastic’s core book club publishing business. In 2015 he joined the Harvard Innovation Labs where he served as Managing Director, supporting hundreds of student and alumni led startups.
In 2019 he left Harvard to speak around the world on the topic of innovation and increasing our human understanding to achieve both commercial and societal success. He recently joined private equity firm Digital Fuel Capital as Operating Partner to work with ecommerce portfolio companies on three critical levers: brand integration, strategic planning, and organizational performance optimization. In addition to his advising and speaking, Chris is the author of This Is It, a provocative work on the importance of innovating oneself and Technology is Dead – The Path to a More Human Future, a plea to the world to lead with more human understanding. He is also the creator and voice of the popular global podcast Insert:Human. Chris received a BA from Connecticut College and an International MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.
He serves on the boards of Pillar Ventures, Fintech Americas, Concept Vines, and School of Humanity.
Chris can be reached at chris@chriscolbert.com.
Review :
"A convincing case for taking the reins of technology and steering it towards outcomes that benefit all of humanity"
Alan Hassenfeld, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hasbro Toys
“Chris Colbert is one of the most insightful and essential thinkers today on the rising threat technology poses to all of us. In Technology Is Dead, Colbert not only identifies those threats with uncommon clarity, he also provides a roadmap for a more human and humane relationship with machinery that, after all, we created. A must-read for anyone who hungers for a future where the needs of people, not technology, inform our most vital decisions.”
Eric Weiner, award-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss, The Geography of Genius, Man Seeks God and The Socrates Express.
“Technology is Dead” provides a practical pathway to embed the best parts of our humanity into our most powerful tools. This book is a must-read for any human who wants to utilize technology to contribute to human progress while minimizing risks and negative consequences. Embedded with compassionate wisdom and a birds-eye view of our species, this book is highly significant for our current era.”
Raya Bidshahri, Founder & CEO, School of Humanity
“In our modern society everyone champions innovation as the cure all, the printing press gave us knowledge but also misinformation, the internet democratized access but also created tribalism, Chris rightfully raises the alarm to the potential unintended consequences of the next stage of innovation and what we can do about it.”
Jon Levy, New York TImes Best Selling author of Your Invited, Behavioral Scientist, Founder of the Influencers
"Paraphrasing Churchill, first we create technology and thereafter it creates us. Chris questions if the emerging ‘us' is who we want to be. ‘Technology is Dead’ is an important note in the music of desirable humane change. It is an invitation to be one of the composers, not one of the composed!"
Robert Lengel, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at San Antonio,
President, LeaderWork Inc.
"Technology is Dead is a vitally important book for our times. Chris Colbert takes an unflinching look at many of the interconnected crises unfolding before our eyes, and illuminates the ways that technology is currently so often part of the problem. His call for a New Humanism is prophetic. It's a must-read for anyone wondering how we might find our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in today."
Dr. Max Klau, Chief Program Officer, the New Politics Leadership Academy
