research

Explore over 400 articles on prevailing megatrends in tech, politics and society.

11

min

Vibegeist: rave until the grave

The revival of rave and rage in the roaring twenties.

1

min

Who has to pay the costs of climate change?

Issuing appeals for hundreds of millions in emergency funding to help victims of climate change might soon be a standard procedure.

2

min

"Creative" AI is recreating the creative industry

In the past few months, creative AI systems such as DALL-E and Midjourney have taken the internet by storm with their “artistic” creations.

16

min

To cyberspace and beyond

How the cyborg movies of the ‘90s made us fantasize about mind uploading, sentient AI and immortality.

1

min

How will the metaverse and web3 influence social media?

Brace yourself, the 2D newsfeeds gracing our screens might soon be part of internet history.

1

min

Geopolitical nonalignment in the 21st century

Escalating tensions in Taiwan and Ukraine are pressuring the world to choose an alignment, yet many nations refuse to choose sides.

1

min

The fragmentation of social media

When Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian are starting to revolt, you know Instagram is getting into trouble...

16

min

The early days of cyberpunk

As man becomes machine and machine becomes man.

1

min

The return of industrial policy

The Dutch government is rethinking industrial policy—more coordination is on the horizon.

1

min

AI regulations may see a Beijing effect

Is Europe too late to cause a Brussels effect on AI technology?

11

min

When the selfie becomes an avatar

How Instagram is preparing itself for the metaverse

1

min

Globalization can still be a force for good

A general narrative is emerging that international trade and cooperation are on the decline. Is it accurate?

2

min

Is Texas becoming too self-confident?

Texan rebellion is likely to shake up federal politics in the U.S.

1

min

Picking up the crypto pieces

Companies are on the lookout for opportunities during the crypto crash

2

min

Gen Z chooses anonymity over fame

Why are Gen Zers more likely to prefer online anonymity compared to millennials?

2

min

From labor to exploitation: the dark side of blockchain games

What does it take to create a flourishing virtual economy?

2

min

Resurrecting the dead in the digital era

Will deepfake videos, the latest and most versatile medium to eternalize the dead, impel us to regulate digital immortality?

1

min

Extending the self with Instagram's augmented-reality face filters

Are we moving towards a culture in which our digitally positioned self is more important than our actual self?

2

min

Emerging markets face tough financial challenges

Will emerging markets' recovery be halted by increasing financial problems?

1

min

Technology on a leash

By sharing ownership and control with producers and governments, our smart devices are no longer what they seem

15

min

Venetian, young and farming: three lessons from the new generation of Italian farmers on agri-food sustainability

Julia Rijssenbeek and Maya Turolla turn the spotlight on young farmers championing the transition to sustainable food systems.

2

min

Politics should focus more on the Good Life

How can we reinstate the concept of the Good without downplaying the systemic risks threatening our global society?

2

min

The rise of CBDCs

Pim Korsten gives a rundown on the opportunities and risks of the rise of central bank digital currencies.

2

min

What is Russia's view on climate change?

Melting ice caps in the Arctic are incentivizing Russia’s exploitation and extraction of natural resources representing the last straw of the Anthropocene.

2

min

The energy transition is not a hobby

With the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, we have to face the fact that our dependence on fossil fuels poses a structural problem.

1

min

Autocracy and the End of History

Is the ideological confrontation between the liberal-democratic and autocratic world order on its way to becoming the global political issue of our century?

3

min

Russian digitalization through a Cosmist lens

To understand Russian politics, we need to understand Russian Cosmism, a philosophy that supports the digitalization of the Arctic.

11

min

An introduction to the Stack

Learn more about our framework that helps us understand the anatomy of digital systems.

4

min

Russia’s strategic exploitation of the Arctic

A long-standing resource-dependent economy, a melting Arctic, and technical capabilities have thrown the Arctic into the spotlight for Russia’s upcoming economic strategy.

16

min

A beginner's guide to the metaverse

Both praised and feared by many, the 'promises' of the metaverse are highly contentious. Sebastiaan Crul aims to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The future of inflation and interest rates

A long-term view on the drivers of inflation and monetary policy

FreedomLab Selects: Rinus van de Velde — The Armchair Voyager

Vivian Elion analyses the surrealistic exhibition of Rinus van de Velde through the lens of metamodernism.

Developments in AI lead to new speculations about the role of technologies in the evolution of life.

Romantic robots: a new love paradigm

Will our society's progressive values lead us to embrace a new romantic paradigm?

Health is the luxury to fall sick and recover

Towards an enriched concept of the normal and the pathological

ChatGPT and the place of the human being in an automated society

An unconventional reflection on Hannah Arendt’s philosophy

Urban greening should focus on equity, not nature

The external valuation of nature in city planning could withhold green areas from becoming accessible to all

Learning to waste

All manufacturing produces waste, even the clean energy industry. Critical clean energy technologies – EV batteries, solar panels, wind turbine blades – lead to a massive problem with waste management

Pills, pills, pills

Sebastiaan Crul discusses the inevitability of techno-fixes in a world haunted by crises

FreedomLab Selects: Metroid Prime Remastered

An adventurous and immersive journey to overcome an alienated world and yourself