Fiction writer William Gibson famously stated the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed. What he meant by that is that common ways of living in the future are being practiced today by a very few. Yet, we do not notice them. We do not pay attention. We are focused inwardly on ourselves rather than the world at large. We miss the future evolving right in front of us, hidden in plain site. 

What we need is a change to our behavior. One way to do this is through words. As Tony Robbins put it: “Change your words. Change your life.”. Recently I began changing my vocabulary to include words that remind me of the evolving nature of Frankenstein’s World. In a world where complexity outstrips long standing mental models and frameworks, we need new words that capture the spirit of the times (zeitgeist in German) and how we should be thinking and acting as we deal with complexity. Here is my current list, each word teaching me a different way of seeing and thinking. 

Gestalt. According to Merriam-Webster, gestalt is a German word meaning an organized whole, configuration, or pattern whose properties cannot be found by adding up its individual parts. It translate roughly to form, shape, or configuration. Today’s world is increasingly integrated with each part affecting others. Trying to decompose the world into components is increasingly irrelevant. You need to look at the entire picture, the gestalt. 

Emporiums. Hubs and intersections instead of connections. When you shift your mindset from looking at individual connections (one-to-one relationships) to identifying hubs(central nodes that collect and distribute energy, information, or people), the way you view everyday life changes completely In ancient times, cities that connected several cultures together were called emporiums. Rather than use words like hub and connections, emporium is much more vivid and vibrant to me, capturing the essence of what I am looking for. Today, we still have emporiums, they have shifted their nature. I recently travelled to Switzerland staying in both Zurich and Geneva, two major financial emporiums of the world. Their function has not changed, but they have evolved with the times, using technology to keep up with other financial emporiums. The other intersection in the news is the Strait of Hormuz where oil is shipped to all parts of the globe. Wherever emporiums exist so too does concentrated power and a potential chokepoint. They exist all around us. 

Bricolage. The old adage that there is nothing new under then sun is appropriate for the times we live in. Frankenstein’s World is littered with working systems, models, strategies, patterns, concepts, and frameworks, inhabiting the landscape, some used heavily while others long since been discarded. Over time, all of these accumulate to where there are very few original ideas in the world today. What there are are existing ideas repurposed and refreshed for the modern times. This is leading to a time where the key skill to have is that of bricolage – constructing something from the collection of available parts around us rather than building something completely new from scratch. It is the ultimate in reusing, refurbishing, and repurposing. And it is a skill that is largely not taught. Bricolage teaches us that creativity is less about creating something new and more about combining existing things in new and exciting ways. 

Zeitgeist. Zeitgeist is a German word meaning the spirit of the times. It refers to what people care about at that particular moment. It can be political, cultural, economic, etc. Tapping into the zeitgeist is one of the most powerful tools we have to us because it helps us understand the current mood of society. Today we are faced with the threat of an AI apocalypse, war, and climate change all converging to form a zeitgeist that is largely negative and pessimistic. This zeitgeist will not last as we find solutions to the problems we face. Understanding the changing zeitgeist creates opportunities in the world.

Wechselwirkung. Another German word, it means pair wise altering and draws our attention to second and third order effects. The gist of it is that whatever action I take will cause someone else to respond, sometimes differently than I think. This pair wise altering means that you should think before acting unless your action is forced. Thinking before acting means anticipating what response your action will force. This pair wise interaction can lead to escalation in conflicts. When Trump bombed Iran, the natural response was to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which they did with the aid of the Houthis. As Saudi Arabia responded by shipping more oil through their pipeline, it too was attacked and damaged, again foreseeable. This back and forth continues. Now Trump has to figure out his response which in turn will trigger additional consequences. Wechselwurking reminds us of this maze of moves which too often we ignore. 

Friktion. Yet another German word that translates easily enough to friction. So why use the German spelling instead? To remind me of Carl Von Clausewitz whose masterpiece On War prominently features friktion. In the book, it means things will never turn out as you think they will. Things will always go wrong. The same thing applies to real life. The plans we make rarely survive intact upon contact with reality which requires adapting to changing circumstances. Friktion reminds us that as we wind our way through life, we will face head winds. It is up to us to adapt. 

Configuration. Configuration is a word I incorporated from my computer science days and refers to how elements in something are arranged or ordered. Changing configuration means rearranging parts and reconfiguring relationships. This is different from bricolage because the parts remain the same. Take for example data centers in the cloud. They are simply regular data centers attached to the Internet and running web based applications. Nothing magical. Its been reconfigured to work with the web. 

Liminality. I covered this word more extensively in my post on Janus. Liminality refers to something undergoing a transition. It is changing from one stage but has not fully evolved to its next stage of existence. The rules of the game are changing but the new rules are not yet fully developed. Liminal spaces are places where we can see possible futures play out. They are all around us. While traveling in Switzerland recently, I noticed two liminal spaces opening up in Lausanne. The first was when we visited a winery. Wineries in Switzerland are facing hotter and drier conditions which are disrupting growing seasons. Harvesting is pushed forward by weeks which prevents the grapes from developing their full flavor potentials due to accelerated ripening. Higher sugar concentrates leads to higher alcohol wines. Wineries are having to adapt as the old ways no longer work, shifting to late ripening, heat resistant vines, of moving to wines such as Merlot and Syrah which thrive under hotter drier conditions. The second liminal space is in the city of Lausanne itself. Situated near the French border, Lausanne is becoming multi-ethnic as African immigrants move into France and cross the border into Lausanne. While many are law abiding and hard working, some are grist for crime, leading to an increase in petty theft and robbery rates. How this will eventually effect Lausanne and Switzerland which has traditionally been homogeneous is anyones guess. 

Bildung. One more German word, this means self cultivation of the mind. It refers to self educating one’s self for no other reason for personal development. This is in contrast to Ausbilding which is the German method of apprenticeship and vocational training. Bildung is what happens when a person goes down a rabbit hole to understand something for no other reason than they are curious about it. In today’s world, this desire to constantly shape the personal mind is being lost and along with it, the ability to solve complex problems. 

These are just a few words in my new vocabulary. I keep expanding the list as I find more and more words that are useful triggers in reminding me to look at different dimensions of a situation.