56: RethinkX: Complex systems change in rapid & radical equilibrium transformation

Guest bio

James Arbib is a London-based investor in technology. He is the founder of Tellus Mater, an independent philanthropic foundation dedicated to exploring the impacts of disruptive technology, and its potential for solving some of the world’s most challenging problems.  In addition, Jamie oversees a London-based family office with a diversified portfolio, across all asset classes and a focus on the risks and opportunities of technology disruption. A graduate in History from Trinity College, Cambridge, he has a Masters in Sustainability Leadership also from Cambridge. He is a qualified chartered accountant and worked as an investment analyst covering utilities.

Summary

How do you solve the world’s biggest problems? Throw a lot of money at it and hope it goes away? Or does it kick the can and cause even bigger problems? James Arbib from RethinkX describes the work that tackles the most complex issues by breaking it down into the most basic components. The think tank uses the Seba Technology Disruption Framework, which has been used to understand and predict some of the biggest disruptions across several industries. What will be the next disruption to change the world? It might have come from RethinkX.

Key points

• RethinkX is a think tank that analyses and predicts the uncharted waters of industry disruptions.
• The 5 foundational sectors are all ripe for the next big disruption.
• Great technological advances are lowering the costs to accessibility.
• Climate change solutions ARE possible, but we need to commit to certain courses of intentional action.
• How do we determine ownership for all the world’s greatest issues?
• Mindset will always be the greatest supporter or inhibitor to great progress.
• The impact of small cheques/donations 
• The domino effect 

Timestamps

[5:22] The fine line between sustainable and impact investing

[8:53] RethinkX in a nutshell 

[11:21] Feedback loops 

[12:02:] Providing better information for decision-makers

[12:59] RethinkX’s book Rethinking Humanity

[17:14] How Carbon Tracker got its start

[21:56] The 5 foundational sectors

[23:56] Humanity 1.0, 2.0, 3.0

[31:12] Rethinking climate change

[37:14] Putting Band-aids on problems

[38:49] Livestock farming’s environmental impact

[39:57] Insulin: example of plunging costs with technological advancements

[41:02] Singular molecule and protein creation 

[41:59] Amazon deforestation

[42:27] Transportation system disruption

[42:45] Gasoline and self-driven cars 

[46:00] Bill gates directed us to Nuclear shipping 

[46:57] Target date for decarbonisation

[47:30] Flow vs stock of carbon and the 3 disruptions 

[48:22] Passive reforestation

[50:52] Economic terrorism

[54:49] Is climate change solution achievable?

[56:00] Social issues and communities - fixing the mess forward

[56:20] What is the point of disruptions?

[59:01] Ownership: who is responsible for finding solutions?

[1:00:33] Mindset: the real dangers of a narrow, linear mindset

[1:04:03] The paradigm of biology and physics combine 

[1:04:51] The 12 leverage points

[1:08:08] The tsunami of change coming 

[1:10:56] How do we land the message 

[1:12:53] Tik Tok is the way forward 

[1:17:33] The real enemy to open discussions

[1:20:19] The #1 challenge to real impact

Useful links

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