The future

The future is already here, but unevenly distributed. Here are some glimpses of what lies in store.

First, science and technology are (again) going to do some amazing thing. Here is (the terribly sad) Scott Alexander to tell us about artificial intelligence. Read this first, then this. And here is Dominic Cummings, of all people, on genomic prediction, but also on related political thoughts. These developments have huge economic and political consequences that we have not started to grapple with.

Next, geopolitics. For the Eurasian future to come, here is Bruno Maçães on China and Russia. His twitter feed has interesting links and comments too. Also, one country with nuclear weapons has just dropped bombs on another country with nuclear weapons. Note that India attacked Pakistan proper, not merely Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Now consider this: what matters more - what China thinks about that or what American thinks about that?

If you are more interested in matters closer to home, you might want to note that the British element of the undergraduate Oxbridge intake is down by 5-10% over the last decade. (For graduates, the figures are entirely different: in postgraduate courses at Cambridge, there are now more overseas students than British ones.) Just consider what that means for the practical chances of British people from under-represented groups getting to attend Oxbridge in the first place: it's time for someone to endow a new college or two! (Also, it means that the standard of British Oxbridge rejects is increasing.) I see a similar pattern in applications for pupillage (i.e. to become a trainee barrister), namely that applications from non-British applications are increasing. We are already well aware that the City of London is like Wimbledon - a venue for foreign talent hosted by locals. Perhaps the universities and other professions will follow suit.