Two weeks ago I noticed something unique, at least in my experience--the entire world is now in play. By this, I mean that every important region and country is simultaneously being disrupted by economic tension, political instability, or international threats. I've never seen such a situation in thirty years of close ob... read more »

Two months ago, an Arizona utility worker doing routine maintenance removed a piece of monitoring equipment at a power substation near Yuma. Inexplicably, it triggered a massive power outage stretching from Mexico to Orange County. Five million people lost electricity. Traffic gridlocked, schools and universities closed,... read more »

Looking at our besieged globe, it's difficult to know if we're dealing with a tragedy or a comedy. Whatever your viewpoint, it certainly smells a lot like my Chicago Cubs. Win a few games, then strike out--again!--with the bases loaded. Aargh. Collectively, we are like wounded exhausted soldiers trying to... read more »

The cover of today's The Economist (Britain's respected 170-year-old news weekly) shows a swirling black hole sucking in the words "Be Afraid." The insinuation is we're nearing an event horizon, the devastating boundary at the mouth of a black hole beyond which nothing can escape, not even light. The past few week... read more »

I step away for a month to finish a book and look what happens. The weirdness keeps piling up. Send in the clowns.

My thesis throughout these newsletters is that the world is behaving strangely. History has morphed and no longer plays by the rules. The math continues its dysfunctional, unpredictable, and almo... read more »

Well, suddenly, here we are. I guess there's always a first time.

The credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, just (Friday at 8 PM) issued a credit rating downgrade for the United States, from AAA to AA+. (The other two ratings agencies, Moody's and Fitch, have not yet downgraded but have issued warnings.... read more »

Hemingway was once asked "How did you go bankrupt?" He said "First gradually, then suddenly."

Well, we're a long way down this road now, and we've just about run out of gradually. See that cliff ahead? That's the beginning of suddenly.

Suddenly is like one September morning in ... read more »

A defining characteristic of our age is the unusual math. Today's unprecedented numbers and figures are matched with graphs increasingly exponential in nature--especially the hyper-exponential, purely vertical Profusion Curve. What makes this disconcerting is that plotting the math into the future leads to dysfunction ... read more »

When people talk about the future, I don't fear hyperbole as much as I fear complacency. Many exhausted people yawn, roll over, and hit the snooze alarm. "Life's always been crazy, and it always will be." Case closed. Discussion over.

It's a mistake to underestimate the drama of our current situation--un... read more »

Posted 6 AM, EDT, May 2, 2011

• Ten years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan just after midnight, May 2. (Sunday afternoon, May 1, US time)
• The Pakistani government has long denied bin Laden was in their country, but in the end, he was located in a compound 60 miles north of the cap... read more »

Humanity today finds itself upon a launch pad of unprecedented challenge. It is a time of epic transition. The global experience has grown massive in scope and nearly incomprehensible in complexity. Mathematics has slipped its leash and was last seen going vertical. One editorialist remarked "I've lost track of the zeros... read more »