More Human Possible

renaming, reorienting, and rekindling

After its inception two years ago, I’ve renamed my blog. When I started writing online in 2022, I was still working in tech and I had just returned to Hawaii. Coming out of a huge ski season with over 60 days on mountain, I was eager to get back into the water and under the sunshine. At the ripe age of 25, I already realized that viewing life as a series of stepping stones was not bringing me the meaningful life that I expected. I knew that I wanted to live life on my own terms, which required questioning the default path and learning more about myself.

The concept of an infinite game, a game played for the purpose of continuing play, resonated as a metaphor for life. Instead of striving for more money and more success, I wanted to find a way of being that would feel enough. Recognizing that creating the life I wanted required looking inwards rather than following the (tech bro) crowd, in April ‘22, I started my blog Game of One.

I’ve changed so much since. It took many more months of asking myself big questions and untangling inner tension to quit my job. Then, I spent an entire year on sabbatical, rediscovering more of myself while engaging with the world, planting seeds and putting out feelers. I started multiple experiments, including a climate newsletter, podcast, and platform for sublets. In those moments, I had no clear idea of what I was doing or where I was going. I was like a blind fish out of water. I wondered why I was compelled to explore my own individual identity and understand complex systems like climate change.

It’s only in hindsight that I can see the then-invisible threads of curiosity that, now woven together, create coherence.

The journey of introspection and exploration with Game of One has led me to a new, expanded vision for More Human Possible, a combination of "more human" and "adjacent possible." The name reflects my ever-evolving understanding of what it means to be human and our boundless potential for connection and flourishing. Next, I'll share the stories behind these phrases and how they shape the direction for my new practice.

The Origins: More Human

Lately, I’ve been asking myself what it means to become more human. To even ask such a question presupposes that we—or at least many of us—are not fully human right now. My observation is that we have lost touch with the virtue and significance of what it means to be human.

There have been several moments in my life where I’ve experienced this rift firsthand. In high school, I played video games for six hours a day, completely immersed in a virtual world while neglecting real-life interactions and relationships. During this time, I ignored my body’s warnings and developed severe jumper’s knee from overtraining and under-resting. When I lived in San Francisco, I often introduced myself with name and role in tandem, already subtly sensing how non-human it felt to willingly identify as just my job title. Disconnected and disengaged, I rarely ever took the time to tune in and feel my emotions during my last job, further distancing myself from my human-ness.

My personal experiences mirror societal confusion in the current zeitgeist. We are making humans do the work that machines are better at, while trusting machines to fulfill roles that require human capacities and consciousness.

Despite the advent of automations and algorithms, we still have humans doing the work of machines, plucking defective products off of assembly lines and reviewing horrific social media content. Although it’s become quite regular to spot a driverless Waymo or overhear conversations about AGI on the streets of San Francisco, let’s not forget that the majority of the global community still works manual and mundane jobs just to survive.

In some cases, the pendulum has swung too far and we’ve actually overvalued what technology can do. We look outward and buy a new wearable instead of working out. Instead of cultivating our sense of taste, we depend on personalized algorithms. We’ve trusted artificial systems to fulfill the gift of responsibilities that require genuine human interaction, such as emotional companionship provided by AI girlfriends. I never thought I’d see the day where Omegle would be considered not that bad.

Discerning what it means to be human has become more crucial than ever. Whether it’s a quarter-life burnout or a mid-life crisis, people are asking themselves big questions on meaning, fulfillment, and happiness. There’s a powerful, yet potentially dangerous shift with what’s happening with AI. Somewhere in between the doomsdayers who fear all of our jobs will become obsolete and the zealots who preach AGI will solve all our problems lies a middle ground, where we must decide how we will spend our days and what truly defines and dignifies the human experience.

The Origins: Adjacent Possible

I first came across the “adjacent possible” when my friend Aish was teaching me about complexity science, the study of interconnected systems with emergent behavior and nonlinear patterns. The term "adjacent possible" is a concept introduced by theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman, but it was popularized by

Steven Johnson

in Where Good Ideas Come From:

The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself. Yet it is not an infinite space, or a totally open playing field. What the adjacent possible tells us is that at any moment the world is capable of extraordinary change, but only certain changes can happen.

If I’m losing you, just imagine you have a big box of building blocks. Right now, you can only build certain things with the blocks you have. But if you add one new block, you can build even more things. Each new block lets you imagine and create new possibilities. You can also place blocks in different positions to create permutations of possibilities.

The adjacent possible is often applied by academics to analyze complex adaptive systems like financial markets, government, and the environment, but it can also serve as a lens at the individual level.

All of us live inside our own private versions of the adjacent possible. In our work lives, in our creative pursuits, in the organizations that employ us, in the communities we inhabit—in all these different environments, we are surrounded by potential new configurations, new ways of breaking out of our standard routines.
…
Unlocking a new door can lead to a world-changing scientific breakthrough, but it can also lead to a more effective strategy for teaching second-graders, or a novel marketing idea for the vacuum cleaner your company’s about to release. The trick is to figure out ways to explore the edges of possibility that surround you. This can be as simple as changing the physical environment you work in, or cultivating a specific kind of social network, or maintaining certain habits in the way you seek out and store information.

The adjacent possible reminds us that we don’t always have to rely on the rigid adherence to a plan—especially if it’s one that we made for ourselves. We always have a choice to iteratively explore the quiet space of possibility. By refining our daily rhythm with an openness to what might emerge, we find out what lies beyond the boundaries of what is known, what we’re capable of, and expand what is possible. With curiosity for the dormant hidden potential, an acceptance of uncertainty, and heaps of self-compassion, we can discover and unlock new doors that previously never existed.

Signs of a Less Human Reality

As the name More Human Possible alludes to, there’s an implicit assumption that we’re not currently as human as we used to be or could be. I see several signals across society that when triangulated, point to a culture that has forgotten the essential elements of what it means to be human.

Declining Physical Health

One striking indication of this is the decline of our health, with over 40% of adults classified as obese and life expectancy declining for the first time ever in American history. We used to live off the land, savoring seasonal local harvests. Now we scarf down pink slime chicken nuggies from the drive-thru and wash it down with this black corn syrup fizzy drink that we call Coke.

Loss of Connection

Another fundamental aspect of being human is the need for belonging and connection. Derek Thompson writes, “young people have replaced friend time with phone time.” The evidence supports this claim. Teens are spending 5 hours a day on social media. 22% of millennials say they have no friends. Young people are having the least amount of sex ever. As a result, each year we set a new record for sadness, hopelessness, and depression. Not exactly what we want to see in the Guinness World Records.

Technology Addiction

We’ve never been more alone, and yet, we lack the restorative, peaceful, and introspective qualities of solitude. It’s hard to be with yourself when you’re just a button away from getting called, texted, pinged, DM’d, or Snap’d. Despite the flexible benefits of remote work, we seem to be conditioning entire segments of the population to spend their days staring at screens for 8 hours straight, followed by another 2-3 hours of numbing themselves with video games, YouTube, Netflix, and yes, even FaceTime. It’s becoming increasingly unclear whether we are the masters of technology or its tools.

Burnout Culture

I don’t even need to point to statistics or charts to show you how prevalent burnout is. How often in your conversations over the past month has the topic of overworking and under-resting come up? The term burnout was first coined in the 1970s by a psychologist diagnosing himself after working countless double shifts in his NYC clinic. A year later, it was described by another psychologist as “loss of any human feeling”.What was once a condition of exhaustion, sleeplessness, and cynicism reserved for healthcare professionals working literally all day has since virally multiplied to tech bros working from home in the comfort of Herman Miller chairs and DoorDash’d Sweetgreen salads. The original description of “We feel a pressure from within to work and help and we feel a pressure from the outside to give.” mirrors philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s “excess of positivity” in The Burnout Society:

The incipient twenty-first century is determined neither by bacteria nor by viruses, but by neurons. Neurological illnesses such as depression, ADHD, borderline disorder, and burnout syndrome mark the landscape of pathology at the beginning of the twenty-first century. They are not infections, but infarctions; they do not follow from the negativity of what is immunologically foreign, but from an excess of positivity.

Driven by ultra-capitalistic incentives, the incessant pursuit of productivity and perfection combined with external, never-ending stimuli results in burnout and anxiety, the symptoms of an overloaded nervous system.

Environmental Disconnection

Speaking of overloaded systems, our planet is straining under immense pressure, mirroring the condition of our internal selves. As I have written about extensively, climate change is one of, if not the most pressing issue we face today. I think the effects of climate change are symptoms that reflect our forgetting of what it means to be human. When we fully understand and act with the responsibility of being human, we naturally end up taking care of what eco-philosopher David Abrams calls “the more-than-human world”. We see this among indigenous and traditional communities who have always remained connected to the land. Native American tribes like the Lakota, Blackfoot, and Cheyenne utilized every part of the bison for food, clothing, shelter, and tools. Down in the Andean mountains, the Incas understood the principles of respect and reciprocity in their relationship with Pachamama (Mother Earth). They developed terrace systems to conserve water, prevent soil erosion, and ensure crop fertility. Meanwhile, we continue to burn fossil fuels, poison waterways, and suffocate airstreams, forgetting the Native American wisdom "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

Meaning Crisis

With the slow steady decline of religion, the role of the workplace as a source of meaning as exploded. As mainstream pundits speculate about AI, I wonder if we are misdirecting our worries towards money, when it’d be better spent on meaning. As existing jobs are replaced and new ones are created, I speculate that individuals will suffer more from meaning crises than financial instability. Instead of predicting what jobs will become obsolete, I’m more interested in the question of what forms of work will become more meaningful. I wholeheartedly agree with CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman that more human-to-human connection will blossom in a world with much more AI. The question of what it means to be more human is only going to become relevant in the coming years, which examplins why “the philosopher of Silicon Valley” Reid Hoffman went on the On Being podcast with exactly the title “What It Means to be More Human”.

More Human Possible

Fundamentally, More Human Possible is a synthesis of all those invisible threads of curiosity that I’ve been weaving together. Yeah, it’s the new name of my blog, but it’s also my future life that I imagine, and the healthier world I envision.

More Human Possible is the belief in exploring and realizing the fullest expression of humanity in both individual and collective contexts. This view encourages us to embrace a plurality of richness and diversity, while acknowledging the inherent complexities and challenges of the human condition. By continuously evolving and expanding the boundaries of what it means to be human, we can unfold, transform, and flourish within ourselves and our communities.

It’s a theory and a practice.

We need more healthy humans. Our modern diet and lack of movement are making us more than human in a bad way (as in obese). We need to remember that as humans, we thrive on real food that’s minimally processed, and being in relationship to the land, animals, and plants that surround us. In practice, it’s not just about hitting the gym or munching on Whole Foods salads (although that’s great); it's about cultivating somatic awareness, viewing the body as a center of intelligence rather than just a meat flesh host for our big brain, and making sure we actually rest and recover.

We need more connected humans. Our need for belonging and connection is currently not being met with diluted, lukewarm social media feeds. As humans, genuine connections are essential for our wellbeing. To take initiative and create this for oneself, this means reaching out to friends, prioritizing in-person hangouts over Zoom calls, and taking the initiative to host dinner parties. What we need is kids playing in the sandbox, not in sandbox video games.

We need fewer screen zombies. Our devices should be tools for productivity and progress, not crutches for social connection and leisure. We need to see boredom, silence, and stillness as valuable empty spaces, not as voids to be filled with screens. To put this in motion, you might adopt a weekly digital sabbath, silence distracting notifications, and avoid doomscrolling TikTok in bed. As a species, we get to choose whether we want to savor the present moment or view reality through the camera app and then later on social media.

We need more fully resourced humans. Finding fulfilling work is an essential ingredient for our vitality. This requires cultivating a sustainable form of ambition and a daily rhythm of being that doesn’t have burnout looming on the horizon. In practice, this means devoting yourself towards a meaningful mission, and being willing to walk away if it’s not working out, despite the tempting lure of a cushy salary. It's about following your curiosity and experimenting, rather than pursuing the most prestigious job or what your parents expected of you. Whether it’s through a job or not, we ought to guide people, both individually and in community, find meaning and purpose. Otherwise, we’re going to end up like the people in Wall-E or Ready Player One.

We need more conscious humans. For millennia, we treated the planet with a sense of mutual interdependence, living out the concept of interbeing. By understanding that caring for the more-than-human world ensures it will care for us, we can restore this reciprocity. In the day-to-day, this means being aware of our consumption behavior and taking concrete steps towards lowering our environmental footprint. It also means seeking out, joining, and contributing to workplaces that are committed to making the planet healthier. A more human society fully embraces the more-than-human world.

We need more human beings to be human. Right now, there are trillions of dollars being funneled towards AI researchers developing very smart computers. That’s great. I’m a strong proponent of applying technology to create progress. And I also believe we need just as many people asking what roles humans will play in an AI-filled future. We simply may not need as many graphic designers, copywriters, legal assistants, or accountants. The question then becomes what are we longing for that only humans can create? I’m not quite sure what the answer is, but I think it lies somewhere in the realms of sports, arts, in-person experiences. I view the incoming tsunami of algorithms, autonomy, and agents as incredibly exciting for humanity. But rather than fixate on how AI will accelerate B2B SaaS companies’ EBIDTA, I’m more focused on what won’t change and will actually become even more important. In a possible world where basic needs are covered and how we spend our days is entirely up to us, it seems about time we started asking ourselves what truly matters.

I’m betting on a more human future, one that embraces the full spectrum of the human experience. We channel our emotions, creativity, consciousness, and need for connection rather than view them as vulnerabilities to be patched with software. In practice, we create, play, wander, explore, gather, love, learn, and dream.

When I started Game of One two years ago, I was seeking a way to live life on my own terms. This inward journey has led me here, to More Human Possible. At its heart, this new direction is a commitment to embracing the possible and championing human accomplishment. By placing agency, belonging, responsibility, and purpose at the forefront, we can cultivate a utopian future where the vibes are good, resources are plentiful, and meaning runs deep. Perhaps the modern day Renaissance will begin with rediscovering, remembering, and rekindling what it means to be human.

As I continue this journey, I invite you to join me in asking: What steps will you take to lead a more human life?

P.S. If you want to explore coaching with me, you can learn more here.

P.P.S. Here are some of my favorite examples of humans in action:

• Kai Lenny Big Wave Surfing

• Markus Eder's The Ultimate Run

• RÜFÜS DU SOL - Live from Joshua Tree

• I Made a Photo Book about NYC's Original Artist Lofts

• Sisyphus and the Impossible Dream