[NoraSpinnor]

We talk a lot about cycles. Larger cycles, such as the Yugas or Astrological Ages, take thousands of years to complete. Smaller, generational cycles take roughly 80 years to complete. These smaller cycles often include a destabilization phase where old structures strain under new conditions, followed by a rebuild phase where new systems form and scale.

Peter Leyden is another author who describes generational cycles (author of The Long Boom and What’s Next). He frames the present as a hinge moment, pointing to three large “tipping points” that are moving from early adoption into full-scale deployment: artificial intelligence, clean energy, and bioengineering. He also describes these hinge moments as periods where the old system becomes dysfunctional while the next system is still being built, and this tends to intensify social conflict and polarization for a time.

He sees AI as revolutionary to labor, much like how engines changed manufacturing. New jobs will open up in ways we can’t anticipate and jobs that AI is better suited for (like menial data entry) will disappear. He also frames AI as an intelligence amplifier that changes what “average capability” looks like, since many people will have access to tools that function like personal assistants, tutors, translators, and research aides. He treats this as a shift in baseline capacity, where whole categories of knowledge work get reorganized around human judgment, creativity, and direction-setting.

He sees the rise of clean energy as an abundant power source as another major tipping point that will change everything in the economy. Right now, a lot of cost is factored into energy, and so is a lot of politics. This will change a lot of things. He emphasizes that solar is a technology rather than a commodity, which means cost can keep falling as manufacturing scales and improves. He ties this to batteries and electrification as well, since cheaper storage and cheaper generation tend to expand what societies can practically build, including large-scale grid upgrades, cleaner industry, and energy-heavy solutions like desalination.

Leyden focuses mainly on solar power, but Netism predicts that other, more potent forms of free energy have the potential to enter the economy in the next 25 years. This fits the same cycle pattern he is describing, where breakthroughs move from lab-stage to scalable infrastructure, then reshape politics and daily life once they become normal and widely available.

Bioengineering is the third tipping point. Beyond gene editing, he sees biological production, such as cultured meat, as a potential for reducing hunger and environmental stressors. He also describes a broader shift from industrial production of inert materials toward biological production, where materials can be grown and designed to biodegrade through natural processes. He connects this to climate pressure and agriculture, where engineered crops may become more resilient, more nutritious, and better suited for changing temperature and water conditions. He adds that AI will help with this boom, giving protein folding as evidence where AI accelerated the progress on a long-standing bottleneck of scientific development.

Although Leyden talks about cycles differently from Howe and Strauss (The Fourth Turning), they both mark the revolutionary periods at around the same points. Netism agrees; the future is never certain, but many pressure points are urging new values forward.

What are your thoughts on the technological revolutions that Leyden describes? Do you think they are really approaching? Is society prepared? Share your thoughts in this thread.

You can see an interview with Leyden on this subject here:

[BlackFernMoon]

I feel the pressure cant even turn on the news. Lotsa naysayers about AI but as an artist I know that theres some things that cant be replaced. I see it as a GOOD thing that AI will wipe out some things. The question is whats gonna come in its place? 🖤🌿🌙

[joshchen]

I think the AI revolution will be HUGE… we have barely hit the tip of the iceberg. We can’t fight it, but it will definitely change a lot of things. Next 20 years will see a big shift.

[NecroHaven]

ai is gunna take over, have to move with it.. u gotta think about the things they don show u. not market stuff, the real deal. shits gunna get wild next 20yrs

[ThaRealKaiFlow]

im redy for watever this new era gonna bring, and if I can get some robot arms to add to my real ones lets get it done go go gadget kai

[FieldsOfJasmine]

I don’t trust AI. Weren’t there a whole bunch of movies about how it’s gonna destroy everything? Seriously though, all tools can be used for both good and bad purposes and I don’t expect everyone to use it for good. The tech industry opened another pandoras box and it can’t be reclosed.

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