TechStuff We've Been Sold a Bad Bill of Goods About the Future
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May 6, 2026 
Ari Wallach, futurist and founder of Futurific who creates long-term cultural storytelling, explores why we are building systems that last centuries. He outlines protopia as a practical middle ground between utopia and dystopia. Ari discusses how stories train collective imagination, the ethics of long-term rails we lay, and using graphic novels and fairs to shift culture toward better tomorrows.
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Think Like A Great Ancestor
- Ask whether long-term descendants will thank current decision-makers to reveal ethical tradeoffs.
- Wallach frames choices as being a neutral, negative, or great ancestor to expose short-term vs long-term tensions.
Cathedral Thinking Has Atrophied
- Cathedral thinking means building projects with benefits beyond your lifetime, but it's atrophied by quarterly pressures.
- Wallach cites the Panama Canal, polio eradication, and interstate highways as past cathedral-scale efforts weakened by reporting cycles.
Shift Culture With Storytelling
- Use storytelling and media to shift culture because culture sets expectations and drives systems.
- Wallach focuses Futurific on narratives (graphic novels, TV) to change behavior and create guardrails for long-term decisions.