Jason Crawford

In America’s darkest hour, less than a century after its birth, Lincoln asked his countrymen to rededicate themselves to cause of liberty, and to the great unfinished work in front of them. Now, after 250 years, it is time for us to do that once more newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-progre...

Announcing Progress Conference 2026 Speakers this year include the Director of DARPA, co-CEO of Waymo, and two Nobel Laureates. Back at the beautiful Lighthaven campus in Berkeley, Oct 8–11 It's going to be great! Apply for an invitation: rootsofprogress.org/conference

Sorry I [haven’t replied to your email / couldn’t make your event / have been ignoring your texts]. I’ve been vibecoding newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/as-we-may-...

“Some kind of turning point,” Elon on Dwarkesh, a social network for AIs, and lots more in the latest links digest: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

Progressives used to believe in progress. The old left was not just the party of science—it was a party of science, technology, and economic growth. Today’s progressives need to embrace all three if they want to become the champions of abundance newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/progress-f...

If people don't believe the hopeful future is possible, they won't even try to build it. Enjoyed talking with @foundercoach.bsky.social about why I'm optimistic about technology as a force for good—and deeply skeptical about tech's default power dynamics.

"I find the all-or-nothing thinking about AI safety counterproductive," writes TPN member @jasoncrawford.org. "We should embrace every idea that can provide any increment of security. History suggests that the accumulation and combination of such incremental solutions is the path to resilience."

The wisdom of Vitalik, Voices from 2099, ultrasound BCI, preventative MRIs, a browser written by AI, and much, much more Links and short notes, 2026-01-26: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

There is no silver bullet for risk. Safety is achieved through defense in depth, and through the orchestration of a wide variety of solutions. Here's an example: the history of fire safety newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/no-silver-...

Nature is a complex system, we are told, and therefore unpredictable, uncontrollable, unruly. This is true but irrelevant: we can master nature in the ways that matter newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/how-to-tam...

Everyone loves writing annual letters these days—so here’s mine, including my annual reading highlights: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/2025-in-re...

My essay series The Techno-Humanist Manifesto has concluded, and you can read the whole thing online. I’m pleased to announce that the series will be revised for publication as a book from MIT Press (expected early 2027)! newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-techno...

The links digest is back! Claude’s soul, industrial leapfrogging, slop from the 1700s, the genius of Jeff Dean, and much more Links and short notes, 2025-12-19: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

When the cost of creation falls, the volume of production greatly expands, but the average quality necessarily falls. This overall process, however, will usher in a golden age of creativity and experimentation newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/in-defense...

Announcing a career exploration summer program for high school students: *Progress in Medicine* Learn from experts and be inspired by heroic work from the past to build an even better future. Now accepting applications newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/announcing...

Instead of debating whether a technology is inherently good or bad, let’s discuss how to navigate new landscapes—and recognize the responsibility we all have to do so. A dynamic, agentic view of our relationship to technology, not a static, passive one newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/a-healthy-...

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 10: The Grand Project Progress is a grand project for humanity: one with an illustrious past and a glorious future. And its heroes are the scientist, the inventor, and the founder newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-grand-...

Flush with the grand success of reason and science to improve human life, the 20th century stumbled into some critical errors. The resulting crisis of optimism posed a mortal challenge to the idea of progress: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-spirit...

Some people think Open Phil are luddites because we work on AGI safety, and others think we’re techno-utopians because we work on abundance and scientific progress. We’re neither. Here's why we think safety and accelerating progress go hand in hand: 🧵 www.openphilanthropy.org/research/wh...

The 19th century enthusiastically celebrated inventive and industrial achievements: with parades and fireworks, in speeches and advertisements, in art and poetry, in World's Fairs. From Chapter 9 of The Techno-Humanist Manifesto: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-spirit...

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 8: The Unlimited Horizon, part 2 We are all poor by the standards of the future. But there is no bold, ambitious vision of the future in mainstream culture. Here's one, based on mastery over all aspects of nature newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-unlimi...

Seeking a freelance project manager to help me publish and launch my book, The Techno-Humanist Manifesto. Must have near-superhuman organizational skills and attention to detail. Experience with publishing projects is a bonus. Apply here: rootsofprogress.notion.site/23e543614e97...

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 8: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1 Is industrial production the end of economic history? Or could AI usher in a fourth age of humanity—an intelligence age? newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-unlimi...

The combinatorial vastness of possibility space means that solutions are out there. The structure of that space, and the power of intelligence to navigate it, means that we can find them. newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...

In part 1 of this chapter, I argued that economic growth is not limited by resources—because growth is not driven by resources, but by ideas. One might well ask, then: will we run out of ideas? newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...

Steven Pinker's approach to humanism closely aligns with my own viewpoints on the world. (I may have a more favorable view of certain forms of collectivism though). Here's a great summary by @jasoncrawford.org of one of Pinker's books: "Enlightenment Now". blog.rootsofprogress.org/enlightenmen...

The Roots of Progress Institute is seeking to commission stories for a new article series, “Intelligence Age,” on future applications of AI We are looking for stories of ~3k words, and will pay $2 per word. Details and apply within: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/we-want-yo...

As long as people have noticed progress, they have wondered: will we run out of natural resources? But there are no natural resources. All resources are artificial: the product of knowledge newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-proble...

The Roots of Progress fellowship deadline is tomorrow! Also, I’ll be at Edge Esmeralda this coming week, find me there! Plus many more announcements, links, charts and more in the latest links digest: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

I was initially skeptical about claims of stagnation, but I was eventually convinced by a systematic survey of the evidence. Progress has not ground to a halt, but in the US, it has slowed relative to its peak in the late 19th to mid-20th century: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-flywhe...

Where is the YIMBY-style movement for healthcare? Where are those pointing out the gross violation of economic wisdom and campaigning for reform against the worst inefficiencies? This field is wide open, and someone should step in and fill the vacuum. newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/where-is-t...

Reminds me of this from “The Curse of Xanadu” by Gary Wolf in WIRED (1995)

Applications now open for the 2025 Roots of Progress Blog-Building Intensive! Improve your writing skills, learn from leading progress builders and intellectuals, and publish essays about progress: rootsofprogress.org/fellowship

Impossible sci-fi nonsense, the shadow of the Great War, heliocentrism, the bottom-up abundance agenda, institutional sclerosis, and much more: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

Why was progress so slow, for so long? And were the last few centuries a fluke, a lucky windfall of progress, after which we should expect a regression to the mean of slow growth? Or were they part of a trend that we can expect to continue? newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/the-flywheel

Innovation is not linear — by @jasoncrawford.org The more I read science history, the more I think this piece was brilliant.

Announcing Progress Conference 2025! Oct 16-19 in Berkeley, CA Speakers include Sam Altman, Tyler Cowen, Jennifer Pahlka, and Blake Scholl Last year several people said it was the best conference they had ever attended, full stop (!) Applications are open now! rootsofprogress.org/conference

“Stopping climate change” is the wrong goal. It is an anti-human, anti-agency framing, focused on negating the impacts of human activity. The techno-humanist framing is that humanity should create *climate control* newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/we-should-...

People who are looking for a way to fight Trump, I have it for you in one name: Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. He's the poor guy who got pulled off the street, declared a gang member for no reason, then sent off to that hell-hole in El Salvador. Fight for him because this case will unravel everything. 🧵

Solar + batteries can be great for specific applications that don’t need very high availability; and they can work as part of an overall system of supplying power to the grid; but they won’t supply all power to the grid in the foreseeable future newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/how-much-d...

The 150-year history of d/acc, a $120M progress fund, fertility on demand, 19th-century kids' sci-fi, the real lesson of Cassandra’s curse, giving the Devil the benefit of law, and more: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

d/acc Day livestream: www.youtube.com/live/b45hakf... Vitalik starts us off at 10am Pacific; I'm slated for 10:40

A visible sonic boom, AI in SaaS, progress on permitting reform, fewer tornado deaths, the closing of the frontier, Rousseau and Kant vs. the Age of Reason, and more newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

"Progress is messy. Its benefits come with inextricable costs and risks: pollution, accidents, radiation, carcinogens, rogue AI," writes TPN member @jasoncrawford.org. "Solutionism acknowledges, even embraces, this fact." newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/solutionis...

Good thread by @swiftonsecurity.com about the literal security practices of the literal Taylor Swift

@jasoncrawford.org asks what media portrays science positively, and it is the book “All the Light We Cannot See.” The boy is obsessed with science and radio. Best friend with ornithology The girl is obsessed with mollusks. Her dad with miniaturization and locks. Even the villain is a gemologist!

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Chapter 5: Solutionism (part 2) There is no tradeoff between health/safety and progress, because health and safety are a part of progress. But the technical work of health and safety has gone mostly unsung newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/solutionis...

Progress studies in university and high school, a positive supply shock for truth, the hinge of history, Elon in perpetual wartime, Dean Ball on AI liability, Kevin Kelly on the handoff to bots, and more: newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/links-and-...

Did not realize that we have greatly improved tornado mortality.