We’ve spent the last few weeks focused on the human Growth Triangle and how it applies to tech.

Now I want to introduce you to “The Stack” shaping technology — and why it matters to human growth.

I believe that combining these two is essential to building a brighter future.

The Stack

The stack has three layers.

Starting from the bottom, it includes the “The Real” or IRL physical layer, the “Hybrid Augmented Layer” where most Transformative Tech sits, and the Fully Digital Layer or Application Layer, where the “Metaverse” and Digital Twins sit.

The Stack touches and will reshape every industry and every element of human endeavor. 

It is the ongoing digitization that is happening everywhere.

Real Space

Real space consists of the physical layer. 

Here,  we have people, factories, inputs, and molecules of all kinds.

It is at this layer where the health, wellbeing, and culture of individuals and our societies visibly exist.

This is the real space where neuro, bio, and behavioral data on human health and happiness can be sensed. 

It is also where the “Human Transformation” gets expressed, where the results of the Growth Triangle show up in how we live and treat self, others and planet.

Transformative Space

If you could see wifi, blue-tooth, and data streams, you would see that there is another layer of reality that sits directly atop Real Space. 

This is the hybrid layer, where data goes up and down the stack. 

Today’s interfaces for this layer we call “augmented reality” where most product executions (think Pokemon) allow you to see the Real and the Hybrid layer at the same time.  

In this layer, we have the output of sensors, co-bots, wearables, and data collectors of all kinds.

This is the layer that determines the extent to which the potential of the digital space can be harnessed for the good of the real space.

This transformative space bridges the gap between the exponential potential of the digital layer and the transformative impact that we need to apply in the real physical space.

Without this connecting layer, we will not be able to harness the expanding opportunities to radically transform human health, potential, and happiness. 

When considering this layer, most people think of Black Mirror examples of a visible Facebook rating system.

I think we can do much better than that.   

In addition to this being a data transport system, we could use this layer to extend our human senses.

To see like butterflies, navigate like birds, smell like dogs, feel one another’s heart beats at a concert, hear the mycelial network beneath the forest floor, understand whale song, and much more. 

Do not let fear and the rough early examples of this layer dissuade you from building here.

Fully Digital Space 

On this layer, you’ll find pure data, AI, applications, and visualizations. This is where we find digital twins, games, and the “metaverse.” 

It also could be the place where, unobstructed by physicality, we are able to re-access the part of our consciousness and perception that evolution demanded we limit to survive.   

Does one need technology to access this? No, not at all, if you have a lifetime and a monastery you too can sense the invisible — the connections between us, the planet, and with enough practice, perhaps even timespace and the very nature of reality.

Do we need technology to enable approximately eight billion people to sense this while we still have time to save our planet?

You bet.  

We will talk more about this in the coming weeks.

Love,
Nichol

P.S. For those about to reply about attachment and all is perfect as it is – yes, I agree, one must be careful to create without attachment and all is perfect as it is, including change. 😉