Welcome

Since our anatomically recognizable ancestors emerged in the African savannah over 200,000 years ago humanity has managed to persevere against slim odds. We have weathered natural catastrophes, great power wars, and global pandemics. Yet, through some combination of human ingenuity and dumb luck, we press on. Every day we do things that work. These things may work in perpetuity or may work temporarily before getting replaced by things that work better. We build on an astounding repository of shared knowledge and innovations. Of course, some things don’t work, and yet we often rise to meet these challenges with creativity and sheer force of will. What’s Working will delve into what’s working and what’s not. It will explore how human beings have not only managed to survive this long, but also learned how to eat rhubarb, build skyscrapers, replace teeth, invent superintelligent machines, and breed new varieties of show-dogs. What’s Working matters because everything we know is an endowment, and what works and what doesn’t will be humanity’s dispensation for future generations.