Building a more conscious society

Tomas Bjorkman will be among the speakers at next month's Singularity Summit in Athens. The Swede describes himself as "an applied philosopher and social entrepreneur." In this interview, he discusses the basic elements of the "Nordic Secret" (also the title of a book he co-wrote with Danish economist and futurist Lene Rachel Andersen) and explains the steps society needs to take to adapt to the digital revolution.

What does it mean to build a "more conscious society"?

A "more conscious society" is one where we, as individuals and collectively, are more aware of ourselves. Aware of our limitations and the freedoms that could be realized. It is a society that rejects the old Enlightenment view of our consciousness and our mind as a fixed, rational decision machine that is fully developed by the age of 20. It is a society that is aware of the lifelong...