The Future of Hope: The Instinct Economy

The Future of Hope: The Instinct Economy

I wrote this book for the next generation—for those who fear the rise of AI and wonder whether humans still have a place in the future. I believe we do. Our greatest strength is not speed or efficiency—AI already surpasses us there. Our true power is desire. As long as we want, imagine, seek, and feel, we remain creators of meaning. That belief shaped this work, and I hope readers also reflect on what kinds of human qualities will matter most in the future. For two centuries, society relied on a simple assumption: human labor is the engine of economic value. Labor shaped capitalism, identity, and even moral purpose. But this assumption is dissolving. Automation and AI now replace not only physical tasks but also creative and analytical ones once considered uniquely human. Productivity rises while human involvement steadily recedes. This reveals a central contradiction: capitalism requires labor, yet technology eliminates the need for it. Once machines and data replicate themselves at near-zero cost, the old logic of scarcity weakens. Yet even as labor fades, human needs—connection, pride, curiosity, meaning—remain unchanged. These desires have always shaped culture more deeply than work ever did. And in a world where labor is no longer central, desire naturally becomes the organizing force of value. So where will value come from when economies no longer revolve around work? This book offers a simple answer: human desire—not labor—will drive the next stage of economic life. Every act of desire—eating, resting, bonding, competing, dreaming—creates emotional and behavioral patterns that AI can transform into value. Machines become the factories; human behavior becomes the input. Desire becomes the raw material, data becomes capital, and AI becomes the engine. But this shift brings urgent questions. Will corporations manipulate desire as they once exploited labor? Will the economy turn human emotion into another extractable resource? Or can we build a future where desire is expressed freely and ethically, and where technology supports human flourishing instead of consuming it? The future is not fixed. Humanity stands at a crossroads. One path turns desire into fuel for surveillance and behavioral control. The other uses desire to build a more humane society grounded in creativity, connection, and shared meaning. This book argues for the second path. Because no matter how powerful AI becomes, as long as desire endures, humanity remains essential—and irreplaceable.