If you could send one piece of knowledge back to the Stone Age, what would it be? Assuming you’re making this decision for the good of humankind rather than scheming to make yourself rich, your answer will likely depend on your definition of human progress. You’ve got options. You can right a historic wrong. Introduce life-saving technology centuries early. Expedite a social revolution of your choice. You should try to offer something concrete and practical, but forget about everyday gadgets: What’s the point of a smartphone or ventilator if the tools and knowledge required for production are still millennia away?1 Better than a product is an idea. Press fast-forward on humanity’s greatest discoveries, and offer a head start on flight, radio or antibiotics. Or This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Seven Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 36 Trivial Matters On the uses of useless knowledge. Arts & Culture Issue 27 Akram Khan On the uneasy dance between knowledge and information. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Anna Wiener Anna Wiener was on the path to Silicon Valley success. Then she pivoted. Allyssia Alleyne charts the making of a tech-skeptic. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Influencers Anonymous Instagram content creators answer a short survey about the influencer industry. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Crazy Busy There’s no rest for the aspirational. Arts & Culture Issue 42 The Goal Keepers Not your therapist, not your friend: What accounts for the remarkable rise of the life coach?
Arts & Culture Issue 42 Anna Wiener Anna Wiener was on the path to Silicon Valley success. Then she pivoted. Allyssia Alleyne charts the making of a tech-skeptic.
Arts & Culture Issue 42 Influencers Anonymous Instagram content creators answer a short survey about the influencer industry.
Arts & Culture Issue 42 The Goal Keepers Not your therapist, not your friend: What accounts for the remarkable rise of the life coach?
