u/oivindhs

I launched this Reddit forum to meet people interested in books about the present and the future — books about technology, AI, society, democracy, human relationships, and the future of human life.

Very quickly, I received two very short and rather strange comments.

Unfortunately, that kind of response has become quite common online.

The core of the problem is that instead of curiosity, people often respond with quick dismissals, irony, suspicion, or labels. Instead of discussing the ideas themselves, the conversation is redirected into tone, positioning, or accusations.

What disappears is the actual dialogue.

This is one of the things I hope this community can become an alternative to:
a place where people can disagree, discuss, reflect, recommend books, ask questions, and explore difficult themes without every conversation immediately collapsing into reflex reactions or cynical one-liners.

The future of human life is too important a subject for conversations that never move beyond sarcasm.

What is worth noticing in comments like these is that they often smuggle in an unspoken assumption without actually arguing for it.

In this case, the underlying assumption seems to be that talking about one’s own books or ideas automatically becomes “self-promotion” in a negative sense — as if presenting one’s own work somehow weakens the legitimacy of the discussion.

But that assumption does not necessarily apply to this forum at all.

A community about books, ideas, the future, writing, and AI will naturally include authors presenting their own work, especially when the purpose is to start conversations around themes, questions, and concerns that matter to the community itself.

And besides: what exactly is “self-promotion”?

The phrase is often used very loosely online, sometimes almost as a way of dismissing people without engaging with what they are actually saying. It becomes a shortcut instead of an argument.

There is an important difference between:

• empty marketing,
• manipulative attention-seeking,
• and a writer openly presenting ideas, books, reflections, or concerns in a forum specifically created to discuss those themes.

Calling something “self-promotion” may sound like criticism, but by itself it explains very little.

The real question should be:
Does the contribution create thought, discussion, reflection, curiosity, disagreement, or insight?

If it does, then the conversation is already more meaningful than many of the quick dismissals that dominate online culture today.

This forum was created for readers, writers, thinkers, and ordinary people who feel that something important is happening to human life right now — and who believe we need to talk about it seriously, openly, and thoughtfully.

We live in a time where communication technology shapes almost every part of our lives. Screens, algorithms, social media, predictive AI systems, and now the rise of increasingly advanced AI and possible AGI are changing how people think, react, communicate, feel, and understand themselves.

One of the most serious dangers may be this:

Reflection disappears.

We react faster, but think less deeply.
We communicate more, but often understand each other less.
We consume endless information, but struggle to find wisdom, perspective, and empathy.

This community is not anti-technology.
Technology can help humanity in extraordinary ways.

But technology without reflection, empathy, ethics, and human responsibility can also become dangerous.

r/booksaboutfuturelife is a place for discussing books, essays, ideas, research, fiction, philosophy, and personal reflections about:

• the future of human life,
• AI and society,
• predictive technologies,
• social media and mental life,
• democracy and truth,
• empathy and human connection,
• ethics and responsibility,
• and the question of what kind of future we actually want to build.

The goal of this forum is not only to share books.
It is also to raise important questions.

Questions about how we protect human dignity in a technological age.
Questions about how we remain human while technology becomes more powerful.
Questions about what kind of mental, moral, and emotional development humanity now needs.

You do not need to be an expert to participate here.

Curiosity, honesty, reflection, and respectful discussion matter more than certainty.

If you have books, articles, thoughts, concerns, hopes, or ideas about the future of human life, you are welcome here.

Let’s build a thoughtful community together.