List of My Gurus (Disruptive Futurists)

This is my personal list of Gurus consist of wonderful teachers and visionaries who continue to spread light and life-energy each day for me, and I hope for you too. I call them my NewSophers (= New Philosophers). In fact they are Human #Solitons , elephants in ANY room 🙂

1. They are the present day likes of: John the Baptist, Rumi, Kahlil Gibran, Pytagoras, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, Joan of Arc, Erasmus, Christiaan Huygens, Spinosa, Leonardo da Vinci, Hugo de Groot (Grotius), Voltaire, Euler, Edgar Allan Poe (he proposed the Evolution Theory before Darwin did), Nikola Tesla, Bertus Brouwer, Richard Feynman, Wolfgang Pauli, Kurt Gödel, James Grier Miller, Karl Popper, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Lynn Margoulis, Jane Jacobs, Donald Davies, David Böhm, Benoit Mandelbrot, R. Buckminster Fuller, Clare W. Graves, Elinor Oström, Isaac Asimov, Douglass North, Aaron Swartz, Claude Shannon, Eshel Ben-Jacob, Paul Baran, Eduard Pannenborg and Marvin Minsky. To name a few.    

They share at least one very important characteristic. They have seen the future in PATTERNS very clearly and dare(d) to write and speak about it, despite the conflicts they ran/run into with the public and their shepherds, the controlaholic kings and priests of the power hierarchy who are not amused about what these visionary men and women say and write. They dared to start DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS. They are the Prophets of Renaissance 2.0.  And sometimes scientists accused them of being unscientific quacks. Which is peculiar since it is the very task of scientists to propose innovative and outlier theories which others can then try to validate or refute.  No, these ‘shapers’ where and are not directly popular, since they could look ahead through the fog of the present and through the layers and layers of filters of prejudices and mutually confirmed expectations, see the following drawing:

The unfiltered visions these exceptional OUTLIER people can see was/is unwelcome, and therefore these they often kept their mouth shut and wrote their private notes and visions in code or mirror image writing, showing sometimes years or decades later that they had seen things right. You need patience to do that, I can tell you. And be very brave and audacious.

2.The following list is imperfect, unfinished and incomplete like real life. And they are presented here in no particular order or sequence. Please comment with names of those who should be on this list of NewSophs who can look over (technological and society/moral) horizons. Bien étonnés de ce trouver ensemble:

3. Required to be on this list is that they had and have a huge IMPACT on society, but also have been declared (often behind their backs) to be nuts, and/or charlatans and/or having “lost their marbles” 🙂 Alos they are almost without exeption very Constructive in their approach to improve things, have courage (which is not the same as fearless). And have Authority instead of power derived from their position in society.

A. Ted Nelson T: @theTedNelson W: Hyperland.com

B. Howard Rheingold T: @hrheingold  W: rheingold.com/university

C. Benoit Felten T: @fiberguy @diffraxion W: diffractionanalysis.com

D. Paul Budde T: @paulbudde  W: budde.com.au

E. Paul Mason T: @paulmasonnews  W:channel4.com/news/

F. Primavera de Filippi T:  @yaoeo  W: backfeed.cc

F. Milo S. Medin Talk about broadband infrastructure

G. Vinay Gupta  Twtr: @leashless   W:  Re.silience.com and hexayurt.com ETHERIUM . His story: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/global-resilience-guru  

H. Stuart A. Kauffman   Interview: http://bit.ly/1Mt4T9v

I. Jeremy Rifkin T: @JeremyRifkin   W: http://www.foet.org/

J. Paul t’Hoen W: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-t-hoen-95410614

K. Pierre Lévy T: @plevy   Blog: https://pierrelevyblog.com/my-research-in-a-nutshell/

L. Francis Heylighen T: @GB_institute  Interv: https://youtu.be/DG0N1yiJ6lw    Award 

M. Lawrence Lessig  T: @lessig   W: Lessig.org

N. Richard M. Stallman T: @stallman-txt  W:  https://stallman.org/

O. Michel Bauwens T: @mbauwens  W: p2pfoundation.net

P. Carlota Perez W: carlotaperez.org/  and  anthemis institute

Q. Nassim Harramein Very exiting new physics and cosmology Twtr: @NassimHaramein  W:  resonance.is

R. Yochai Benkler T: @ybenkler     W: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yochai_Benkler                Keynote

S. Smári McCarthy T: @smarimc   W:smarimccarthy.is  &&    Herbert Snorrason  T: @anarchodin  W: anarchism.is

T. Dante-Gabryell Monson T:@dantegabryell   and twitter.com/econowmix  W: http://hitchwiki.org/en/User:Dante

U. Sheldon Renan T: @srenan  W: netness sheets

V. Luc Sala  W: http://www.lucsala.nl/  His books :www.lucsala.nl/ritual a comprehensive study about the magical dimension of ritual
www.lucsala.nl/festivalization.pdf about the eventification of society and how temporary autonomous zones are a precondition for change and transformation
www.lucsala.nl/poems.pdf poetry book Far Away
www.share-shop.nl/sacredjourneys.pdf  about psychedelic tripping in a ritual context

W. E.O. Wilson    Bio&Books     ; E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation T: @EOWilsonFndtn W: eowilsonfoundation.org

X. Kim Veltman T: @KimVeltmanMaast Brilliant book: “Alphabets of Life” = common roots of our languages and culture http://www.alphabetsoflife.com/

Y. Martin A. Nowak T: @DrMANowak   W: martinnowak.com   Important Global Commons paper

Z.Herma van der Weide W: http://hermavanderweide.nl/ && Herman Wijffels  T: @Herman_Wijffels  W: worldconnectors.nl

a. Rohaan Solare T: @EmergentCulture  W: tzolkincosmology.com

b. John Lasschuit T:  @las_joh W:about.me/johnlasschuit

c. Clay Shirky T: @cshirky  W: Shirky.com/weblog/

d. Howard Bloom T: @HowardxBloom   W: howardbloom.net

e. Giovanna Gomersbach T: @vitaalleven   Water connects all Life. Wil je een preview  :  http://tinyurl.com/zs57up4  Of intekenen voor het drukwerk:  www.deschoonheidvanwater.nl   IMHO This book should be crowdfunded for printing and translation !!!

f. Martin Stor  T: @martinstor W: act-nu.nl   @SmartHubNL  @IndustrySmart

g. Yuri van Geest T: @vangeest   W: exponentialorgs.com  (:Book)    Exponential growth at the edges LinkedIn

h. Carlo Jäger  ‘Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung’  W: youtu.be/—r1jcZVOo   and  youtu.be/w5sPRoWkAu8   Sudden instability beyond a certain level of complexity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvVTyhgaxpI   (search on Google for “Carlo Jaeger” )

i. Van Jacobson tcp/ip containerisation and routing  W: http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/van-jacobson

j. Louis Pouzin “Père d’Internet no.5”  T: #LouisPouzin W: http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/louis-pouzin   W: http://www.open-root.eu/

k. Vinton Cerf W: http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/vint-cerf  And  Interview about TPP 

l. Sara Wedeman T: @saraw1   W: behavioraleconomics.net

m. Bruce Kushnick T:  @Brucekushnick      W: New Networks Institute  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/

n. Gordon Cook  W:  cookreport.com

o. Susan Crawford  T: @scrawford Contributor to @backchnnl; books: (#TheResponsiveCity,#CaptiveAudience) W: facebook.com/scrawfordjd

p. Rupert Sheldrake T: @RupertSheldrake  W: LumenzNetworks.com/Sheldrake

q. John Seely Brown T: @jseelybrown  W: johnseelybrown.com

r. Peter Csermely   http://youtu.be/8C1zEYjRjYg?a  20th Biennial World Conference Keynote   Book: Weak Links: The Universal Key to the Stability of Networks and Complex Systems Interview about the Gifted Children Support Foundation

s. Guido Tytgat   Interview about his breakthrough in finding stomach bacteria that survive acidity. Was not believed possible.

t. Albert-László Barabási,  T: @barabasi   Network Dynamics books on Amazon About system resilience when disrupted  http://www.northeastern.edu/news/2016/02/researchers-find-the-tipping-point-between-resilience-and-collapse-in-complex-systems/

u. Daniel Suarez Bestselling Author. Writes high-tech / sci-fi thrillers: Daemon, Freedom™, Kill Decision & Influx. T: @itsDanielSuarez  W: daniel-suarez.com

v. Rop Gongrijp T:@rop_g   W: rop.gonggri.jp

w. The late (x) Karl H. Pribram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_H._Pribram

x. Deepak Chopra  @DeepakChopra W:deepakchopra.com

y. Ai Weiwei T: @aiww W: aiweiwei.com

z. The late (x) Wim Smit http://www.tqc-net.nl/nieuws.asp?nieuws=597

A1. Brough Turner T: @brough W: blogs.broughturner.com

B1. David Isenberg He did see the ‘Stupid Network’ coming and dared to say so: isen.com/stupid.html   T: @davidisen  W: isen.com/blog

C1. Martin Geddes T: @martingeddes W: martingeddes.com

D1. Daniel Karrenberg T: @limbodan W: https://labs.ripe.net/Members/vastur/bgplay-v2-integrated-in-ripestat

E1. Bill St. Arnaud  T: @BillStarnaud  W: billstarnaud.blogspot.com  and  http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/

F1. David P. Reed   Wiki: http://bit.ly/oqMwtS  blogs: http://www.reed.com/dpr/

G1. Wael Ghonim  T:@Ghonim  

H1. Siegfried Woldhek @swoldhek W: Nabuur.com

I1.  John Perry Barlow (X)  T: @JPBarlow   cyberspace independence declaration  W: article about the future of the state

J1.Eben Moglen  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCUJn-5By14

K1.Arjen Kamphuis Twr: @ArjenKamphuis  W:   gendo.ch

L1. Jan Noordam Polymath for ASTRON  T: @ASTRON_LOFAR     W: https://www.astron.nl/lofar-extend-ireland and http://www.lofar.ie/gallery

M1. Victor Hayes The Father of Wi-Fi  W: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Hayes    LinkedIn

N1. Jaap Haartsen The Father of Bluetooth  LinkedIn W: http://www.volkskrant.nl/tech/nederlandse-uitvinder-bluetooth-in-hall-of-fame~a3944318/  and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Haartsen

O1. Katherine Peil, director EFS International – Fostering Emotional Wisdom.  W: http://www.emotionalsentience.com

P1. Prof. Eörs Szathmáry, famous for his work on LIFE and its evolutional transitions. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6rs_Szathm%C3%A1ry. He works at the Institute of Advanced Studies Köszeg (iASK), Hungary. http://www.iask.hu

Q1. Prof. Jan Rotmans, futurists and authority in the field of transitions and sustainability  http://www.janrotmans.nl/

R1. Marten Scheffer, Wageningen University (WUR) Critical Transitions Theory : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz8cVS8LoO7OMHp5WGtZZF8tVEE/view

S1. Erik Verlinde, University of Amsterdam. New theory of gravity : http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2016/11/radical-new-theory-of-gravity-an-emergent-phenomenon-not-a-fundamental-force-of-the-universe.html His paper: Emergent Gravity and the Dark Universe https://arxiv.org/pdf/1611.02269.pdf

T1. Klaas Wierenga, inventor with his team then at SURFnet (the NL NREN) of EDUroam , a very clever authentication tool inplemented on most universities and R&D institutes of the world to give access to on premises Wi-Fi networks.

U1. Leo Kouwenhoven, Koen Bertels and other people of the multidisciplinary team at the QuTech Institute at Delft University who are leading edge in the race towards quantum computers.  https://qutech.nl/ 

V1. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov who invented and first showed Graphene =  one atom layers of carbon with unusual properties. At first at the University of Nijmegen (during Andre’s friday afternoon lab for play) and later at Manchester University. This brought them the Nobel Prize.

W1. Seth Lloyd, breakthrough scientist (xxx link must be added here)

X1. Yaneer Bar-Yam, complexity scientist, wrote an influential paper about how wealth can be again created if gov’t policies on the economy are better steered.

Y1.  Joshua Cooper Ramo wrote very influential book: The Seventh Sense

Z1. Dirk K.F. Meijer, emeritus prof. University of Groningen; Theoretical Cosmology and courses on “Consciousness and Brain Function”,  “The Future of Mankind”, “The Role of Language and Information in Biological and Cultural Evolution”, “The Human Reward Brain System, Heaven or Hell?”, “Science Revolutions, on paradigm changes in Art and Science”  as well as on “Quantum Physics in Relation to the Fabric of Reality”.  See Z2 below.

Z2. Hans Geesink. He wrote a breakthrough article on biophysics with Dirk Meijer (Z1) It presents a unitary holofractogramic model that is redefining scientists’ view of the physics of consciousness and the seamless interplay of information dynamics from the most fundamental levels of the universe to the living system and the cosmos as a whole.

A2. George Monbiot. Wrote the influential book “Out of the Wreckage” – New politics for an Age of Crisis-.  A toxic ideology (NeoLib) rules the world – of extreme competition and individualism. It misrepresents human nature, destroying hope and common purpose. Only a positive vision can replace it, a new story that re-engages people in politics and lights a path to a better world.

B2. Dirk Helbing. of ETHZurich and TUDelft futurict.eu  Twitter: https://twitter.com/DirkHelbing  and @futurict  Brilliant lecture about Complexity, connectivity and collective intelligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3296&v=h_7NDCBbwpU (in German, sheets in English)

C2. Willemijn Dicke, author of SF Novel  ” iGod ” This is a science fiction novel with heroes, love, defeat and hope. But it is much more than that. This book aims to explore how societies may develop, given the technologies that we see at present. Amazon / CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (12 Mar. 2017)

D2. Steve Jobs (X) of Apple Computers. He disrupted the PC industry, the “walkman” industry, tabletcomputers and the music distribution industry.

E2. Elon Musk, innovator. He already disrupted three industries: electric car manufacture, big scale battery storage, reusable high altitude rockets.

F2. Marleen Stikker, Director of De Waag FabLab and a lot more, former digital mayor of De Digitale Stad (DDS) [ i still have a home there :-)] Twtr: @marleenstikker

G2. Parag Khanna, Global strategy advisor, best-selling author ( Connectography book), world traveler. His new book “The Future is Asian” is out in February 2019:  Twtr: @paragkhanna 

H2. Niall Ferguson, Journalist and author of the very interesting book “The Square and the Tower” – Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power ‘ 2017. Twtr: @nfergus

I2. Peter A. Corning, studies the BioEvolutionary impact of Synergy. His latest book is “Synergistic Selection: How Cooperation Has Shaped Evolution And The Rise Of Humankind (Evolution Biology)” Febr. 2018 Twtr: @Peter_Corning

Synergistic Selection is being hailed as a major contribution to what is perhaps the greatest shift in our understanding of evolution since The Origin of Species. As Corning puts it: “Nothing about the evolution of biological complexity makes sense except in the light of synergy…. One of the great take-home lessons from the epic of evolution is that cooperation produces synergy, and synergy is the way forward. The arc of evolution bends toward synergy.”

J2. Prof. Bill Melody, influential scholar about the telecom industry worldwide. At present located in Denmark.

K2. Peter Turchin, historian who writes about the rise and fall of many empires and civilisations including OURS. He publishes a blog called ClioDynamica about structural-dynamic inequalities and instability. Twtr: @Peter_Turchin

L2. Anne Applebaum, journalist and historic scientist. Author of RED FAMINE, GULAG and IRON CURTAIN. Washington Post columnist. Professor of practice, @LSEIGA and co-director, ARENA  Twtr: @anneapplebaum

M2. The late (x) prof.Charles Kuo, who invented Fibre Optic Technology in 1962.

N2. Bram Cohen, who defined and implemented the P2P BitTorrent file sharing protocol Wikipedia: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Cohen

O2. Gilles Hutchings, business guru who has seen the light of the future, founded on age old spiritual wisdom about Connectedness  https://thenatureofbusiness.org/ 

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List of 30-45 year old upcoming Gurus:

A. Primavera de Filippi . See F above. She has a superfast understanding mind  Twtr: @yaoeo

B. Dante Monson, traveling, see T above.

C. Sibylle Berg Commentator, Prizewinning Author  of book GRM (in German)   Twtr: @SibylleBerg

D. Marietje Schaake , ex- member European Parliament, Twtr: @MarietjeSchaake

E. Ulrike Guérot, promoting the idea to change the nation-state group of EU into a connected set of CITY-Areas. Founder of European Democracy Lab @EuDemLab  Twtr: @ulrikeguerot

F. Asher Wolf Australia based commentator and Journo @Asher_Wolf 

G. Frank Kresin, director and inspirator of the Design Lab at the University of Twente NL,  @DesignLabUT  . Now at Hogeschool Amsterdam Twtr: @kresin

H.  Carole Cadwalladr, journalist who almost singlehandedly brought to light 2016-2018 what the crooks in English politics had done to force Brexit down the public mindset. Very brave. @carolecadwalla

I. Birgitta Jónsdóttir Creator, Poetician. Advisor in Digital Democracy. Public Speaker. Co-creator & former MP in #Iceland for the Pirate Party. Twtr: @birgittaj

J. Mengsen Zhang, Complexity Scientist. Publishes for instance about “Critical Diversity”. She has a huge curiosity and superfast brain. Twtr: @Mengsen

K. Dr. Axel Arnbak, attorney at @debrauw , information law researcher @IViR, univ. of amsterdam , columnist @FD_Nieuws , before: @berkmancenter harvard, @PrincetonCITP , @bitsoffreedom , Twtr: @axelarnbak 

L. Matthijs Pontier, Prime mover of the @PiratenPartij in The Netherlands. One of the directors of https://idea-synergy.com/ Twtr: @Matthijs85 

M. Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, Organizers of Civil Movements and author of the high impact book “New Power” – How (P2P) Movements Build, Businesses Thrive and IDEAS catch Fire in our Hyperconnected World – Twtr: @thisisnewpower 

N. Ann-Marie Slaughter, former policy maker at the US State Dept. Author of “The Chessboard and the Web – Strategies of Connection in a Networked World”, Twtr:@SlaughterAM

O. Greta Thunberg speaks out about the Climate Crisis , Time magazine Person of the Year 2019 @gretathunberg

P. Joshua Wong @joshuaWongcf Secretary General of @demosisto  Progressive, movement-oriented youth activist group in Hong Kong that advocates self-determination, both internal and external.

Q. Christopher Wylie, @chrisinsilico whistleblower on the election manipulating activities of Cambridge Analytica (for Trump election and Brexit referendum) using data provided by Facebook et. al. Disclosed it in his book “MindFuck” aka Mindf*ck, 2019.  Did testify , see H.

R. Ai WeiWei, @aiww World respected artist and observer of reality

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This is my personal #NeoSophers Hall of Fame.  Yes,  these giants are often very stubborn, autistic and difficult to talk to. But they did and do amazing imaginative and relevant things, that earn them a place in history. And they have a huge advantage over the earlier Guru-Sophs: the are ALIVE and active NOW, so you can ask them questions or ….a personal mantra and just cheer them along. Let me hasten to express my gratitude to them for I have, wether they know this or not, been briefly standing on their philosophical shoulders to enjoy the view. It is full of beauty to look into the future of the Second Enlightenment which is starting up all around us.

Would it be possible with some funding to get them to gather for a 2022 conference and group photo, just like that of the famous Solvay Conference in 1927 of all the then relevant and daring theoretical physics thought leaders?  They refuted at that conference the previously prevalent notion that “all there was to know about Nature’s mechanisms was already known” 🙂 NOT !!

Shall we organize a Second Solvay Conference ???

#

What do these very diverse ladies and gentlemen have in common? First of all, none of them was numbed by the prevalent “common knowledge” anesthetic or educational thought control. In other words: none of these giants took the blue pill shown in The Matrix film. Each and every one of them developed a very personal breakthrough BELIEF SYSTEM *) that did drive them and us to do great things. And from that belief they spread a gospel that inspired and resonated in the beliefs of others. A belief that can cut through all those filters shown above. Interesting example was the gospel that Steve Jobs (see above D2)  expressed at the introduction of the Apple Macintosh personal computer: his hope and belief was to prevent IBM to become the dominant big brother of all computer sales that would squash innovation. And he showed a provocative film to express that hope, showing a girl hurling a big hammer at big brother. I remember that this “1984 video” really moved me in 1984. At that moment I made Jobs’s belief system MY belief system. *) For more about “belief systems” giving people a WHY for their actions, see the brilliant TEDTalk of Simon Sinek.

PS1. Yes I will try to also make a list of brave prophets that are 30 – 40 years old. Please help me find them. They deserve glory NOW. Sure, daring geniuses manifest themselves at even younger ages. And .. where kicked out of school because their intelligence and broad knowledge far exceeded those of the teacher and other kids. I still remember the panic in the eyes of my teacher when I asked him “How does a nuclear reactor work?”. I (10y) just had read it under A (for Atoomreactor -NL) in the Winkler-Prins encyclopedia, and was puzzled why he hadn’t just looked it up himself. Since then I knew that most people are frightened by new & unexpected knowledge and avoid & filter it, instead of difficult issues. 

PS2. For those who grumble that there is a lack of focus on my list, or that I should give clearly defined requirements whether or not somebody should be entered, I say NO. These Prophets are very diverse and have talents that are broad and trans-tribal && trans-subject. That is why they have exhibited helicopter view. Please start to read from those you did not hear of before!

PS3. I was critisised for including people who did things wrong and or have published nasty things they ran into. But that ladies and gentlemen is the very point of these prophets. They are not in the business of science of “Likes and Likely”. The world is full of Unlikely and Do Not Like. The media are shy or under instruction not to show those, but the prophets do tell what they see coming. And we should thank them for their pre-views.

jaap van till, TheConnectivist

(Updated 2016: January 11, 13, 21, 26, Feb. 1, 12, 13, 15, March 2, 17, Sept 24, Dec 9. Updated 2017: April 27, Nov 13, Dec 25, Dec 30, Sept 4

Updated 2018,

Updated 2019: December 12)