In We Are as Gods, you present the idea that technological advancements have given ordinary people godlike powers and offer a psychological survival guide. Why was this an important book for you to offer readers?

For the past decade, Pete and I have been writing about exponential technologies and the massive opportunities they create. What became clear over time is that the story isn’t just technological, it’s psychological. The tools we now possess are extraordinary. AI, robotics, biotech, advanced materials, planetary-scale sensors—these are capabilities that, even a few decades ago, would have sounded like mythology. Yet despite living through an era of unprecedented progress, many people feel overwhelmed, anxious, and powerless.

That gap fascinated us. The problem isn’t that the future lacks opportunity; it’s that our brains didn’t evolve for the speed and scale of this moment. So the book became a kind of survival guide for the age of exponential change. We wanted to show readers both sides of the equation: first, the incredible breakthroughs happening around us, and second, the cognitive tools we need to stay grounded, resilient, and effective while navigating them. In short, the goal was to help people move from feeling like victims of the future to active participants in shaping it.

What inspired you to frame modern technology in such mythic or almost biblical terms?

Partly, it’s just the simplest way to describe what’s happening. If you look at the capabilities we now have: curing diseases with gene editing, speaking instantly across the planet, creating intelligence in machines, manipulating the climate system, those are powers that ancient cultures would have described as miracles.

Myth and religion have always been humanity’s way of grappling with forces that feel larger than us. By framing modern technology in those terms, we’re not being poetic for its own sake; we’re trying to help people feel the magnitude of the shift we’re living through.

But there’s another reason. Myths are also about responsibility. In almost every mythic tradition, when humans gain extraordinary power, the real question becomes: do we have the wisdom to use it well? That’s exactly the moment we’re in right now. Technology is accelerating incredibly fast, and the real challenge is making sure our judgment, ethics, and emotional maturity keep pace.

Do you think the biggest opportunity of this era is technological or psychological?

Technologically, the opportunity is enormous. The convergence of AI, biotechnology, robotics, and advanced energy systems is unlocking solutions to problems that have plagued humanity for centuries: poverty, disease, energy scarcity, and access to information. The tools are extraordinary.

But psychologically, we’re not fully prepared for them.

Our brains evolved to survive in small tribes on the savannah. They’re optimized for short time horizons, local threats, and limited information. Today we’re navigating a world of global networks, exponential change, and constant cognitive stimulation. That mismatch creates confusion and fear.

So the real opportunity of this era is psychological adaptation. Can we train attention? Can we regulate emotion? Can we cultivate curiosity instead of anxiety when faced with change? If we can upgrade our mindset to match the tools we’ve built, the possibilities are extraordinary. If we don’t, we risk mismanaging the very breakthroughs that could make the world better.

The final section shifts toward practical tools for resilience, attention, and meaning. Why was it important to end the book with personal strategies rather than just big ideas?

Because ideas alone don’t change behavior.

You can fill a reader’s head with amazing stories about AI breakthroughs or revolutionary technologies, but if they close the book and still feel overwhelmed, you haven’t really helped them. We wanted to leave readers with a sense of agency.

That’s why the final section focuses on tools: things like attention management, cultivating awe, pursuing grand challenges, and building resilience. These are not abstract concepts. They’re trainable skills rooted in neuroscience and psychology.

The larger message is simple: you don’t get to sit this era out. The future isn’t something that happens somewhere else. It’s being built right now by entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, and citizens all over the world. If we want that future to be wise, fair, and meaningful, we need people who are psychologically equipped to participate.

So we end the book where the real work begins, with the reader.

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