Kindle collects data about which pages readers read quickly and which slowly, and when readers stop reading a book entirely, allowing Amazon to build a profile of reader preferences without explicit questioning

Homo sapiens probably will not exist as a species within a century or two, as humans will be displaced by fundamentally different kinds of beings or entities that are more different from us than we are different from Neanderthals or chimpanzees

In humanist economics, the customer is positioned as always right, with the assumption that customer preferences (expressed through purchasing decisions) represent the highest economic authority that cannot be overridden by experts or authorities

Even religious fundamentalists have learned to conduct ethical debates in terms of human feelings rather than divine commandments, as this rhetorical strategy is more effective in modern public discourse

These two previously separate developments (biotech and infotech) are now converging; the wall separating biotech from infotech is collapsing, visible in corporations like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook that began as infotech companies but are increasingly becoming biotech companies

Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy based on a big data algorithm's statistical prediction (87% chance of breast cancer from BRCA1 mutation) rather than on her current health or feelings, choosing algorithmic authority over her own felt experience

There are deep aspects of the brain and mind that we still don't understand, so it's possible that the entire vision of algorithmic human hacking is a fantasy despite appearing plausible based on current science

In liberal aesthetics and art, beauty is determined by the individual viewer rather than by objective standards—beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and what the individual perceives as art becomes art.

Liberal education's main goal is to teach students to think for themselves, treating the student as the highest authority rather than the teacher or professor.

Social protests around the world in recent years have been done in the name of liberal values, not against them—people demand that governments implement liberal principles more consistently rather than offering alternatives to liberalism.

Radical Islam and radical religions in general oppose the liberal package but have no relevant alternative that can be offered and implemented in the 21st century because their ideas are centuries out of date.

The most important question in 21st-century economics is what humanity needs people for, as computers will likely be able to do more and more things better than humans, putting the basic economic value of humans in doubt for the first time in history.

China, the rising superpower of the 21st century, is an economic giant but an ideological dwarf with very little alternative ideology to offer to the world.

Nobody knows what subjects a 20-year-old should study today to ensure having a good job in 30 years, because the future job market is completely unpredictable.

Biotechnology presents the possibility of extending human life and health indefinitely, potentially making 80 the new 40, which raises enormous questions about sexual relations, family structures, and society.

For the first time in history, biotechnology creates the possibility of real biological gaps opening between rich and poor—not social, economic, or legal gaps, but actual biological differences that could split Homo sapiens into different biological castes or even different species.

In liberal ethics, the highest authority is the feelings and emotions of individuals—if an action makes people feel good, then there is no reason for it to be evil or bad.

Communism and socialism were the first techno-religions—ideologies that promised the same things traditional religions promised (peace, prosperity, paradise) but through technology and on Earth rather than in the afterlife.

Liberalism assumes that the inner voice within each individual comes from a space of complete freedom, despite external physical, social, and biological constraints.

Liberal democracy operates on the principle that the voter knows best and is the highest source of authority—when citizens vote by connecting to their inner voices and feelings, this reveals who should rule and what policies to adopt.