research questions
My 2025 project is best conceived of as an anthropology of disruption.
I’m interested in exploring the places where the past and future collide, telling first-person stories about what happens when frontier technologies meet established institutions. I want to do work grounded in place and culture, to put human faces on secular trends.
Here is a non-exhaustive, ever-evolving list of topics and research questions on my mind. If you have recommended reads or story ideas, please reach out! You can DM me on Substack or Twitter, or shoot an email to jaswsunny at gmail dot com.
Neo-cities: When do people start new cities vs. reforming existing ones? Is Singapore an urbanist paradise or technofascist dystopia? What can the US learn from Special Economic Zones? Can you do urban renewal right? What’s the difference between Esmeralda and California Forever? Why do most startup cities fail? How might they succeed?
21st century privacy: Why do teens have so many randos on Find My Friends? Do CCTVs work? Who ought we most fear surveillance from: corporations, the government, or each other? Should I tell Claude my secrets? Should I use a period tracking app? How much will people trade privacy for safety and convenience? What is being lost, and how might we recover it?
The politics of progress: Where did IFP come from? Where do the left and right factions disagree? Is Trump e/acc? What’s up with DOGE? What differs from prior eras of tech-government partnership? How much is driven by China fear (and envy)? Will tech-driven abundance trickle down to normal people? What compromises will be made? Can San Francisco be saved?
AI adaptation: Who is adopting AI the fastest? Outside Silicon Valley? Outside the US? Where are the bottlenecks? How do I “feel the AGI”? Can “safety” outcompete arms race incentives? (Must someone die first?) Seriously, what do we do about jobs? Will I know when I’ve been automated? How much power will we delegate? What will we hold tight?
This list was last updated on January 3, 2025.