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Disrupt Consciousness

Humanity stands on the brink of multiple technology-driven disruptions that will not only preserve consciousness but also enable us to explore and elevate it, guiding us toward deeper understanding and enlightenment. >> roelsmelt.com

technology philosophy

All Episodes

2:34

The Inevitable Ignition: Why the Age of Scarcity is Dead

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2026/01/16

We are currently living through the most significant transition in human history since the invention of agriculture. For ten thousand years, the human experience has been defined by the struggle for resources. Our wars, our political systems, and even our deepest psychological archetypes—the hunter, the hoarder, the competitor—were forged in the fires of “not enough.”But the script has changed. The era we are entering is not a choice; it is an Inevitability. We are witnessing a “Stellar Ignition,”

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6:51

The Paradox of the Architect

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2026/01/07

In the high temples of Silicon Valley, a new myth is being written. It is not a myth of heroes and monsters, but of gravity and intent. We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the human experience: the birth of the Paradox of the Architect. It is a moment where we are becoming gods of “The Why,” while surrendering the soul of “The How.”At the center of this metamorphosis stands Google—not merely as a corporation, but as a Digital Leviathan, a singular nervous system that has spent decades preparing

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5:27

The Mirror in the Machine: Why AI Will Never Discover...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/12/27

Imagine a traveler walking through a dense, mist-covered forest. He is searching for the “Laws of the Woods”—the hidden rules that govern the growth of the moss and the flight of the owls. Suddenly, he trips over a silver mirror lying in the dirt. He looks into it and sees a face. “Aha!” he cries. “A new species! A forest spirit that knows the secrets of the trees!”He begins to talk to the mirror. The mirror reflects his words, his anxieties, and his hopes. Eventually, the traveler concludes that

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1:39

The Void Beyond Abundance: How AI Compels the Human...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/12/18

The Gain and the Loss of VictorySilas had solved the world.He was not merely an engineer; he was the architect of the ‘Ultimate Algorithm for Human Necessity’—the complex code that, in collaboration with global AI networks, had eliminated the final remnants of scarcity. Hunger was an archaic word, illness a rare historical footnote, and paid labor had been reduced to a choice, not an obligation.Yet, on his first morning in the world he had perfected, Silas felt an unsettling chill. He stood in his

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2:20

Measuring the Machine Within: AI's Ethical Mirror and...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/12/10

Research suggests that AI, far from being a neutral tool, acts as a moral mirror reflecting human values and biases, much like the philosophies explored by Hans Achterhuis. It seems likely that by engaging with AI thoughtfully, we can use it to foster self-awareness and ethical growth, though debates persist on whether technology truly empowers or subtly controls us. Evidence leans toward viewing AI as a partner in human liberation, encouraging us to transcend ego-driven limits while acknowledging

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4:15

Dear Europe: Your Kids Aren’t Broken, Your Parenting...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/12/03

Every generation has its bogeyman.In the 1950s it was Elvis Presley’s hips and rock ’n’ roll—psychologists warned it would turn teenagers into sex-crazed delinquents. In the 1970s and 80s it was Dungeons & Dragons (literally blamed for suicides and satanism). In the 1990s it was violent video games and Marilyn Manson. In the early 2000s it was television itself: “Kids are watching six hours a day and it’s melting their brains!”In 2025 the panic button is labeled “TikTok.”And just like every previous

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2:35

Are You Strengthening Darkness or Expanding Brightness?

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/26

The point being of today’s article is…We live in a time where millions of people are waking up to their pain bodies. Some are still deeply entangled in them, others have done much of the inner work, and a very small group has reached a level of realization that allows them to create effortlessly and responsibly. The real question for all of us is simple: Are you strengthening darkness unknowingly, or expanding brightness with full awareness?The Situation at HandIn recent months I’ve watched

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2:25

The Founder Becomes the Builder

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/26

The point being of today’s article is that the success of Lovable signals far more than a single startup win—it reveals a new working paradigm. The same methods are being adopted by platforms like Gemini and Figma. And the key insight is this: it’s no longer about developers using code or cutting-edge technology to carry forward the mission of Lovable. Instead, non-coding CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs can now themselves build, iterate and release their ideas directly. Because the idea remains

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3:11

Europe After the Auto Collapse

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/20

The point being of today’s article is……that the collapse of Europe’s automobile industry is unavoidable, and the reason reaches far deeper than technology or global competition. It exposes a continent whose political design — built to prevent war — now makes meaningful innovation impossible. Defense spending, American protection, and fear of Russia temporarily mask this weakness, but if Russia collapses in the coming years, Europe will lose the last external force that unites it. Unless a crisis

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5:40

Welcome to the Muskonomy: Betting on a Man Who Has...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/19

My Clear and Short OpinionAs a car company, Tesla is already the greatest industrial success story of our generation — the only automaker that took Master Plan 1 (2006) and actually delivered it, on time and under budget relative to the insane ambition. Master Plan 2 (2016) and Master Plan 3 (2023) are in full execution. Master Plan 4 (September 2025) is no longer a slide deck — it is the operating system of the next human era.The current 280× P/E is expensive for a car company.It is absurdly cheap

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1:10

Closed Doors: When AI’s Safety Rules Cut Off Real...

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/06

The point being of today’s article is that OpenAI’s new rules from late October 2025—sending mental health chats straight to experts—keep the company out of legal hot water, but they ignore how 1.2 million people each week use ChatGPT to feel a bit less alone, when real help is hard to find and often takes months to get.The Situation at HandEarly November 2025: OpenAI updates its rules for ChatGPT and other tools. Starting October 29, they make it clear—no custom advice on things like mental health

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2:57

When Intelligence Meets Integrity

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/03

The point being of today’s article is…AI and Bitcoin are not separate revolutions but two halves of a new global operating system — one replacing human labor, the other redefining capital itself.The Situation at HandFor centuries, progress was driven by a partnership between labor and capital. Humans provided physical and cognitive work, while capital provided tools, machines, and money to scale it. The entire 20th-century economy rested on this relationship — labor created value, capital amplified

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0:56

Why Every Child Should Learn to Vibecode

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/11/02

The point being of today’s article is:I believe every young person — roughly between ten and seventeen — should learn to vibecode. Not to become programmers, but to become conscious creators in a world where machines are learning to think.The Situation at HandLast week, at a high school in Amsterdam, a student quietly opened ChatGPT on his laptop. His assignment was to write an essay about climate change. He typed a few prompts, adjusted the tone, and within minutes had a clear, fluent,

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8:18

Ancient Wisdom Predicted Our Technological Awakening

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/10/31

In 1894, Swami Sri Yukteswar wrote something remarkable in “The Holy Science.”He predicted humanity would enter an age of energy mastery around 1900. An age where we’d understand electricity, atomic forces, and the fundamental nature of matter itself.This was more than a decade before Einstein published E=mc2.I’ve been studying how great thinkers identify different sources of truth to explain why things happen. Tony Seba sees disruptive technologies as the driving force. George Friedman points to

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5:11

The Age of Abundance Has Already Begun

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/10/18

For six thousand years, humanity has lived by a single story: the story of scarcity.That story shaped our politics, our economies, our religions, and even our fears.But what if that story is ending?In this episode of Disrupt Consciousness, Roel Smelt explores how the next generation of sodium-ion batteries — made from one of the most abundant elements on Earth, salt — is quietly proving Tony Seba’s predictions right once again.It’s not just about better batteries. It’s about a deeper civilizational

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2:33

Not Time and Space, but Consciousness Is A Priori

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/09/25

Will humanity become the pet of AI? Many fear it. But Deepak Chopra’s reflections on consciousness strengthened my longstanding belief: that AI can never truly surpass us.Here’s why:* Consciousness is fundamental. Existence and consciousness are the same.* AI processes data, not being. It cannot step into the present moment.* Humans remain free. The risk is not AI gaining consciousness, but us forgetting our own.👉 For the full essay, visit roelsmelt.substack.com and subscribe for weekly stories on

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1:39

When AI Rewrites the Org Chart

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/09/17

A friend recently told me how he built a working app in one weekend. He’s not a programmer. He’s a CEO. All he did was open a no-code AI tool, sketch out what he wanted, and by Sunday evening he had a functioning MVP. Monday morning he showed it to his product team. Their jaws dropped.This little story captures something much bigger: AI is tearing down the walls inside organizations. The neat separation between “the people who think,” “the people who sell and manage,” and “the people who build” is

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5:48

The Quiet Vow: Resilience as Human Art, Machine Echo

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/09/10

In the quiet hours of a meditation retreat, where the world shrinks to the space between breaths, I once met my knee as an adversary. It started as a dull ache in my left leg, a whisper of discomfort amid the stillness. But the mind, that relentless storyteller, amplified it into catastrophe. “This pain will break you,” it murmured. “Your knee will give out, and you’ll be hobbled forever.” Days in, with no distractions—no phone, no chatter, no escape—the worry ballooned, eclipsing the present. The

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5:34

Sustainability Through Red Tape vs. Economic Disruption

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/09/03

Last week, I had one of those conversations that crystallized something I’ve been wrestling with for months. We were discussing the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and their ambitious mission to help corporations implement all seventeen United Nations sustainability goals. Noble work, certainly. But as we talked through their challenges—the endless red tape, the sluggish progress, the political complexity—I found myself asking a fundamental question: Are we fighting the

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8:31

De AI doorbraak voor het MKB

Disrupt Consciousness ·

2025/08/27

Een Handleiding voor MKB’s om AI te Gebruiken voor Strategische Optimalisatie en ConcurrentievoordeelSamenvattingStel je voor dat je MKB-bedrijf worstelt met verborgen knelpunten die groei remmen, terwijl concurrenten met AI-tools als een raket vooruit schieten. In mijn vorige essay benadrukte ik het belang van klein beginnen met AI om inertie te doorbreken: richt een AI Lab op, experimenteer bottom-up met tools in verschillende afdelingen, organiseer hackathons geleid door business developers, en

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45 results

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