Being Human: How to Reclaim Agency & Flourish in Uncertain Times
Modern systems and capitalism are eroding humanity. We live disconnected from ourselves, others, and the planet. How can we build a stronger sense of self? How can we cultivate the conditions for change and the foundations for a better way to live?
Course Overview
Modern political, economic, technological, and communications systems are eroding humanity. While we can do anything we set our mind to — learn, imagine, change, adapt, survive — we choose to overvalue AI-driven technologies and surrender our agency. We assume that AI will inevitably take over humanity. But humans are more than only task-performers — we are the very force driving progress. How we view our role in the world determines how we engage with ourselves, others, and the planet.
We are racing to build coding capabilities, embedding AI into education, and integrating tech in our daily activities. But our limitations are not technological but sociological. We struggle to engage in a face-to-face conversation with another person, build and maintain high-quality relationships, decrease social and economic inequalities, or empathize with a person who thinks differently.
Navigating uncertainty and leading change is less about what technology can do, and more about harnessing our humanity and imagination to reshape current systems. This begins by investing in human development.
Human skills are the enablers of our imagination.
Why does this course matter now?
Nothing is written. The future is being shaped now, by the choices we make every day. The impact of technology in the world depends on the decisions we make in its adoption and use. We assume that AI will replace us; we don’t feel in control anymore because we are forgetting how to stay human — how to feel, to think, to listen, to imagine, to understand, to converse, and letting others decide for us. This is limiting our agency and our capacity to care for ourselves, others, and the planet as well as to believe that a positive and just world is possible; in other words, it is limiting our imagination.
How will this course help you?
This course will strengthen your human capabilities and equip you with skills to stop living in autopilot and feeling profoundly isolated — you will build the bedrock for radical imagination. Through an interdisciplinary blend of experiential frameworks (positive psychology, cognitive science, mindfulness, design, and futuring), you will identify what makes humans unique — and what makes you YOU. You will restore the confidence to make choices and engage with technology responsibly without giving away your identity.
By the end of the course, you will feel more present and aware of your needs and behaviors — and how they impact others and the planet. You will walk away with the tools to build more authentic human connections and a stronger foundation to live a better life, feeling more confident to imagine the future you want.
This is a journey back to our roots.
Who Is This Course For?
Typical students are:
• Professionals in tech, design, writing, or other related fields who feel threatened by AI and want to refocus on their core strengths
• People feeling overwhelmed by the world today and are looking for ways to reclaim peace and calm
• People who believe that a better life is possible, but are struggling to figure out how to achieve it
• Managers struggling to connect with their teams or wanting to strengthen their teams’ human skills
• Educators feeling disconnected from their students and colleagues
• Activists wanting to connect with their communities at deeper, more human levels
What You'll Learn
- The impact of social, economic, political, and communications systems, and technology on humanity
- Core flourishing pillars and essential human capabilities for the AI Age to break off autopilot behaviors and enhance imagination
- Emotional literacy and communication techniques for regulating your wellbeing and deepening awareness of your needs and behaviors — and how they impact others and the planet
- How to confidently use your human skills — listening, imagining, conversing, empathizing, paying attention, collaborating — and tools to build more authentic, caring relationships with people and nature, and envision the future you want
- How to design an actionable strategy to live more fully in uncertain times and not just to keep up
What's Included
Live Sessions
Interactive classes with your instructor
Session Recordings
Lifetime access to all recordings
Community Access
Connect with fellow learners
Certificate
Proof of course completion
Course Modules
From Being Alive to Flourish
• What does it mean to be human? Are we living or surviving? • What is a good life? What is to flourish? • What are human skills? What is human work? • Individual and group techniques
From Being Alone to Being Social
• The role of social connections for happiness and wellbeing in the age of technological transformation • Why are social connections important for wellbeing and social change in times of AI? What are best practices for social fitness and growing social capital? • Individual and group techniques
From Autopilot to Being in Control
• How can we cultivate conditions for individual and social change? • Practice focused on how to maintain agency, cultivate social skills, foster participatory structures, and engage with technology responsibly • Individual and group techniques
From Learning to Acting
• Project presentations and feedback • Discussion on project ideas and progress, as well as how to continue with the practice of human skills • Being human is constant work of reinventing ourselves - next steps
Real-World Project
You will reflect on personal learnings about your inner and outer interactions, and the role of external forces in your life — your community, technology, social systems, etc. Then you will create a strategy rooted in human skills for radical change in your life, your community, your organization, or the planet, that proposes a more balance way to live and to engage with technology without losing agency and identity.
The strategy can take the form of short-term interventions or a long-term step-by-step plan. In the last day of class, you will prepare a short human-led presentation of your strategy.
Session Schedule
About the Instructor
Professor & Researcher in Imagination, Wellbeing and Design
From an interdisciplinary perspective, my work contributes to the development of a flourishing society. I am a professor, researcher, and author in Imagination, Wellbeing, and Design with extensive leadership international experience in higher education and industry. After more than two decades working at leading institutions, including University College London, Princeton University, and MIT, now I empower individuals and communities from the inside out to unlock their unbound potential and experience the transformative benefits of imagination to embrace their human agency and build their dream future. My vision is a world where imagination and human flourishing are integral to each aspect of life and as high priority as work on other domains, such as climate change, AI, existential risk, politics. Through the Everyone Imagines initiative, I investigate the symbiotic connection between imagination and emotional wellbeing, and teach workshops and training worldwide, contributing to human infrastructure. My background as an information designer, combined with my expertise in human-centered research, Creative Problem Solving, mindfulness, and positive psychology, allows me to offer a unique approach to inner growth, imagination, and emotional wellbeing.
Frequently Asked Questions
$600
This course has already begun.
Started Oct 16.
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October 16
14 students max
4 sessions
120 min each
