
Welcome to this week’s edition of Simon Sees!
This week’s Simon Sees is inspired by our latest Future With Friends episode, “The Future of The Past“, with the ever-thoughtful Mykel Dixon — a rich conversation on ancient wisdom, creative expression, and reconnecting with the childlike intuition we often lose.
We kick off with new research suggesting early humans may have understood time much like we do today. Then, we explore a thought-provoking piece on Decoupling The Good Life From Capitalism — a reminder that prosperity doesn’t have to be defined by productivity. And finally, The Others Others podcast brings surprising and cheeky conversations about how Indigenous complexity science might help us tackle the world’s most wicked problems.
Together, these signals remind us: the future may be shaped by how well we remember.
Let’s explore.

NEWSCIENTIST
Ancient humans understood the future and the past pretty much as we do
“Humans have always viewed the future in both cyclical and linear ways. We know the daylight will return as it has for millions of years, and we also know it will illuminate wild new stuff that never existed before – like the Great Pyramid of Giza.“

MEDIUM
Decoupling ‘The Good Life’ from Capitalism
“To offer a meaningful alternative economic system, I believe it is essential that we engage with what we dream of as ‘good lives ‘— the diverging stories, in their own framing and in their own language, of what this looks like to different people all around the world.”
THE OTHER OTHERS
indigenous Kodesign Podcast
Through the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab (NIKERI, Deakin University), we have unlikely, cheeky and kind of inappropriate yarns with surprising people about how an Indigenous complexity science lens can be applied to solving the world’s most wicked problems.
THE FUTURE WITH FRIENDS PODCAST
Ep 5: The Future of the Past

In this latest episode, I’m joined by the brilliant (and deeply thoughtful) Mykel Dixon for a rich discussion on the role of ancient wisdom in navigating modern challenges. Together, we examine how the arts can deepen human connection, how technology might enable cultural renewal, and why a belief in a hopeful future is essential for meaningful change.
This conversation emphasises the need to reconnect with nature, community, and intuition as a pathway to a more inclusive and vibrant world
Watch now: https://simonwaller.live/the-future-with-friends/episode-5/
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Simon