New Symmetries: The Future Has a History or a Path with a Heart

We started this book by introducing the concept of TAO to illustrate a new way of thinking, perceiving and acting in this world, and have tried to apply this to the financial sector and in particular to the problem of financing global common goods as embodied by the UN SDGs. The incentive for this new thinking derives from the fact that we now are living in the Anthropocene. Humanity is in the driver’s seat, determining both our own future and that of the planet. A paradigm shift is taking place. The philosopher Thomas Kuhn describes a paradigm shift as a situation in which irregularities and anomalies that cannot explained be within a given paradigm occur with increasing frequency. Responding to such a situation requires two major changes: a change in mindset and a change in the modus operandi. In this text, the old paradigm is the monetary monoculture, with its pervasively linear and sequential thinking. The new paradigm is a complementary monetary system that involves both linear and parallel thought processes. Operating with this new paradigm will allow us to manage anomalies and irregularities such as the widening of the income and wealth gap, increased ecological damage, and large-scale economic migration through different monetary pathways.