We are in a turning point similar to when the Internet emerged, but this time it\u2019s about biology. And we are facing a similar explosion of innovation and new thinking. Perhaps even a greater one\u2014because now our worldview is being challenged in the same way it was when Copernicus shifted the center of the universe from Earth to the Sun. <\/p>\n\n
The reality is, in fact, stranger and more interesting than we ever imagined. You are not an individual. You are an ecosystem\u2014a walking, thinking, feeling community of trillions of microorganisms. The bacteria, viruses, fungi, and archaea that make up your microbiome possess a genetic richness that exceeds the approximately twenty thousand genes of the human genome by a factor of several hundred. These organisms are not merely passengers. They are just as much a part of you as you are. The composite organism that you and your microbiome together form is described by the term \u201cholobiont.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
\nYou are not an individual. You are an ecosystem. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
And this holobiont, in turn, depends on the world around it. When you eat, breathe, touch plants, or dig in the soil, you nourish your microbial universe, which in turn produces biochemical signals, regulates your immune system, and influences your mood, motivation, sleep, and cognition. A meal is not a transaction between a body and a fuel source. It is a form of communication between an ecological community and the living world it has evolved to inhabit. And this is how it works everywhere, for all life. In other words, the world does not consist of parts\u2014it is created in the relationships that arise between the parts, for example when two microbes meet and create something useful. We have only recently begun to understand this scientifically, and the vast majority of people remain unaware of it. We know this now because we have developed the machines and AI capable of seeing and understanding biology on a deeper level, just as the telescope enabled astronomers of that era to understand the structure of the universe. <\/p>\n\n
The complexity is immense and mathematically impossible to comprehend in all its constantly interacting components. Even within your own body, an unimaginable number of chemical interactions take place every second. That is why it is so important to have an intact ecosystem and rich biodiversity, because it is through the communication between all living things that the biochemistry is created which, in turn, informs your microbiome and your immune system so that they function as intended. A fully functioning immune system isn\u2019t something you\u2019re born with\u2014it develops through a constant dialogue with your environment. <\/p>\n\n
Simplified systems lose biological information<\/h2>\n\n
But in the absence of such a complex environment\u2014for example, when forests have been turned into spruce plantations and we grow crops in gigantic monocultures where all plants are forced to grow in perfectly straight rows, drenched in pesticides, and fertilized with synthetic fertilizers\u2014 then those biochemicals aren\u2019t produced. Calories, yes, but not the biochemical information that we and all life need to function properly. The rule is simple: the greater the complexity in nature, the greater the variety of biochemicals produced. The greater the variety, the better life functions. <\/p>\n\n
We have built today\u2019s highly simplified system in the belief that we understand how nature and humans function, and that by simplifying, organizing, and scaling, we are adding value when in fact we are falling behind. Think of it as a man-made version of scurvy\u2014the vitamin C deficiency that, before its cause was understood, could kill up to half the crew on long sea voyages. <\/p>\n\n
It costs us our health, productivity, and resilience<\/h2>\n\n
Traditional societies that live in close harmony with complex natural environments have microbiomes that are significantly more diverse than those of people who live in modern cities and eat industrially produced food. They also have significantly fewer immune system-related diseases, which account for a significant portion of our healthcare costs. The link between complex ecology and human health is now well established. Research also shows a direct link between complex ecology and mental health. And between complex ecology and intelligence. Between complex ecology and life itself. <\/p>\n\n
In economic terms, this complexity costs tens of trillions of dollars a year in lost human lives, healthcare costs, social transfers, lost productivity, and destroyed resilience. In my new book, *Flat Earth Food: A Copernican Shift in How We Grow, Eat, and Heal*,<\/em> I call these \u201ccomplexity services,\u201d and they can be added to the other services that nature provides us for free\u2014services that, when added together, amount to roughly twice the global GDP each year. A value we haven\u2019t yet taken into account. However, those who work to restore complexity and to place the complex human being at its center will be the winners of the future. <\/p>\n\n
Move forward with new knowledge<\/h2>\n\n
Does this mean we should go back in time? On the contrary\u2014we should move forward, with all the knowledge we have accumulated and the new insights that are now emerging. And we should do so with a new view of the world. <\/p>\n\n
Realizing that the world cannot be simplified but must be understood as an immense complexity in which everything of value arises from the relationship between an innumerable number of parts is roughly as radical as when Copernicus shifted the center of the universe from the Earth to the Sun.<\/p>\n\n
\nThose who recreate complexity are the winners of the future.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
As with all major shifts, the first step is to understand what is happening, acknowledge that it is happening, and then embrace the new opportunities for innovation that the shift makes possible. On a political level, for example, this means incorporating this understanding into all national strategies. By integrating ecological complexity into all public and urban environments, we can save significant amounts of money in our healthcare and transportation systems. In the business sector, we can increase productivity\u2014a poorly functioning immune system affects our intelligence and decision-making ability, which in a knowledge-based company can be absolutely crucial. Working with complexity\u2014how to understand and integrate it\u2014is becoming an entirely new category in business and society. <\/p>\n\n
Sweden has a chance here<\/h2>\n\n
We must also develop new technologies and methods that enable us to understand complexity and relationships. This means new sensors, new measurement methods, and new services that allow us to understand this shift and tap into the value we have missed so far. A country like Sweden, with its strong position in tech and data, is particularly well-suited to take a leading role in this emerging field. <\/p>\n\n
We may see the biggest changes in the field of AI. If it turns out that we have completely misunderstood how the world works, and that it is now being proven how both costs and value arise from the interaction between humans and the nature from which we come, then the smartest thing we can do is to understand the unknown intelligence and the chemical language that form the basis of all life\u2014 not the\u2014in this context\u2014extremely limited human intelligence that we can codify in language. <\/p>\n\n
\nSweden could be the first to build a new industry for the future.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
My personal opinion is that large language models (LLMs) are smart, but that dynamic world models such as the Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture (JEPA) are much more interesting in this context. And if we are to have a strategy for building the AI of the future, it should be based on the insight that life itself is complex and that this is where the value lies. <\/p>\n\n
So if Sweden succeeds in combining AI, biology, and ecological complexity, we can be the first to build a new industry for the future. We have what it takes; the question is whether we\u2019ll do it or let another country do it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The next major wave of innovation is emerging at the intersection of AI, biology, and ecological complexity. For Sweden as a nation of innovation, this could mark the beginning of an entirely new industry. That\u2019s the view of \u201cMr. Foodtech\u201d Johan J\u00f6rgensen, an entrepreneur and investor who has spent recent years working to accelerate innovation throughout the food system. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":35391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,404],"tags":[125,784,122,130,783],"class_list":["post-35395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-debate","category-visa-deepl","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-foodtech","tag-innovation-en","tag-technique","tag-the-opinion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35395"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35398,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35395\/revisions\/35398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esbri.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}