We have been talking about fab labs for quite a while. I remember reading “Makers” by Chris Anderson. . The future of 3D, the disruption of distribution, the digitisation of the value chain and maybe even 4D. That was ten years ago. And 3D printing has been a lot slower than I expected.
Designing reality
Somewhere, I picked up “Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution”. A book about fab labs. Written in 2017. The promise of 3d, open source, and why they call the third digital revolution. The third digital revolution completes the first two revolutions by bringing the programmability of the virtual world of bits into the physical world of atoms. The conclusion of the third digital revolution is that the long-sought killer app for the future of computation is fabrication. Fab labs.
Making
Fab labs are laboratories for fabrication. Fab labs can turn data into things and things into data. Fab labs make tons of sense. It brings production and making to its most local form. On-demand. Super sustainable. Imagine a fab lab in your local village. Where you can print whatever you need, including food. Imagine a network of these fab labs. All connected, all learning, all sharing.
LEGO
Playing LEGO with atoms. Combining citizen development and citizen science with open source and local economic development. Link it to a finance system (credit unions) and energy independence, and you have a mix for something very exciting. Where we become creators again, artisans and artists. Focusing on self-reliance and resilience by being able to make. Direct control over the means of production, which can fundamentally change the nature of work.
Why is it not happening?
So far, that vision has not materialised. It is interesting to figure out why not. Is it institutional, educational or individual? Are businesses prepared? The third digital revolution will fundamentally challenge the operating assumptions of most current companies. Chris Anderson wrote another book, “Free: The Future of a Radical Price”. The current economic models no longer apply in a world of 3D and 4D printers, digital fabrication, local makers and abundance.
Deep Adaption
It is like reading another version of “Deep Adaption“. Helplessness, despair, depression, uncertainty, insecurity, anxiety and burnout as a response to the rapid changes we are going through as a society. Climate change and technology as part of a perfect storm.
Self-determination through self-sufficiency
Or as the perfect opportunity to take control back. Self-determination through self-sufficiency. Become a stakeholder in your own future. With technology abstraction, a sense of community and family, open source and localisation of production, you will literally get the opportunity to get your hands dirty with evolving technology. Hands are important. Read “Meta skills”.
Place
There are links with soil, nature, and mise-en-place (your place) too. Nature. Organic cell division. Propagation vs scaling. Self-organising. Connecting independent but interdependent stakeholders. Aligned communities. Emergent ecosystems. Now we are combining the language of nature with deep tech.
Towards ubiquitous fabrication
The book maps the route from community fabrication, personal fabrication, universal fabrication and ultimately ubiquitous fabrication. The 4D, the internet of materials, programmable matter, replicators and Startrek. Where bits evolve to arrange atoms, and vice versa. Biology, in other words. Using examples such as Mondragon, Wikipedia, Linux, Minecraft, Scratch, FIRST robotics, World Building Institute and The Fab City movement.
Scenarios
The book ends with six scenarios around the questions below:
- What if our cities could be globally connected yet locally productive by 2054?”
- What if digital fabrication was distributed across thousands of rural villages?
- What if fab labs enabled self-determination through self-sufficiency?
- What if tens of thousands of travelling fab mentors circled the globe?
- What if students, software, and machines could all improvise together?
- What if advanced technologies preserved and extended ancient cultures?
The opportunity
Imagine democratising manufacturing, transforming how we make (unmake and remake) things, and empower billions of people to make what they consume—creating a more self-sufficient, interconnected, and sustainable society. That is the opportunity. Suddenly deep adaption looks possible.
