Fashion’s cutting edge from a Quantum Beauty perspective
In the Cambridge English dictionary ‘Cutting edge’ means ‘the most modern stage of development in a particular type of work or activity’. The word technology is not mentioned.
The cutting-edge lives in cultural moments that induce a groundswell of change. However, technology and science are undeniable forces that can amplify or decelerate culture, and create tipping points.
I have been exploring the idea of Quantum Beauty as a principle that already exists everywhere around us and is tied to a new technological era upon us: quantum computing.
My latest Spur column ‘Tomorrow’ made it to newsstands in Japan yesterday. Titled "Fashion’s Cutting Edge from a Quantum Perspective", it elaborates on Quantum Beauty. The 7 weeks' time lapse since submitting the piece to my editor enables me to macerate ideas and share more with you today.
Whilst there isn’t a universal definition of Quantum Beauty, the idea is that the underlying laws of the universe have inherent beauty and are all interconnected by the same fundamental principles.
For example, the way that two particles can be "entangled" and affect each other, even when they're far apart, or the way the Saharan winds directly impact the health and fertility of the Amazon Forest. Those deep 'unseen' connections are Quantum Beauty and key in shaping the behaviour of the universe.
If we believe quantum computing is the innovation which will change humanity and our civilisation, just as much, if not more than AI, then we are choosing to mimic nature’s intelligence. That is what quantum computers do.
Quantum particles are the building blocks of atoms. Quantum physics functions on the principles of coherence, entanglement, superposition, and tunnelling. Nature creates and exploits highly efficient arrangements constantly. What we also call the Laws of Nature. Today quantum computers solve far more complex and difficult problems than classical computers, using nature’s efficiencies.
In his MIT lecture ‘Quantum Beauty: Real and Ideal’ Frank Wilczek explains the different interpretations of Quantum Beauty in quantum physics and mechanics with one that caught my attention:
The Quantum Beauty of Unification: “The big idea is that in theoretical physics we have gone from observing symmetry in equations that experiments lead us to, to proposing equations with enormous symmetry, and asking Nature’s verdict on them. In other words, we are trying to use beauty actively, as our guiding principle, rather than as something we observe passively. We have become artists, but artists with a difference: We voluntarily submit our work to a hopefully loving but in any case, unimpeachable critic, Mother Nature.”
Key industry players such as IBM, D-Wave Systems Inc., Microsoft and Intel are highly invested in this technology which outperforms even our most powerful classical supercomputers. According to Fortune Business Insights the quantum computing market size is projected to grow from $928.8 million in 2023 to $6,528.8 million by 2030. We are still at least a decade or more from being able to scale quantum technology for various reasons. One of them is that quantum computers need extreme cold to be stored.
But an era of Quantum ‘supremacy’ is upon us. Quantum technology will forever impact biomedical simulations, optimization, machine learning, electronic material discovery, financial services, and banking systems to name a few applications. It will bring a sea change and show us the world in a new light. Some experts compare this to the difference between seeing the world in black in white or in colour.
With a Quantum Beauty perspective applied to industry, commerce, design, and systemic change, we could bring the principles of harmony, regeneration, and interdependence to the core of how we approach cutting-edge innovation. Quantum Beauty as a regenerative form of thinking through problems could be critical as we face the global polycrisis and enter an era where we will need to privilege antifragility systems.
What is here today that we could already connect to a Quantum Beauty perspective?
The fields of biomimicry and biomimetics are equipping designers with a deeper understanding of nature’s billions of years of proven solutions. The Biomimicry institute’s Ray of Hope Prize identifies the top nature-inspired start-ups in the world. This year’s award winner Sparxell is creating the next generation of colours and effects, with pigments that utilize the physical structure that gives birds and butterflies their magnificent colours, eliminating the need for toxic chemicals. Motorskins is designing adaptable soft-robotic materials and reactive wearable devices inspired by nature’s intelligence.
The idea of being a regenerative business and/or brand with notions such as ‘Regenerative Capitalism’ are emerging. The principle of Regenerative business is not yet part of mainstream discourse. But a growing body of thought leaders and institutions are adopting ‘regenerative’ as a key modality. The RSA has been running a Regenerative Futures program for several years. The Forum for the Future is outlining a Compass for Just and Regenerative Business whilst the World Economic Forum has been campaigning to educate on the importance of Regenerative Capitalism. Recently strategic design and innovation practice The Smithery launched from Where The Light Gets In, a regenerative design field kit.
Quantum Beauty cannot exist without ancient cultures and their long-held wisdoms. We have yet to manifest honouring traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) at scale. But recently the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst and the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS) came together to change the way scholars from both traditions select and carry out scientific work. The National Science Foundation has committed $30 million for two-eyed seeing, connecting traditions and understandings of the local waters and climate held for millennia by the Passamaquoddy people with a Western approach.
In the field of material science, a groundswell of biosynthetic and AI advancements will continue to fuel a material renaissance seeking to serve our planetary boundaries. Google DeepMind’s new AI tool can create more than 700 new materials. The Biomaterials sector is predicted to go up to $4tn over the next 20 years. Fashion brands who distinguish themselves as science-based collectives in the footsteps of Pangaia may in the future also embrace quantum computing to develop their material innovations.
A coherent cradle-to-cradle circular fashion industry and economy could reflect a Quantum Beauty and replace the current fashion model. The Circularity Gap Report 2023 suggests circularity could help reduce our human footprint by using only 70% of available resources. Amsterdam is putting its own circular economy in place to become a fully circular city in 2050. By 2030 it plans to have the use of primary raw materials in place. Traceability tech and digital IDs that establish trust and transparency such as the DNA textile marker Haelixa will empower circularity. The leave-no-trace approach (as there is no waste in nature) will also fuel decarbonising, one of the biggest issues across all industries as temperatures continue to reach dangerous levels.
In my column I also discussed a change in the way online creators, brands and campaigns approach their platforms with Humane’s wearable 'Ai Pin' and Meta recently achieving the ability to read brains by using AI. The University of Texas’s brain activity decoder can reveal stories in people’s minds, taking us a few steps closer to interacting with tech based on direct brain prompts. These technologies in some cases could be abused. How could they serve the greater good of the people and planet from a Quantum Beauty perspective?
As we enter 2024, I invite you to think of innovation through the lens of Quantum Beauty.
There will always be more gadgets and shiny objects, more tech innovations as outlined in Wired's 2053 projections. As has been my mantra before and continues going forward: the biggest innovation is philosophical based on a deep understanding of interdependence.
But there is one more thing to consider in our results-driven world. This decade and the next will perhaps not be a time when we see direct results from the regenerative playbooks, technologies, and philosophies being drafted today.
If we think of the ancient Egyptian Civilisation which spanned between 3100 and 30 BC, in the grand scheme of things, we are a blip. But more importantly, it seems we are in a deeply transitionary period in our civilisation, that did not start in the last 2 decades since Apple’s iPhone was released, but a few hundred years ago with industrialisation.
We are in a time of drafting. A time of building. It may get worse before it gets better which is why it is crucial to trial emergent ideas and technologies. This is precisely NOT the time to be risk-averse. Which seems counterintuitive in a time of crisis.
Organisations willing to embrace new models that honour nature and stick to it for decades may likely create new benchmarks. The same way we saw electric vehicles go from market anomalies 20 years ago to market dominance today. We need to create these proofs of concept.
Quantum Beauty is a beautiful notion. My question is, how can this idea fuel market forces and serve the livelihoods of citizens and businesses? Our times require a great deal of pragmatism. What would a world where market forces serve the people and the planet look like? That systemic coherence and alignment would be a form of Quantum Beauty.
Geraldine Wharry