We’re living through a fascinating paradigm shift.
Some just haven’t accepted it yet.
The world is changing faster than we can name it, and for many, that's scary.
Recently, I was thinking about the good old Karl Marx and his 'Capital'. How would he feel, what would he think today?
"Oriane... what the heck? Marx now?".
Yes, I can hear you. But hey, stay here and follow my argument, it will make sense by the end of this page.
"Labor" is no longer what it was.
Neither is value.
Neither is power.
We are witnessing an economic transformation, but also a deep shift in how we understand reality, identity, and human worth.
Marx and the meaning of "work"
Marx believed that work was the essence of man.
By working, humans transformed nature, and in doing so, they fulfilled themselves.
For him, work was a creative, social, and meaningful act.
But under capitalism, this changed. Work became alienated:
- The worker no longer owned what they produced.
- The act of working lost its creativity.
- Colleagues became competitors.
- And most tragically, the worker became estranged from his own human essence.
In this frame, wage labor is exploitation. Workers sell their labor power to survive while the capitalist capture the surplus value they created.
For Marx, true liberation would come when humans reappropriated their labor.
When work was done freely, collectively, and creatively, no longer under the pressure of survival.
But Marx did not see AI coming!
In tomorrow's world, the value no longer depends on human labor.
The formula of exploitation changes. Because now, work is going to be outsourced to the non-human.
Paradoxically, this brings us closer to Marx’s idea.
What a strange twist of history.
AI may fulfill Marx’s dream... but under the control of capital, not its abolition.
But there are still two problems:
Problem 1: we need to redefine "work"
The challenge isn't "no longer working," but redefining what it means to work.
With AI, humans will have to:
- Manage the cognitive divide between those who master AI and those who are subjected to it.
- Focus on deep skills (emotional intelligence, judgment, creativity, ethics, strategy)
- Reinvent a society where identity and meaning no longer come from "work" and being productive, but from a more subtle and human contribution.
This paradigm shift can become extraordinary, if we are ready to face it lucidly.
We're entering the era of what I call "human refinement".
Human refinement is the discipline of upgrading our perception, strategy, and emotional clarity to stay sovereign in the age of AI
Problem 2: we need to decentralize the power when it comes to AI
When the tools of intelligence - algorithms, platforms, data - are concentrated in the hands of a few, and the majority are left untrained, we create a system where confusion becomes a business model.
AI is not the enemy. AI is a tool.
The biggest and most dangerous problems of all is the absence of public literacy.
Add to this the quiet monopolization of attention, behavior, and thought.
It's not that someone is necessarly "evil" in here. It's not that someone is voluntarly trying to control or dominate us, it's a superposition of complex dynamics from the white, the dark and the grey zones - creating an unbalanced reality.
BUT
One can't keep on blaming the "Big Tech" while doing NOTHING to educate oneself. That's victimization. That’s resignation.
We all have a responsibility here.
This divide is not about class. Not about race.
It’s about mental clarity.
From my observation, something deep is happening, a silent fracture growing every day.
Not between rich and poor.
Not between black and white.
Not even between humans and machines!
But between those who can navigate this new world, and those who can’t.
I see it in my own environment, among my friends. There are the one understanding, using, playing with this new world, embracing it with caution and fascination.
And the others: afraid, confused.
They are losing their bearing.
They close themselves completely to these changes. They refuse it. They deny it. They resist it. They complain about it.
We’ve entered the age of mental structure.
Those who think in systems.
Who connect dots before they become data.
Who resist manipulation.
Who stay calm in complexity.
They rise.
The others?
They drown. Or worse: they are used.
And this is the big danger, this apocalyptic image that we have of a profoundly divided society.
The rise of cognitive power
The new capital is not the $$$. It’s not even data!
It’s the ability to think clearly in a world designed to confuse you.
You're unbreakable, uncorruptible if you have this ability.
We love to blame AI but... AI didn’t create the divide actually. It just made it visible, and clearly accelerated it.
We now live in a society where strategic thinking is the new elite skill
but no one teaches it.
Not in school.
Not in universities.
Not in the media.
This is why so many feel lost.
They are not stupid.
They are simply unarmed.
This is why I created this space
Here, I write about how to:
- Think like a strategist, always critically and not like a consumer
- Detect manipulation in language and media
- Use your "human intelligence" with intention
- Navigate complexity without burning out.
I am not here to feed fear. I am here to build bridges.
I am here to give a set of tools to those who want to understand the world as it truly is. Accept its ugliness, and finally start seeing its immense beauty.
Because understanding is the new survival.
And clarity is the only freedom that cannot be taken from you.
The more confused you are, the more control one can have over you.
Think about it.
My work begins here
And I hope that will be the start of something bigger.
I am very glad to have you here, in this modest website that will now serve as my "personal universe".
Here you can read about who I am, the memberships I offer, my online courses, my services and more.
I hope I will be able to stimulate you, challenge you, help you think clearly and sometimes even pi$$ you off. Because disagreeing is good, as long as it opens the mind with respect.
I hope I will be able to help you decode what others can’t see.
Not because you’re better, but because you care enough to look deeper.
Let’s begin!
With ❤️,
Oriane