About

World of Systems publishes clear, analytical writing on the technological, industrial, infrastructural, and financial systems that shape the modern world. The world is full of complex systems operating at immense scale, with a profound impact on societal growth and progress. Yet they remain invisible to many of us and often feel mysterious from the outside. We write to help readers make sense of these systems and gain the knowledge and confidence needed to navigate a rapidly changing world.

This effort is driven by the belief that the story of the world is a story of systems. By increasing our understanding of the world’s systems, we increase our understanding of the world itself.

“The story of the world is a story of systems.”

World of Systems tackles important subjects that benefit from detailed exposition, including big technical questions that require effort to untangle. We strive to prioritize depth, rigor, accuracy, creativity, and quality in our coverage. The internet already contains more information than anyone can read: it doesn’t need one more generic informational website. So we strive to publish writing that is original, useful, and worth reading.

We may not be the first, or the last, to write on a subject, but the ambition is for every article to offer something different: a clearer explanation, an overlooked history, an underdiscussed causal factor, an unexpected connection, or just a fresh way of seeing the subject. Inspired by Marcel Proust, we believe that discovery consists less in searching for the novel than in seeing the familiar with new eyes.

Do you believe, as we do, that it is systems all the way down? Are you curious about how the world works? Does learning something new appeal to you? Are you interested in exploring technology, industry, infrastructure, or finance? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then welcome: you are in the right place. We encourage you to explore the topics we cover, browse the archive, and subscribe to the newsletter.

If not, we still hope you stick around for curiosity’s sake and explore what the publication has to offer. World of Systems is written for and by curious people. We hope you are one, too.

Thank you for reading.

From the editor,
Emmanuel Awosika