Who Are We Now?

2025 Winner – Tokyo TDC RBG Prize

2023 Winner – AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers

On sale: December 19, 2023
Publisher: Hat & Beard Press

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Description

An exploration of how biology, ecology, sexuality, history, and culture have intertwined to create a dynamic “us” that can neither be called natural nor artificial.

Identity politics occupies the front line in today’s culture wars, pitting generations against each other, and progressive cities against the rural traditions of our past. Rich in data and detail, Who Are We Now? goes beyond today’s headlines to connect our current reality to a larger more-than-human story.

At the heart of the book is a set of surveys conducted between 2016 and 2021, asking thousands of anonymous respondents all over the United States questions about their behavior and identity, and especially about gender and sexuality. The resulting window into people’s lives is a bit like that of the Kinsey Reports, which scandalized postwar America more than 70 years ago. Today, the landscape is—in every sense—even queerer. Twentieth century heterosexual “normalcy” is on the wane, particularly among young and urban people.
The landscape outside has changed too. After millennia of being fruitful and multiplying, we’ve strained, and exceeded, planetary limits. Domesticated animals far outweigh wildlife, and many species are in catastrophic decline. Yet curiously, our own population is poised to begin collapsing this century too, our fertility now curbed by choice rather than by premature death. Is this the end of humanity—or the beginning?

Praise for Who Are We Now?

“An engrossing and startling movie show of identity in America today.”

—Financial Times, Best Books of the Week
“With his new book, Agüera y Arcas reckons with grand questions of identity and technology, and the ways in which evolutions within both are shaping the world we live in.”

—InsideHook
“In his study on human identity and tribalism for Who We Are Now?, [Agüera y Arcas] found that zip code and population density were the most important drivers of survey respondents’ opinions on identity, behaviors, and beliefs.”

—Fast Company
“[Who Are We Now?] is already being compared to the revolutionary investigation carried out in the middle of the last century by sexologist Alfred Kinsey into the sexual habits of Americans.”

—Libération Magazine
“Blaise Agüera y Arcas [is] one of the most interesting AI researchers of our time.”

—The Stranger
“Who Are We Now? takes a data-driven approach to understanding American identity—especially sexual identity—in 2023.”

—Psychology Today
“The AI researcher’s latest book argues that, when it comes to addressing problems of the future, 'we' are who we’re waiting for.”

—Surface Magazine
“Artificial intelligence researcher and author Blaise Agüera y Arcas investigates how we perceive gender and sexuality in America.”

—LGBTQ Nation
“In his new book, Agüera y Arcas takes on an ambitious survey to learn how the sense of our identities have changed over time. It turns out, we’re way weirder than you would think.”

—Dan Savage, Savage Lovecast
“Toggling between the individual and the global, Who Are We Now? does an admirable job of asking questions more of us should be pondering.”

—Frontier Magazine
“A fascinating, provocative account of the contradictions and complications of identity and community in the technological age.”

—Sonia Katyal, distinguished Law professor and co-director, Center for Law and Technology, UC Berkeley School of Law
“This is that rare book that not only explores a fascinating topic, but that teaches you how to think more deeply about any topic. Insightful and original.”

—Tim O’Reilly, author, publisher, and founder of O’Reilly Media

Who Are We Now?

“An engrossing and startling movie show of identity in America today.”

“With his new book, Agüera y Arcas reckons with grand questions of identity and technology, and the ways in which evolutions within both are shaping the world we live in.”

“In his study on human identity and tribalism for Who We Are Now?, [Agüera y Arcas] found that zip code and population density were the most important drivers of survey respondents’ opinions on identity, behaviors, and beliefs.”

“[Who Are We Now?] is already being compared to the revolutionary investigation carried out in the middle of the last century by sexologist Alfred Kinsey into the sexual habits of Americans.”

“Blaise Agüera y Arcas [is] one of the most interesting AI researchers of our time.”

“Who Are We Now? takes a data-driven approach to understanding American identity—especially sexual identity—in 2023.”

“The AI researcher’s latest book argues that, when it comes to addressing problems of the future, 'we' are who we’re waiting for.”

“Artificial intelligence researcher and author Blaise Agüera y Arcas investigates how we perceive gender and sexuality in America.”

“In his new book, Agüera y Arcas takes on an ambitious survey to learn how the sense of our identities have changed over time. It turns out, we’re way weirder than you would think.”

“Toggling between the individual and the global, Who Are We Now? does an admirable job of asking questions more of us should be pondering.”

“A fascinating, provocative account of the contradictions and complications of identity and community in the technological age.”

“This is that rare book that not only explores a fascinating topic, but that teaches you how to think more deeply about any topic. Insightful and original.”