Which narratives do we need for the future?
When we look back over the past 200 years, we see more than just technological development. We see stories that have shaped entire societies: the story of progress, the story of prosperity through industry, the story of “rising through hard work.” Narratives are the invisible operating systems of our world. They provide orientation, even if we rarely notice it.
Today, we once again stand at an epochal threshold: from the age of industrialization to the age of digitality. And the great question is: Which narratives do we need so that we not only survive this transition, but actively shape it?
From Stable Structures to Flowing Possibilities
In the age of industrialization, structures gave us stability: factories, fixed working hours, hierarchical organizations. Stability arose from technologies that remained unchanged for decades. Machines, infrastructures, and institutions were the scaffolding of our society. The dominant narratives were: “If you work hard, you can climb the ladder.” and “The bigger, the more efficient, the better!”—supplemented by countless sub-narratives such as “The winner takes it all,”“Work and leisure are separate things,” “Only the industrial system can feed the world,” and so on.
Digitality, by contrast, is volatile. Artificial intelligence, networks, platforms—they change by the second. Stability can no longer come from technology or rigid economic and social structures themselves. Stability now emerges from values. From what we as humans attribute to one another, from what we collectively deem meaningful. If we have stable values, then changing technologies and everyday realities can actually help reinforce them. But that requires a completely different vision of society. It requires a new mindset: no longer “Which probabilities threaten our structures?” but “Which possibilities do we have to live our values?”
Intersubjective Narratives: Stories We Experience Together
In the past, narratives etched themselves so deeply into our minds that we elevated them to seemingly unshakable truths. In science, we call these intersubjective narratives: stories that many people experience simultaneously, though they are not “objectively” fixed. Money is such a narrative. Democracy is another. Every form of religion, too: each person has a subjective experience that resembles the narrative—ideally even several. In this way, the narrative solidifies within society and becomes nearly irrefutable.
“Made in Germany” was long such an intersubjective narrative. It stood not only for quality, but for an entire attitude—for pride and responsibility. Such narratives do not arise on their own. They are told, shared, lived. They are hermeneutic, woven seamlessly into everyday life: we reinterpret them again and again, adapt them, fill them with meaning. And in the age of digitality, they can offer us more orientation than any fixed structure ever could.
German Angst or German Zukunft?
For now, however, we remain trapped in the old narratives of industrial socialization—narratives that are visibly losing strength. Because new narratives have not yet formed—or because we are losing sight of them—we slip increasingly into a state of fear, of “German Angst.” The result is a compulsion to analyze risks to the last decimal, to run scenarios, to calculate probabilities. It also distracts us from possibilities. That approach served us well in the industrial age. In the age of digitality, it leads us into a dead end. Probabilities are reactive. They make us followers of global trends.
The new narrative must be more active: “German Zukunft”—the idea that we draw from possibilities, not from fears. That we ask not only: “What could happen?” but also: “What do we want to make happen?”
The Narratives We Need
The Narrative of Possibilities.
We no longer define ourselves by what we might lose, but by what we can create. AI can help us amplify human capabilities instead of replacing them.
The Narrative of Togetherness.
In a polycentric, digitally connected society, central hierarchies no longer count—shared structures of meaning and values do. Narratives must be connective—both locally and globally.
The Narrative of Responsibility.
Digitalization is not destiny. It is designable. Whether AI becomes a job killer or a tool of empowerment depends not on the algorithms but on us.
The Narrative of Composure.
In a world that changes constantly, composure is the new stability. Not every update is a threat. Some are simply new impulses that we can integrate into our possibilities.
From Industrial Logic to Future Logic
We must free ourselves from the temptation to force every new idea into old industrial processes. That cannot work. New narratives arise only when we dare to start from zero: What truly matters to me? Which values carry me? What possibilities arise from that—for me, for my organization, for society?
These narratives will increasingly weave themselves inclusively into our changing everyday lives. From that emerges new trust, because more people will once again share the same positive intersubjective experiences. Trust matters: it is the foundation that allows us to be brave enough to try something new. And that is what we must do—just as we once did with “Made in Germany,” one of the strongest narratives of its time.
Perhaps today it should be “Made from Germany”—with the intent to create something trustworthy, valuable for the world. Something that ensures not just our own but also global quality of life and economic vitality. In this way, Germany could again be perceived as the world’s most stable country, a point of orientation. That would likely lead to both economic and political influence.
Of course, countless new sub-narratives must also find their way into our many life domains. What is democracy in the age of AI? What is family? What is work? Many questions remain open. But at the core, we must let go of industrial narratives—not only because they are wrong, but because they increasingly feel wrong to more and more people. And that is fatal.
The Value of Good Narratives
Narratives are not marketing slogans. They are deeply rooted stories that provide orientation, release energy, and shape societies. So when we ask: Which narratives do we need for the future? the answer is: narratives that allow us to connect our diversity, our values, and our creativity with digitality.
The future will not be written by algorithms. It will be born of the stories we tell ourselves and each other. Stories that inspire courage, that connect, that open up possibilities. Stories that turn German Angst into German Zukunft.
And by the way: AI itself is not the most important technology we must focus on. But it can help other technologies—in medicine, mobility, and even in strengthening social cohesion—find new pathways. That is, if we use it based on our values and to reinforce them. Otherwise, it cannot.