Peter Diamandis, executive chairman of the XPrize Foundation, believes humans have an unprecedented opportunity to solve problems at a global scale.

“A single individual,” Diamandis says, “now has access to more computational power than heads of nations or large corporations had 20 years ago.”

In this conversation with Quartz reporter Corinne Purtill, Diamandis encourages earthlings to take inspiration from science fiction and dream big: “Rather than waiting for the future to occur, we’re living in a time where you can actually proactively create that future—whatever it might be.”