What do India, France, Mexico, Japan, Britain, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and the USA have in common? Answer: all of them had elections in 2024.

This year, voters in more than 60 countries went to the polls, representing almost half the world's population.¹ No wonder that the Merriam-Webster dictionary chose "polarisation" as its word of the year. This describes a society where people have different views, and the gap between those views grows larger and more extreme over time.²

However, politics was not the only place with competing ideas. In fact, 2024 was filled with original thinking. Here are four big ideas from 2024:

1. Return of the right. Across the world, right-wing ideas are becoming popular. These include resistance to immigration, attacks on the eliteThe richest, most powerful, best-educated or best-trained members of society. and policies like protecting local industry through tariffsA form of tax on imports. Each product will have a different tariff - for some EU dairy products, such as French cheese, tariffs in the UK will be more than 30%.. In France, Austria and Romania, far-right parties came close to power. Meanwhile, populistThe term comes from the People's Party, which operated in the USA in the 1890s. Now, it is often used to refer to any movement that makes a distinction between the "people" and the corrupt "establishment". leaders like Donald Trump in America and Narendra Modi in India dominated their elections.³

2. Wonders of wellness. In 2024, more people started to recognise the link between health and happiness. Celebrities began wearing the Oura ring, which monitors your sleep, or else using the Zoe app to check on their gut health. Meanwhile, sales of dehumidifiers, water filters and SPF50 sun cream increased.⁴

3. Bitcoin breakthrough. Some call cryptocurrencyA digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralised system using cryptography, rather than by a centralised authority. the future of money. This year, the value of Bitcoin soared past $100,000 (£79,200) - an important milestone. And this month Donald Trump promised to "do something great in crypto",⁵ encouraging banks, pension funds, and even ordinary citizens to start investing.

4. Nuclear renewal. In the 1990s and 2000s, use of nuclear energyThe use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. It produces nearly zero greenhouse gas emissions. fell fast, after terrifying accidents involving reactors. But global energy shortages have made nuclear power popular again in countries such as Britain, Japan and America. Tech giants are also investing in nuclear power because AIA computer programme that has been designed to think.  and data centresA large group of computer servers used by organisations to store, process and distribute very large amounts of data. use so much energy.⁶

Some people think a single year can change the course of history. If, one decade from now, the world is full of new houses, nuclear power stations and Bitcoin credit cards, we will know the ideas of 2024 made a lasting difference.

But other people think history is a process of gradual change. Even the most revolutionary thinking takes a long time to develop and spread. Besides, lots of ideas generate attention, yet never influence people's everyday lives.

It is too early to tell whether 2024 was a turning point. But the exciting and frightening ideas that emerged this year will give people plenty to think about.  

Was it an intellectual tipping point?

Yes: This year has changed how people think about far-right politics, nuclear power, money, health and house building. Any one of these ideas could profoundly alter our everyday lives.

No: It is exciting to think that one idea could change the world. In reality, people are slow to adopt new ways of thinking, while historical changes take time to embed.

Or... It is too early to tell whether 2024 was an intellectual revolution. New ideas only matter once they enter politics, business, culture and the public conversation.