latest links
Category: 21st Century Society
Human Enhancement: Bioliberation or Biothreat?
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyBiotechnology | Comments
Professor Julian Savalescu speaking in Oxford on biotechnology.
The Emphatic Civilisation
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyEvolution of consciousnessOne Future | SOURCE: RSA | Comments
Talk by Jeremy Rifkin with some frakin' great artistry to go.
Jeffrey Sachs - The Deep Forces of Globalisation
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyFuture StudiesOne Future | Comments
Great talk from December 2007 about the complex of issues in globalisation. I think i should explain my okness with the word "globalisation" on my blog, as it's a pretty dirty word these days!
Robert Wright points out in his book Nonzero that the entire pattern of human history from the day dot has been a story of greater and greater networks of association and unification. From small tribes to chiefdoms and nation states to empires to global collectives there is a very distinct trend in cultural evolution toward greater and greater levels of unification that essentially points to a unified world at some point sooner or later. It's inevitable. The unification of Europe is to be expected, and further developments, like a genuine form of global governance is eventually likely. So any good talk on this general process is of great interest to me. I would call this process (at this point) - globalisation, and I think this is the way Sachs is using the word here - if you have a better name let me know! Come to think of it - I think we should steal this word back from the corporate multinationals and the big superpowers, it belongs to all of us.
Sachs talk also contains this great quote form President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis:
"Our problems are man made - therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable - and we believe they can do it again...."
Images of 2008
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyOne Future | SOURCE: Boston Globe | Comments
Collection of must see images from 2008.
Part 1 Images of 2008
Part 2 Images of 2008
Part 3 Images of 2008
Running the Numbers - An American Self Portrait
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyState of the planetUSA | Comments
Extraordinary photographic artwork visually depicting, through mass replication of objects, the stunning statistics of mass consumption in the U.S.A.
World Internet Map 2007
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyDigital Age | Comments
North America and Europe concentrate the two largest groups of Internet assets with a total share of 22.5% for Europe and 55.9% for North America
A Global Democratic Movement Is About to Pop
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyEvolution of DemocracyNew Forms of Governance | SOURCE: Alternet | Comments
Beautifully written article Paul Hawken on the massive groundswell in NGO's (Non-Government Organisations) and the development of a civil society over the last few decades. NGO's are fast becoming a new global structure of governance within all nations and internationally. Interested in global governance? Sit up and take notice. Any global system of governance will be founded upon the developments in this new and very global mass movement.
The Arlington Institute
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyFuture StudiesState of the planet | Comments
Probably the most active, reliable and well known institution for future studies, with great publications and projects like FUTURE Edition, an email newsletter with up to the minute info on all category of important developments; TAI Alerts (also by email) and The World's Biggest Problems portal, covering major global issues such as peak oil, water scarcity, economic crisis, species extinction and climate change.
Treat yourself and sign up for FUTURE Edition.
Minature Earth
CATEGORY: 21st Century Society | Comments
If the entire population of the Earth was 100 people...
Hans Rosling's amazing statistical animations
CATEGORY: 21st Century Society | SOURCE: TED | Comments
A professor of global health at Swedens Karolinska Institute, Han's Rosling developed the free software Gapminder which Han's demonstrates in these stunning talks at the ever incredible TED.
ASF Slide Presentations
CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyFuture StudiesScience and Technology | SOURCE: ASF | Comments
Through this collection of powerpoint presentations (from previous talks), Jon Smart, president of Accelerating Studies Foundation, provides an opportunity to glimpse his unique perspective on the sprawling complexity of human emergence in the 21st century.