Download or read book The Ingenuity Gap written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-01-29 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Human beings have been smart enough to turn nature to their ends, generate vast wealth for themselves, and double their average life span. But are they smart enough to solve the problems of the 21st century?” -- Thomas Homer-Dixon In The Ingenuity Gap, Thomas Homer-Dixon, "global guru" (the Toronto Star), asks: is our world becoming too complex, too fast-paced to manage? The challenges facing us converge, intertwine, and remain largely beyond our ken. Most of suspect the "experts don't really know what's going on; that as a species we've released forces that are neither managed nor manageable. We are fast approaching a time when we may no longer be able to control a world that increasingly exceeds our grasp. This is "the ingenuity gap" -- the term coined by Thomas Homer-Dixon -- the critical gap between our need for practical, innovative ideas to solve complex problems and our actual supply of those ideas. Through gripping narrative stories and incidents that exemplify his arguments, he takes us on a world tour that begins with a heartstopping description of the tragic crash of United Airlines Flight 232 from Denver to Chicago and includes Las Vegas in its desert, a wilderness beach in British Columbia, and his solitary search for a little girl in Patna, India. He shows how, in our complex world, while poor countries are particularly vulnerable to ingenuity gaps, our own rich countries are not immune, and we are caught between a requirement for ingenuity and an increasingly uncertain supply. When the gap widens, political disintegration and violent upheaval can result, reaching into our own economies and daily lives in subtle ways. In compelling, lucid, prose, he makes real the problems we face and suggests how we might overcome them.
Download or read book The Ingenuity Gap written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2002-08-13 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite all of society’s advances, our problems proliferate. Wars abound, environmental degradation accelerates, economies topple overnight, and pandemics such as AIDS and tuberculosis continue to spread. The Internet and other media help to disseminate knowledge, but they’ve also created an “info-glut” and left us too little time to process it. What’s more, advances in technology have made the world so bewilderingly fast-paced and complex that fewer people are able even to grasp the problems, let alone generate solutions. That space between the problems that arise and our ability to solve them is “the ingenuity gap,” and as we careen towards an increasingly harried and hectic future, the gap seems only to widen. As he explores the possible consequences of this gap, Thomas Homer-Dixon offers an absorbing assessment of the state of the world and our ability to fix it. Culling from an astounding array of fields–from economics to evolution, political science to paleontology, computers to communications –he integrates his vast knowledge into an accessible and engaging argument. This is a book with profound implications for everyone that we can ill afford to ignore.
Download or read book The Ingenuity Gap written by Thomas F. Homer-Dixon and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Commanding Hope written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2022-06-14 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Calling on history, cutting-edge research, complexity science and even The Lord of the Rings, renowned thought leader Thomas Homer-Dixon lays out the tools we can command to rescue a world on the brink. For three decades, Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down, has examined the threats to our future security—predicting a deteriorating global environment, extreme economic stresses, mass migrations, social instability and wide political violence if humankind continued on its current course. He was called The Doom Meister, but we now see how prescient he was. Today, just about everything we've known and relied on (our natural environment, economy, societies, cultures and institutions) is changing dramatically—too often for the worse. Without radical new approaches, our planet will become unrecognizable as well as poorer, more violent and more authoritarian. In his latest work (dedicated to his young children), he calls on his extraordinary knowledge of complexity science, of how societies work and can evolve, and of our capacity to handle threats, to show that we can shift human civilization onto a decisively new path if we mobilize our minds, spirits, imaginations and collective values. Commanding Hope marshals a fascinating, accessible argument for reinvigorating our cognitive strengths and belief systems to affect urgent systemic change, strengthen our economies and cultures, and renew our hope in a positive future for everyone on Earth.
Download or read book The Ingenuity Gap written by and published by CSIS. This book was released on with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Upside of Down written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-02-05 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the #1 bestselling and Governor General’s Literary Award-winning The Ingenuity Gap – an essential addition to the bookshelf of every thinking person with a stake in our world and our civilization. This is a groundbreaking, essential book for our times. Thomas Homer-Dixon brings to bear his formidable understanding of the urgent problems that confront our world to clarify their scope and deep causes. The Upside of Down provides a vivid picture of the immense stresses that are simultaneously converging on our societies and threatening a breakdown that would profoundly shake civilization. It shows, too, how we can choose a better route into the future. With the immediacy that characterized his award-winning international bestseller, The Ingenuity Gap, Homer-Dixon takes us on a remarkable journey – from the fall of the Roman empire to the devastation of the 9/11 attacks in New York, from Toronto in the 2003 blackout to the ancient temples of Lebanon and the wildfires of California. Incorporating the newest findings from an astonishing array of disciplines, he argues that the great stresses our world is experiencing – global warming, energy scarcity, population imbalances, and widening gaps between rich and poor – can’t be looked at independently. As these stresses combine and converge, the risk of breakdown rises. The first signs are appearing in the wastelands of the Arctic, the mud-clogged streets of Gonaïves, Haiti, and the volatile regions of the Middle East and Asia. But while the consequences of denial in our more perilous world are dire, Homer-Dixon makes clear that we can use our emerging understanding of the complex systems in which we live to avoid catastrophic collapse in a way the Roman empire could not. This vitally important new book shows how, in the face of breakdown, we can still provide for the renewal of our global civilization. We are creating the conditions for catastrophe, but by understanding the underlying principles that make human and natural systems resilient – and by working together to put those principles into effect – we can still limit the severity of collapse and foster regeneration, innovation, and renewal.
Download or read book Environment Scarcity and Violence written by Thomas F. Homer-Dixon and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Earth's human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Thomas Homer-Dixon argues in this sobering book that these environmental scarcities will have profound social consequences--contributing to insurrections, ethnic clashes, urban unrest, and other forms of civil violence, especially in the developing world. Homer-Dixon synthesizes work from a wide range of international research projects to develop a detailed model of the sources of environmental scarcity. He refers to water shortages in China, population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and land distribution in Mexico, for example, to show that scarcities stem from the degradation and depletion of renewable resources, the increased demand for these resources, and/or their unequal distribution. He shows that these scarcities can lead to deepened poverty, large-scale migrations, sharpened social cleavages, and weakened institutions. And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in Chiapas, Mexico and ongoing turmoil in many African and Asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity. Homer-Dixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. But he argues that the violent consequences of scarcity should not be underestimated--especially when about half the world's population depends directly on local renewables for their day-to-day well-being. In the next decades, he writes, growing scarcities will affect billions of people with unprecedented severity and at an unparalleled scale and pace. Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence.
Download or read book Prologue and Chapter 1 Careening Into the Future The Ingenuity Gap written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap written by Wendy Welch and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2012-10-02 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inspiring true story about losing your place, finding your purpose, and building a community one book at a time. Wendy Welch and her husband had always dreamed of owning a bookstore, so when they left their high-octane jobs for a simpler life in an Appalachian coal town, they seized an unexpected opportunity to pursue thier dream. The only problems? A declining U.S. economy, a small town with no industry, and the advent of the e-book. They also had no idea how to run a bookstore. Against all odds, but with optimism, the help of their Virginian mountain community, and an abiding love for books, they succeeded in establishing more than a thriving business - they built a community. The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap is the little bookstore that could: how two people, two cats, two dogs, and thirty-eight thousand books helped a small town find its heart. It is a story about people and books, and how together they create community.
Download or read book The U S Technology Skills Gap written by Gary J. Beach and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-07-10 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is a widening “skills gap” in science and math education threatening America’s future? That is the seminal question addressed in The U.S. Technology Skills Gap, a comprehensive 104-year review of math and science education in America. Some claim this “skills gap” is “equivalent to a permanent national recession” while others cite how the gap threatens America’s future economic, workforce employability and national security. This much is sure: America’s math and science skills gap is, or should be, an issue of concern for every business and information technology executive in the United States and The U.S Technology Skills Gap is the how-to-get involved guidebook for those executives laying out in a compelling chronologic format: The history of the science and math skills gap in America Explanation of why decades of astute warnings were ignored Inspiring examples of private company efforts to supplement public education A pragmatic 10-step action plan designed to solve the problem And a tantalizing theory of an obscure Japanese physicist that suggests America’s days as the global scientific leader are numbered Engaging and indispensable, The U.S. Technology Skills Gap is essential reading for those eager to see America remain a relevant global power in innovation and invention in the years ahead.
Download or read book Crude written by Sonia Shah and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crude is the unexpurgated story of oil, from the circumstances of its birth millions of years ago to the spectacle of its rise as the indispensable ingredient of modern life. In addition to fueling our SUVs and illuminating our cities, crude oil and its byproducts fertilize our produce, pave our roads, and make plastic possible. "Newborn babies," observes author Sonia Shah, "slide from their mothers into petro-plastic-gloved hands, are swaddled in petro-polyester blankets, and are hurried off to be warmed by oil-burning heaters." The modern world is drenched in oil; Crude tells how it came to be. A great human drama emerges, of discovery and innovation, risk, the promise of riches, and the power of greed. Shah infuses recent twists in the story with equal drama, through chronicles of colorful modern-day characters — from the hundreds of Nigerian women who stormed a Chevron plant to a monomaniacal scientist for whom life is the pursuit of this earthblood and its elusive secret. Shah moves masterfully between scientific, economic, political, and social analysis, capturing the many sides of the indispensable mineral that we someday may have to find a way to live without.
Download or read book The City of Good Death written by Priyanka Champaneri and published by Restless Books. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Priyanka Champaneri’s transcendent debut novel brings us inside India’s holy city of Banaras, where the manager of a death hostel shepherds the dying who seek the release of a good death, while his own past refuses to let him go. Banaras, Varanasi, Kashi: India’s holy city on the banks of the Ganges has many names but holds one ultimate promise for Hindus. It is the place where pilgrims come for a good death, to be released from the cycle of reincarnation by purifying fire. As the dutiful manager of a death hostel in Kashi, Pramesh welcomes the dying and assists families bound for the funeral pyres that burn constantly on the ghats. The soul is gone, the body is burnt, the time is past, he tells them. Detach. After ten years in the timeless city, Pramesh can nearly persuade himself that here, there is no past or future. He lives contentedly at the death hostel with his wife, Shobha, their young daughter, Rani, the hostel priests, his hapless but winning assistant, and the constant flow of families with their dying. But one day the past arrives in the lifeless form of a man pulled from the river—a man with an uncanny resemblance to Pramesh. Called “twins” in their childhood village, he and his cousin Sagar are inseparable until Pramesh leaves to see the outside world and Sagar stays to tend the land. After Pramesh marries Shobha, defying his family’s wishes, a rift opens up between the cousins that he has long since tried to forget. Do not look back. Detach. But for Shobha, Sagar’s reemergence casts a shadow over the life she’s built for her family. Soon, an unwelcome guest takes up residence in the death hostel, the dying mysteriously continue to live, and Pramesh is forced to confront his own ideas about death, rebirth, and redemption. Told in lush, vivid detail and with an unforgettable cast of characters, The City of Good Death is a remarkable debut novel of family and love, memory and ritual, and the ways in which we honor the living and the dead. PRAISE FOR THE CITY OF GOOD DEATH “In Champaneri’s ambitious, vivid debut, the dying come to the holy city of Kashi to die a good death that frees them from the burden of reincarnation…. In sharp prose, Champaneri explores the power of stories—those the characters tell themselves, those told about them, and those they believe. . . . This epic, magical story of death teems with life.” —Publishers Weekly “Brimming with characters whose lives overlap and whose stories interweave, Champaneri’s exquisite debut delves into the consequences of the past, and how stories that are told can become reality even when they contain barely a shred of truth. As Pramesh discovers, the bitterness of past wounds can bring hope for redemption and life.” —Bridget Thoreson, Booklist “Lush prose evokes the thick, close atmosphere of Kashi and the intricate religious practices upon which life and death depend. Rumor and superstition hold sway over even the most level-headed people, twisting what’s explainable into something extraordinary—with tragic consequences. . . . The City of Good Death is a breathtaking, unforgettable novel about how remembering the past is just as important as moving on.” —Eileen Gonzalez, Foreword Reviews, Starred Review "Champaneri’s Kashi is teeming and vivid . . . the book frequently charms, and it's as full of humor, warmth, and mystery as Kashi’s own marketplace." —Kirkus Reviews “The City of Good Death is the debut novel of Priyanka Champaneri but it has the confidence of a master storyteller. Drawing on the rich literary traditions of Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy, Champaneri’s epic saga will satisfy armchair travelers thirsty for adventure, and sick of looking out their windows.” —Chicago Review of Books "In intricate detail and with remarkable skill, Champaneri writes a powerful tale about the pull of the past and our aching need to understand the mysteries and misunderstandings that thwart our relationships. An atmospheric and immersive debut with a rich cast of characters you won’t soon forget." —Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop
Download or read book Global Population Health and Well Being in the 21st Century written by George Lueddeke, PhD and published by Springer Publishing Company. This book was released on 2015-11-05 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is a remarkable, much-needed book that fills a significant gap in the health and social care literature in the early decades of the 21st century—public, global, clinical, ecological. It is powerful, ambitious, comprehensive, and sweeping at the same time that it is visionary, focused, and deep. Its power and passion are about the potential of population health and well-being optimally applied around the globe to help in creating a world that is healthier, safer, more just, and more sustainable.” —Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, Alumni Distinguished Professor and Dean UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (From the Foreword) Drawing on current research and the expertise of world-recognized leaders in public, global, clinical, and social health in both developed and developing nations, this book delivers an evidence-based examination of 21st-century challenges in global population health and well-being. With special attention given to major initiatives of the United Nations, especially its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2016–2030, and the priorities of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, Dr. Lueddeke articulates an imperative to adopt a “One World, One Health” view that recognizes the interdependence of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. The book/text promotes innovative and transformative paradigms for global public health practice, curricula, workforce training, and leadership. Intended for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in global public health, it will also be a welcome addition to the libraries of practitioners and policy-makers at all levels in the public/population/global health continuum. KEY CONTENT AREAS INCLUDE: The historical context of public health from early medicine to present day Exemplary educational initiatives: WHO education guidelines; curriculum commentaries from China, South Africa, and Cuba; a proposed Global Framework for Public Health Services and Functions; and case studies from South America (PAHO/ WHO), India (IPHF), and South Africa (PHASA) The changing roles and educational expectations of public and global health professionals in the early decades of the 21st century The complex interdependence of natural, socioeconomic, and political systems at local, national, regional, and global levels The causes of interstate conflicts and longer-term challenges Leading change in a new era, transforming mind-sets, and improving and sustaining the health and well-being of the planet and its people An epilogue on global health, governance, and education with contributions from a think tank of 35 practitioners from 27 nations Supplemental materials, including text aims and objectives and a guide to research and learning resources developed by experts in the United States, Brazil, and the Netherlands, are available as digital downloads ALSO HIGHLIGHTED: 65 profiles of leading global health (and health-related) organizations 15 profiles of highly recognized schools and institutes of public health
Download or read book Hurry Up and Slow Down written by Paul Faris and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To explore the idea of education to close the ingenuity gap I use Thomas Homer-Dixon's work to define ingenuity. The notion that the supply of ingenuity to solve our technical and social problems is not keeping pace with the ingenuity required to solve those problems is called the ingenuity gap. Man-made technological developments are increasing the density, intensity, and pace of globalisation. People must reorganise decision-making organisations and problem-solving methods to pragmatically combat the growing ingenuity gap. John Dewey's work illustrates the fundamental attitudes for the thinking and judgment associated with educating for ingenuity. Howard Gardner's idea that truth, beauty, and morality ought to form the core values and tenets of the philosophy of educating for ingenuity is integral to this thesis. The act of teaching facilitates the invitation to the communication necessary to foster ingenuity. John Novak-discusses the five relationships of educational leadership that enhance an environment of ingenuity. The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an existing model of global education, one that defines some of the school experiences and academic development of core values of educating for ingenuity. Expanding upon the structure of the IB and other research within this thesis, I speculate upon what my school, where educating for ingenuity so as to close the ingenuity gap is the goal, would be like.
Download or read book Strategic Doing written by Edward Morrison and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten skills for agile leadership Complex challenges are all around us—they impact our companies, our communities, and our planet. This complexity and the emergence of networks is changing the practice of strategic management. Today’s leaders need to understand how to design and guide complex collaborations to accelerate innovation and change—collaborations that cross boundaries both inside and outside organizations. Strategic Doing introduces you to the new disciplines of agile strategy and collaborative leadership. You’ll learn how to design and guide complex collaborations by following a discipline of simple rules that you won’t find anywhere else. • Unleash the power of true collaboration • Learn and master the 10 skills of agile leadership • Apply individual skills to targeted situations • Introduces a new discipline of leadership strategy Filled with compelling case studies, Strategic Doing outlines a new discipline of leadership strategy specifically designed for open, loosely-connected networks.
Download or read book Design to Live written by Azra Aksamija and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The power of design to create a life worth living even in a refugee camp: designs, inventions, and artworks from the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan. This book shows how, even in the most difficult conditions--forced displacement, trauma, and struggle--design can help create a life worth living. Design to Live documents designs, inventions, and artworks created by Syrian refugees living in the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan. Through these ingenious and creative innovations--including the vertical garden, an arrangement necessitated by regulations that forbid planting in the ground; a front hall, fashioned to protect privacy; a baby swing made from recycled desks; and a chess set carved from a broomstick--refugees defy the material scarcity, unforgiving desert climate, and cultural isolation of the camp. Written in close collaboration with the residents of the camp, with text in both English and Arabic, Design to Live, reflects two perspectives on the camp: people living and working in Azraq and designers reflecting on humanitarian architecture within the broader field of socially engaged art and design. Architectural drawings, illustrations, photographs, narratives, and stories offer vivid testimony to the imaginative and artful ways that residents alter and reconstruct the standardized humanitarian design of the camp--and provide models that can be replicated elsewhere. The book is the product of a three-year project undertaken by MIT Future Heritage Lab, researchers and students with Syrian refugees at the Azraq Refugee Camp, CARE, Jordan, and the German-Jordanian University. Copublication with Future Heritage Lab, MIT
Download or read book Carbon Shift written by Thomas Homer-Dixon and published by Random House of Canada Limited. This book was released on 2009 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “We are now so abusing the Earth that it may rise and move back to the hot state it was in fifty-five million years ago, and if it does, most of us, and our descendants, will die.” —James Lovelock, leading climate expert and author of The Revenge of Gaia “I don’t see why people are so worried about global warming destroying the planet — peak oil will take care of that.” Matthew Simmons, energy investment banker and author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy The twin crises of climate change and peaking oil production are converging on us. If they are not to cook the planet and topple our civilization, we will need informed and decisive policies, clear-sighted innovation, and a lucid understanding of what is at stake. We will need to know where we stand, and which direction we should start out in. These are the questions Carbon Shift addresses. Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down, argues that the two problems are really one: a carbon problem. We depend on carbon energy to fuel our complex economies and societies, and at the same time this very carbon is fatally contaminating our atmosphere. To solve one of these problems will require solving the other at the same time. In other words, we still have a chance to tackle two monumental challenges with one innovative solution: clean, low-carbon energy. Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada’s world-class experts to explore the question of where we stand now, and where we might be headed. It explores the economics, the geology, the politics, and the science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what they think are the most important facets of the complex problem before us. There are no experts in Canada better positioned to explain the world that awaits us just beyond the horizon, and no better guide to that future than this collection of their thoughts. Densely packed with information, but accessibly written and powerfully timely, Carbon Shift will be an indispensable handbook to the difficult choices that lie ahead. David Hughes is a former senior geoscientist with the Geological Survey of Canada David Keith is Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment, University of Calgary Jeff Rubin is Chief Economist, Chief Strategist and Managing Director, CIBC World Markets Mark Jaccard is professor of environmental economics in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University and former member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) William Marsden is an investigative reporter and author of Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn’t Seem to Care) Jeffrey Simpson is a Globe and Mail national columnist and author, with Mark Jaccard, of Hot Air: Meeting Canada’s Climate Change Challenge With a foreword by Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress and What is America?
