Social forecasting, future studies Books

Book SynopsisShould our priorities change when we consider allthe lives yet to come?Trade Review'I was captivated by MacAskill’s rolling out of the possibilities of a longtermist approach to the now. It is vital to do as he does, to take ethics out of the safety of lecture-hall thought experiments, paradoxes and what-ifs and into the turbulent real world, where the dynamic winds of history blow and where is massing on the horizon that monstrous, swelling tsunami that we call the future. This is a book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damn readable… well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.' —Stephen Fry'MacAskill is probably one of the most influential thinkers in the world.' —The Times, Best Books of 2022‘A brilliant book that makes clear both how much is at stake when it comes to the long term, and the incredible opportunities we have to shape it. It has changed how I think about my time on earth.’ —Max Roser‘This book is a monumental event. William MacAskill is one of the most important philosophers alive today, and this is his magnum opus.’ —Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind'No living philosopher has had a greater impact upon my ethics than Will MacAskill. And much of the good I now do is the direct result of his influence. In What We Owe The Future, MacAskill has transformed my thinking once again, by patiently dismantling the lazy intuitions that rendered me morally blind to the interests of future generations. This is an altogether thrilling and necessary book.' —Sam Harris'MacAskill’s case for “longtermism” – “the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time” – is overwhelmingly persuasive. But it’s also unapologetically optimistic and bracingly realistic: this is by some distance the most inspiring book on “ethical living” I’ve ever read… a powerful argument in favour of freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity… The overall promise of this thrilling book is of a life both less burdened by ethical guilt – by beating yourself up over every choice of groceries or transportation – and much more effective at actually helping humanity.' —Guardian'An optimistic look at the future that moved me to tears.' —Joseph Gordon-Levitt'A profoundly optimistic exploration of the opportunities our descendants might enjoy, and the steps we might take to help them… there are plenty of insights and surprises along the way… MacAskill has thrust an important and neglected argument into the spotlight, while making it vivid and fun to read. He hopes that this book will change the world, and it might.' —Financial Times'Remarkable… MacAskill’s command of factual detail is admirable. So are his lightness of prose and facility in explaining tricky arguments… Is our world better off for containing William MacAskill?... I say yes… MacAskill is a worthy heir to Derek Parfit’s philosophical legacy, adding deep factual research and accessible writing to a provocative line of thought.' —TLS

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Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era.In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the bestselling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next ten years of rapid technological disruption. Technology is accelerating far more quickly than anyone could have imagined. During the next decade, we will experience more upheaval and create more wealth than we have in the past hundred years. In this gripping and insightful roadmap to our near future, Diamandis and Kotler investigate how wave after wave of exponentially accelerating technologies will impact both our daily lives and society as a whole. What happens as AI, robotics, virtual reality, digital biology, and sensors crash into 3D printing, blockchain, and global gigabit networks? How will these convergences transform today’s legacy industries? What will happen to the way we raise our kids, govern our nations, and care for our planet? Diamandis, a space-entrepreneur-turned-innovation-pioneer, and Kotler, bestselling author and peak performance expert, probe the science of technological convergence and how it will reinvent every part of our lives—transportation, retail, advertising, education, health, entertainment, food, and finance—taking humanity into uncharted territories and reimagining the world as we know it. As indispensable as it is gripping, The Future Is Faster Than You Think provides a prescient look at our impending future.Trade Review“The acceleration and convergence of exponential technologies will completely reshape every industry and society over the next decade. The Future is Faster Than You Think is the first book to thoroughly map this new territory. A fantastic guidebook for leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and anyone who wants to understand the massive changes ahead.” —Ray Kurzweil, author of New York Times bestsellers The Singularity Is Near and How to Create a Mind “Diamandis and Kotler have written a powerful and beautiful masterpiece outlining a compelling future for humanity. The Future is Faster Than You Think offers CEOs and entrepreneurs a clear vision on the transformation of every major industry this decade. Required reading for anyone who wants to surf above the tsunami of change.” —Tony Robbins, New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, life and business strategist “In their amazing book The Future Is Faster Than You Think, Diamandis and Kotler offer us a hopeful and powerful vision of the future. Packed with amazing stories, mindblowing technology and deep lessons about all of the extraordinary opportunities before us—a must read!” —Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE, and first private female astronaut “Exponential technologies will transform every industry this decade. In this book, Diamandis and Kotler provide a deep and thorough researched view of the road ahead. Every entrepreneur and leader needs to understand the transformation and opportunities to plan and prepare. The future is faster than you think.” —Pharrell Williams, Grammy Award–winning musician and artist "An enthusiastic look at the technologies of the future—which is just about now..... Diamandis and Kotler are cheerleaders for disruption, the scale and speed of which are increasing. But they're also realists, noting where there's more sizzle than steak even when they promise really cool things....Welcome reading for the futurists and technogeeks in the audience." —Kirkus Reviews "A gazillion books ponder the social and economic effects of disruptors like AI, virtual reality, 3-D printing, blockchain, robotics, and digital biology. What's intriguing about The Future Is Faster Than You Think is the speculation from Diamondis and Kotler about what happens when all that stuff starts coming together. The implication for extending lifetimes is especially intriguing." —Inc's “New Business Books You Need to Read in 2020” "Heartiest congratulations to Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler on this third volume in the Exponential Mindset Series. It is a brilliant achievement, one that makes an exceptionally important contribution to thought leadership." —Blogging on Business "Where The Future Is Faster Than You Think excels, and what makes the book so enjoyable to read, is the infectious excitement that the authors bring to talking about new technologies." —Inside Higher Ed "For anyone remotely interested in what the future of technology holds, this book is for you. The authors present logical and well-thought-out arguments for technological advances in a variety of fields. Business leaders and entrepreneurs will want to keep this as a reference for ushering their companies to the future.” —Book Pal, 2020 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award

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Book SynopsisA greener world won't come for freeTrade Review'A remarkably hopeful and useful book...The climate crisis leaves us no choice but to build a new world and as Sanderson makes clear, we are capable of making it a better one than the dirty and dangerous planet we’ve come to take for granted.' -- Bill McKibben, Observer book of the week‘Sanderson deftly guides us through the convolutions of which company bought what from which, and he livens up that potentially desiccated subject matter with an eye for characterful detail… Despite the seemingly insuperable geopolitical quandaries with which it deals, the tone of Sanderson’s book is one of cautious optimism.’ -- The Times‘As we glide along serenely in our electric vehicle, recharging it with clean solar power and perhaps feeling a little smug, we prefer not to be reminded of the vast industries that got us there, industries that gouge out the landscape, exploit workers, spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and engage in ruthless geopolitical power plays. Along the way, as Henry Sanderson shows in his essential book, we have become dangerously dependent on China which now dominates global battery supply. Under President Xi Jinping, who uses economic blackmail to extract political concessions, China has got a lock on the future. All this can change and Volt Rush shows us how.’ -- Clive Hamilton, author of Hidden Hand'A fascinating study' * The Times *‘A potent reminder to green power advocates that a world running on batteries and sunshine may not fight over oil, but it won’t necessarily be free of conflict’ * Financial Times *‘It’s a vital contribution to the emerging literature that’s pulling back the curtain on energy realities.’ -- Wall Street Journal‘The urgency of a green transition means the world faces new power struggles over access to scarce metals and minerals. Sanderson carefully walks us through the minefields that are the world's finite supplies of lithium, cobalt and nickel and reveals with startling immediacy the Machiavellian machinations for control over these precious resources. A riveting guide to our perilous future.’ -- Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for the Green New Deal'An excellent book…provides much food for thought' -- Literary Review‘Takes us on a carefully considered and well explained journey to show that [the switch to electric vehicles] may not be as simple a transition as we hoped for… Sanderson does a good job of getting the reader up to speed in terms of what goes into an electric battery, and why we need to be cognisant of the environmental impacts… very informative and well written in terms of the potentially toxic brew required to power EVs… a relevant and vital book.’ -- Irish Tech News‘From China to Congo to Chile to the U.S., Sanderson lucidly reveals the global connections behind the complex processes of battery production and mining… Any reader interested in environmental studies, green politics, the global energy sector, or the mining industry will appreciate Sanderson's deep dive into the transition from fossil fuels to green and clean energy, and how this transition will affect society now and in the near future.’ -- Booklist'Sanderson’s smooth, limpid storytelling brightens the deadening business of commodities trading: attention to the bizarre, often unpleasant characters populating the industry gives his narrative a personable shine.' -- Red Pepper'Volt Rush makes a great contribution in understanding what a green future entails—and what costs it might involve right now.’ -- Foreign Policy‘This is a terrific book. Henry Sanderson brings alive one of the most fateful questions of our time: who will control the resources that power a post-carbon world? What makes the book so compelling is the cast of colourful characters he meets and the insightful judgements he makes.’ -- James Kynge, FT China editor‘A must-read book, well written and investigated, on one of the most important ecological challenges we’ll face in the next decades.’ -- Guillaume Pitron, author of The Rare Metals War

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Book SynopsisIn the twentieth century, wealth and power was dictated by access to oil. This century will have different kingmakers, perhaps different wars.''A remarkably hopeful and useful book...The climate crisis leaves us no choice but to build a new world and as Sanderson makes clear, we are capable of making it a better one than the dirty and dangerous planet we’ve come to take for granted.'' Bill McKibben, Observer book of the week We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and computers. Increasingly, we rely on them to power our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining. Sanderson journeys to meet the characters, companies, and nations scrambling for the new resources, linking remote mines in the Congo and Chile’s Atacama Desert to giant Chinese battery factories, shadowy commodity traders, secretive billionaires, a new generation of scientists attempting Trade Review'A remarkably hopeful and useful book...The climate crisis leaves us no choice but to build a new world and as Sanderson makes clear, we are capable of making it a better one than the dirty and dangerous planet we’ve come to take for granted.' -- Bill McKibben, Observer book of the week‘Sanderson deftly guides us through the convolutions of which company bought what from which, and he livens up that potentially desiccated subject matter with an eye for characterful detail… Despite the seemingly insuperable geopolitical quandaries with which it deals, the tone of Sanderson’s book is one of cautious optimism.’ -- The Times‘As we glide along serenely in our electric vehicle, recharging it with clean solar power and perhaps feeling a little smug, we prefer not to be reminded of the vast industries that got us there, industries that gouge out the landscape, exploit workers, spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and engage in ruthless geopolitical power plays. Along the way, as Henry Sanderson shows in his essential book, we have become dangerously dependent on China which now dominates global battery supply. Under President Xi Jinping, who uses economic blackmail to extract political concessions, China has got a lock on the future. All this can change and Volt Rush shows us how.’ -- Clive Hamilton, author of Hidden Hand'A fascinating study' * The Times *‘A potent reminder to green power advocates that a world running on batteries and sunshine may not fight over oil, but it won’t necessarily be free of conflict’ * Financial Times *‘It’s a vital contribution to the emerging literature that’s pulling back the curtain on energy realities.’ -- Wall Street Journal‘The urgency of a green transition means the world faces new power struggles over access to scarce metals and minerals. Sanderson carefully walks us through the minefields that are the world's finite supplies of lithium, cobalt and nickel and reveals with startling immediacy the Machiavellian machinations for control over these precious resources. A riveting guide to our perilous future.’ -- Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for the Green New Deal'An excellent book…provides much food for thought' -- Literary Review‘Takes us on a carefully considered and well explained journey to show that [the switch to electric vehicles] may not be as simple a transition as we hoped for… Sanderson does a good job of getting the reader up to speed in terms of what goes into an electric battery, and why we need to be cognisant of the environmental impacts… very informative and well written in terms of the potentially toxic brew required to power EVs… a relevant and vital book.’ -- Irish Tech News‘From China to Congo to Chile to the U.S., Sanderson lucidly reveals the global connections behind the complex processes of battery production and mining… Any reader interested in environmental studies, green politics, the global energy sector, or the mining industry will appreciate Sanderson's deep dive into the transition from fossil fuels to green and clean energy, and how this transition will affect society now and in the near future.’ -- Booklist'Sanderson’s smooth, limpid storytelling brightens the deadening business of commodities trading: attention to the bizarre, often unpleasant characters populating the industry gives his narrative a personable shine.' -- Red Pepper'Volt Rush makes a great contribution in understanding what a green future entails—and what costs it might involve right now.’ -- Foreign Policy‘This is a terrific book. Henry Sanderson brings alive one of the most fateful questions of our time: who will control the resources that power a post-carbon world? What makes the book so compelling is the cast of colourful characters he meets and the insightful judgements he makes.’ -- James Kynge, FT China editor‘A must-read book, well written and investigated, on one of the most important ecological challenges we’ll face in the next decades.’ -- Guillaume Pitron, author of The Rare Metals War

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Book SynopsisThe founder of one of the world''s leading private intelligence companies offers a thought-provoking analysis of current trends and events, as well as historical and geopolitical patterns, to speculate about the changes that will unfold over the course of the next century. Reprint. A best-selling book.

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Book SynopsisMake. More. Future.Artificial intelligence, big data, modern science, and the internet are all revealing a fundamental truth: The world is vastly more complex and unpredictable than we've allowed ourselves to see.Now that technology is enabling us to take advantage of all the chaos it's revealing, our understanding of how things happen is changing--and with it our deepest strategies for predicting, preparing for, and managing our world. This affects everything, from how we approach our everyday lives to how we make moral decisions and how we run our businesses.Take machine learning, which makes better predictions about weather, medical diagnoses, and product performance than we do--but often does so at the expense of our understanding of how it arrived at those predictions. While this can be dangerous, accepting it is also liberating, for it enables us to harness the complexity of an immense amount of data around us. We are also turning to strategies that avoid anticipating the future altogether, such as A/B testing, Minimum Viable Products, open platforms, and user-modifiable video games. We even take for granted that a simple hashtag can organize unplanned, leaderless movements such as #MeToo.Through stories from history, business, and technology, philosopher and technologist David Weinberger finds the unifying truths lying below the surface of the tools we take for granted--and a future in which our best strategy often requires holding back from anticipating and instead creating as many possibilities as we can. The book’s imperative for business and beyond is simple: Make. More. Future.The result is a world no longer focused on limitations but optimized for possibilities.Trade Review"Weinberger has given us a beautifully written set of mental maps to help keep us aligned with our own futures." -- KMWorldAdvance Praise for Everyday Chaos:Seth Godin, author, This Is Marketing--"My copy is filled with notes on the margins of every page. This is what books are for--a mind-blowing, game-changing, fun-to-read race into the future. Wow."Reid Hoffman, cofounder, LinkedIn; Partner, Greylock--"If you want to better understand the possibilities that machine learning and other forms of AI are creating--and harness the power of these breakthroughs--read this lively and illuminating book!"Aneesh Chopra, former (and first) US Chief Technology Officer, Obama Administration--"Weinberger's thought-provoking call to action is a must-read for business leaders pushing the envelope on innovation, for policy makers seeking to protect the public from undue harm, and for the rest of us who are keen to live better lives but mindful of any unintended consequences."Robin Chase, cofounder and former CEO, Zipcar--"David's writing is just so pleasing, and his ideas so interesting and useful, that I found myself reveling in his words, nudging my partner and saying, 'Let me read you this bit . . . '"Joichi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab--"With classic Weinberger wit and brilliant insight, this book shatters the myth of predictability while delivering grounded, actionable advice for anyone trying to thrive in the everyday chaos that has become our world. A page-turner must-read for everyone."

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Book SynopsisRay Kurzweil, one of the world's leading AI researchers, innovators and futurists, offers a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilisation: reverse-engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines.Trade Review'Kurzweil's vision of our super-enhanced future is completely sane and calmly reasoned, and his book should nicely smooth the path for the earth's robot overlords, who, it turns out, will be us' New York Times'Kurzweil foresees a disease-free world where no one ages and artificial brains make machines human-like - and he is not one to get things wrong' Daily Telegraph'Ray Kurzweil is the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence' Bill Gates'Kurzweil knows a lot about new technology and he knows how to make it sound fun. He is dazzling in his enthusiasm for things to come, and has a grasp of the exciting developments pulsing through the intersection of science and technology' Financial Times

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Book SynopsisThis is a 'Whole Earth Catalog' for the 21st century: an impressive and wide-ranging analysis of what's wrong with our societies, organizations, ideologies, worldviews and cultures - and how to put them right. The book covers the finance system, agriculture, design, ecology, economy, sustainability, organizations and society at large. In it, Daniel Wahl explores ways in which we can reframe and understand the crises that we currently face and explores how we can live our way into the future. Moving from patterns of thinking and believing to our practice of education, design and community living, he systematically shows how we can stop chasing the mirage of certainty and control in a complex and unpredictable world. The book asks how can we collaborate in the creation of diverse regenerative cultures adapted to the unique biocultural conditions of place? How can we create conditions conducive to life? "This book is a valuable contribution to the important discussion of the worldview and value system we need to redesign our businesses, economies, and technologies - in fact, our entire culture - so as to make them regenerative rather than destructive." Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life, coauthor of The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. "This is an excellent addition to the literature on ecological design and it will certainly form a keystone in the foundations of the new MA in Ecological Design Thinking at Schumacher College, Devon. It not only contains a wealth of ideas on what Dr Wahl has termed 'Designing Regenerative Cultures' but what is probably more important, it provides some stimulating new ways of looking at persistent problems in our contemporary culture and hence opens up new ways of thinking and acting in the future." Seaton Baxter OBE, Professor in Ecological Design Thinking, Schumacher College, UKTrade Review"Daniel's book Designing Regenerative Cultures is a wonderful and well-referenced primer for a new paradigm." Satish Kumar "Clearly our ways of thinking have gotten us in some trouble--here are concrete suggestions for some new habits of mind that could help us climb out of our hole!";Bill McKibben, author: Eaarth - Making a Life on a Tough New Planet; co-founder 350.org, and Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College "This is an impressive, broad and forward looking book that integrates design thinking with a diverse range of contemporary and innovative ideas around sustainability, ecology and transformation. Its attention to not just the problems, but also to how address them is timely and much needed. As such the book is now one of the main core programme texts for our MSc Sustainability at the University of Dundee." Professor Ioan Fazey, Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience, University of Dundee. "Daniel Wahl... has the capacity to explain complex and subtle subjects such as systems theory, regenerative design, holistic management, biomimicry, the circular economy, quantum theory ... and much more, succinctly. There are so many paragraphs in this book that I highlighted to return to and savour later on. He is also well versed in the integral, holistic worldview and the processes which support the birth of a new consciousness that will enable these regenerative shifts. His book is not only a collection of well articulated ideas, it is a litany of so many of the world's best projects that are already in existence, balancing theory with practice. There is an unstoppable optimism implicit in this book, however care-worn and cynical the reader may feel." Maddy Harland in Permaculture Magazine. "Designing Regenerative Cultures has gained international acknowledgement for its pragmatic approach to the subject, reframing and questioning the current approaches to the challenges that humankind is currently facing with deeper understanding of the possible solutions surfacing with regenerative design." UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD Aug 2016 "Daniel Wahl has had an important insight that makes this book an essential read for anyone trying to change the world. The necessary catalyst is in the title of this book: "regenerative systems." To quote Wahl, "Sustainability is not a fixed state to reach and then maintain, it is a community-based learning process aimed at increasing the health and resilience of our communities, our bioregional economies, ecosystems, and of the planetary life-support system as a whole." This is the core realization of Rob Hopkins (Transition Handbook) and David Fleming (Lean Logic) as well, but Wahl's book gets to the assembly language programming, explaining how ecological literacy and the social, technological, and entrepreneurial skills required for the transition are the entry point that leads to everything else. Arguably ecological literacy is already the foundation of much that is new in the world of industrial design - it is called biomimicry. Biological and ecological design intelligence is starting to reinvent the way we design communities, businesses, cities, and industries. This book gets out in front of that with the larger picture. We need to do these things, now, or we may not be here in another century. Wahl says, "We need to dare to envision a sustainable world, by re-designing our food systems, transport systems, energy systems, economic systems, and education systems, but most of all, we need to re-envision how we collaborate and how we relate to each other and the natural world." Whether we have time to make this unprecedented change in our social contract is still in doubt. Set your doubts aside for the moment and let this book give you a sense of "... but what if?" If we are going to get this right, it will begin here." Reviewed by Albert Bates, Ecovillage and Permaculture Pioneer, Right Livelihood Award Winner, and author of Climate in Crisis. "6 Star Handbook for Saving Civilization & Earth. This book makes the jump from 5 stars (generally I don't bother to review a book if it is not a four or five star read) to 6 stars - my top ten percent - because of the combination of Questions Asked, glorious color graphics, and the total holistic nature of the book - this is easily a PhD thesis in holistic analytics, true cost economics, and open source everything engineering. Indeed, this book could be used as a first-year reference across any humanities and science domain, they would be the better for it. It is of value to ministers of government, managers of corporations, administrators of non-profit and educational organizations, labor union and religious stewards, and every single citizen planning to be alive in five years and beyond." Reviewed by Robert David Steele on the Public Intelligence Blog and Amazon "Daniel Wahl has compiled a great deal of useful information in a masterful synthesis. That alone is a significant accomplishment, but he's given us more than that. Designing Regenerative Cultures describes the doorway to a possible, indeed, necessary future. We are not fated to the dystopia in prospect. We have, as he writes, the capacity to design and to organize our societies to protect, enhance, and celebrate life. The blueprint was there all along. The awareness of our possibilities is growing. The art and sciences of ecological design are flourishing. The choice, as always, is ours and that of those who will follow." From the Foreword by David Orr (environmentalist and Paul Sears Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont). "This book is a treasure for everyone who is looking for a guide to more sustainable living and a roadmap for re-designing our societies , regenerating our communities , cities and societies in harmony with natural systems and our home planet. Author Daniel Wahl has deep experience to share and his knowledge in this beautiful book will help all those aspiring to be responsible global citizens working for our common future." Hazel Henderson, author and President, Ethical Markets Media , Certified B. Corporation, USA & Brazil "Daniel Wahl's Designing Regenerative Cultures provides an exhaustive review of current thinking on our global challenges as well as a refreshing approach to how we can "live into the questions" that will help us create a beautiful future. Anyone working in sustainability or social innovation will find this book to be a tremendously useful reference and provocative guide for framing regenerative solutions. It is a wonderful blend of passionate vision and practical insight." Denise K. DeLuca, Co-Founder & Director, BCI (Biomimicry for Creative Innovation) "The world is converging on integration and systems thinking, and regeneration of the world is the battle cry of any sentient being in the 21st century. Daniel Wahl provides good insights and inspirations on the index of possibilities -in mass scale regeneration of nature and society." Marcin Jakubowski, PhD, Founder & Executive Director of Open Source Ecology. Designing Regenerative Cultures is a wide ranging synthesis of key knowledge to take us into a more resourceful 21st Century. The book brings forth multiple perspectives on the ultimate challenge of our time. This living material will help one get beyond the bread and circus approach that the mainstream media is foisting upon us, and thereby subtlety turning us into bloated modern Romans without a clue on what really matters, let alone the power to create what matters. Shifting from a narrative of separation and scarcity, to interbeing and abundance opens the conceptual door to the next phase of the human enterprise. Read and absorb this powerful treatise, and learn from the dynamic context Daniel Wahl has created with the publication of his new book. Christopher Zelov conceived and produced the award winning film 'Ecological Design: Inventing the Future'. Recent projects include: A Visit With Magnus, City 21, and Design Outlaws. "To me as a life-long activist nourished on systems thinking and Buddhist teachings, this is one of the most intellectually exciting and soul stirring books I've read in years. I had the sense of drinking it, with pleasure and surprise, not having known what I'd so thirsted for. br> By starting with questions and keeping to questions throughout, Daniel engages the reader, and by example frees her from striving for, or pretending to know, any final answers. This approach -- in itself a rare lesson in systems epistemology - invites trust, openness, and a restructuring of the mind. Among the gifts for which I am especially grateful are these: Conceptual tools for perceiving and experiencing our mutual belonging , and especially what I've come to call the great reciprocity at the heart of the universe. The ways Goethe, Bortoft, Bateson, Maturana, and Varela are brought in, and key insights mediated with economy and clarity. The abundant evidence of the Great Turning, the manifold transition underway to a life-sustaining culture. And, especially valuable to those of an apocalyptic bent like myself, the 'adaptive cycle' of resilient systems, showing that at 'the edge of chaos' comes opportunity for the emergence of greater complexity and intelligence. These are but a few of the ways in which this remarkable book will enrich my thought, my teaching, and my life in this turbulent world of ours." Joanna Macy, environmental activist, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology and author of World as Lover, World as Self and numerous other books. "This is a seriously rich source of perspective on the nature of whole system design. The future is already here and Daniel Wahl has synthesized the wide ranging progress in the emerging field of `regenerating wholeness'. There is a lot of positive and effective activity happening around the planet! Of particular note, the title addresses "us" as a significant and often missing leverage point in our work towards regenerative relationships: our cultural ability to become collaborative weavers, integral to evolving a condition of long-lasting health. This book shows the powerful potential of how all these dimensions of wholeness are coming together." Bill Reed, Regenesis Group "Life on the Planet has sustained itself for billions of years by continually regenerating itself. Our modern industrial culture has interfered with these natural processes to the point of causing massive extinctions of species and threatening our very survival. This book is a valuable contribution to the important discussion of the worldview and value system we need to redesign our businesses, economies, and technologies - in fact, our entire culture - so as to make them regenerative rather than destructive." Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life, coauthor of The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision.Table of ContentsFOREWORD ~ David Orr FOREWORD ~ Graham Leicester INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 - Living the Questions: Why change the narrative now? Questioning dangerous ideologies Facing complexity means befriending uncertainty and ambiguity Caring for Earth is caring for ourselves and our community Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world The 'why' will guide the 'what' and the 'how'Spirituality, soul and solitude in nature Sustainability as a learning journey: pilgrims and apprentices Sustainability is not enough; we need regenerative cultures! CHAPTER 2 - Why choose transformative over sustaining innovation? The Three Horizons of innovation and culture change Evaluating disruptive innovation in the age of transition Transformative innovation is about deep questioning Sensitivity to scale, uniqueness of place and local culture The transformative power of social innovation Collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer collaboration Facilitating systems innovation and culture change CHAPTER 3 - Why do we need to think and act more systemically? Believing is seeing and seeing is believing The whole is more than the sum of its parts From the 'crisis of perception' to the 'systems view of life' Interbeing How can we participate appropriately in complex systems? The IFF World System Model Learning to see nature everywhere Being a process, and seeing in relationships CHAPTER 4 - Why nurture resilience and whole-systems health? Rolling back Earth Overshoot Day Learning to live within planetary boundaries What exactly are resilience and transformative resilience? The adaptive cycle as a dynamic map for resilience thinking Panarchy: a scale-linking perspective of systemic transformation Local and regional community resilience building is going global How can we nurture transformative resilience? From control and prediction to conscious participation, foresight and anticipation CHAPTER 5 - Why take a design-based approach? Design education enables cultural transformation Design is where theory and practice meet Design follows worldview and worldview follows design Ethics and design for regenerative cultures Aesthetics and design Emergence and design Designing for positive emergence (a case study) Scale-linking, salutogenic design for resilience The resurgence of a culture of makers: re-localizing production Collective visioning and design conversations change culture CHAPTER 6 - How can we learn to better design as nature? Ecoliteracy: Learning from living systems Valuing traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous wisdom How does life create conditions conducive to life? Biologically Inspired Innovation Green chemistry and material science Biologically inspired product design Biomimetic architecture Nature's whole system optimization informs community design Living the questions together creates community Industrial ecology and symbiosis are closing the loops Ecologically informed urban and regional planning CHAPTER 7 - Why are regenerative cultures rooted in cooperation? Redesigning agriculture for food sovereignty and subsidiarity Regenerative agriculture: effective responses to climate change Learning from and mimicking healthy ecosystems Redesigning economics based on ecology Creating circular economies Towards a regenerative economy Thriving communities and the solidarity economy Shifting from quantitative to qualitative growth Valuing the commons by cooperatively sharing the gifts of life Earth Law: the enabling constraints of collective living Life's collaborative lessons transform business Co-creating regenerative enterprises Collaboration and empathy as evolutionary success stories Activism revisited: conscious participation and collective intelligence We are coming back to life and this changes everything Learning to listen deeply Inner and outer resilience CONCLUSION - Regenerative cultures are about thriving together

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Book SynopsisThe international bestseller'A manual for thinking clearly in an uncertain world. Read it.' Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow_________________________What if we could improve our ability to predict the future?Everything we do involves forecasts about how the future will unfold. Whether buying a new house or changing job, designing a new product or getting married, our decisions are governed by implicit predictions of how things are likely to turn out. The problem is, we're not very good at it.In a landmark, twenty-year study, Wharton professor Philip Tetlock showed that the average expert was only slightly better at predicting the future than a layperson using random guesswork. Tetlock's latest project – an unprecedented, government-funded forecasting tournament involving over a million individual predictions – has since shown that there are, however, some people with real, demonstrable foresight. These are ordinary people, from former ballroom dancers to retired computer programmers, who have an extraordinary ability to predict the future with a degree of accuracy 60% greater than average. They are superforecasters.In Superforecasting, Tetlock and his co-author Dan Gardner offer a fascinating insight into what we can learn from this elite group. They show the methods used by these superforecasters which enable them to outperform even professional intelligence analysts with access to classified data. And they offer practical advice on how we can all use these methods for our own benefit – whether in business, in international affairs, or in everyday life._________________________'The techniques and habits of mind set out in this book are a gift to anyone who has to think about what the future might bring. In other words, to everyone.' Economist'A terrific piece of work that deserves to be widely read . . . Highly recommended.' Independent'The best thing I have read on predictions . . . Superforecasting is an indispensable guide to this indispensable activity.' The TimesTrade ReviewThe techniques and habits of mind set out in this book are a gift to anyone who has to think about what the future might bring. In other words, to everyone. * Economist *A terrific piece of work that deserves to be widely read . . . Highly recommended. * Independent *This marvelous book tells an exciting story of ordinary people beating experts in a very serious game. It is also a manual for thinking clearly in an uncertain world. Read it. -- Daniel KahnemanFull of excellent advice – it is the best thing I have read on predictions . . . Superforecasting is an indispensable guide to this indispensable activity. * The Times *Philip Tetlock has transformed the science of prediction. * Spectator *The most important book on decision making since Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. * Wall Street Journal *Fascinating and breezily written. * Sunday Times *Superforecasting is a fascinating book. * Daily Mail *Superforecasting is a very good book. In fact it is essential reading. * Management Today *The best way to know if an idea is right is to see if it predicts the future. But which ideas, which methods, which people have a track record of non-obvious predictions vindicated by the course of events? The answers will surprise you, and they have radical implications for politics, policy, journalism, education, and even epistemology – how we can best gain knowledge about the world. The casual style of Superforecasting belies the profundity of its message. -- Steven PinkerSuperforecasting is a rare book that will make you smarter and wiser. One of the giants of behavioral science reveals how to improve at predicting the future. -- Adam GrantThe material in Superforecasting is new, and includes a compendium of best practices for prediction . . . [It offers] us all an opportunity to understand and react more intelligently to the confusing world around us. * New York Times Book Review *Tetlock's 'Ten Commandments For Aspiring Superforecasters' should probably have a place of honor in most business meeting rooms. * Forbes *There isn't a social scientist in the world I admire more than Phil Tetlock. -- Tim HarfordSuperforecasting is the most important scientific study I’ve ever read on prediction. * Bloomberg View *A fascinating study of what it is that makes some forecasters consistently better than others. * International Politico *Tetlock's work is fascinating and important, and he and Gardner have written it up with verve. - Financial Times -- Stephen CaveSuperforecasting by Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner, is one of the most interesting business and finance books published in 2015. -- John Kay * Financial Times *The lessons of superforecasting are keenly relevant to huge swathes of our lives. -- Matthew Syed * The Times *Tetlock writes boldly about wanting to improve what he sees as the bloated, expensive – and not terribly accurate – intelligence apparatus that advises our politicians and drives global affairs. * City A.M. *Philip Tetlock’s Superforecasting is a common-sense guide to thinking about decision-making and the future by a man who knows this terrain like no one else. -- Books of the Year * Bloomberg Business *Tetlock and Gardner believe anyone can improve their forecasting ability by learning from the way they work. If that's true, people in business and finance who make an effort to do so have a lot to gain – and those who don't, much to lose. * Financial Post *What I found most interesting was the continuous process of integrating new information to test and modify existing beliefs … clearly a beneficial skill in financial markets * Citywire *Social science has enormous potential, especially when it combines 'rigorous empiricism with a resistance to absolute answers.' The work of Philip Tetlock possesses these qualities. * Scientific American *A fascinating book. * PR Week *Offers a valuable insight into the future of management. -- CMI Management Book of the Year judgesBoth rigorous and readable. The lessons are directly relevant to business, finance, government, and politics. -- Books of the Year * Bloomberg Business *A scientific analysis of the ancient art of divination which shows that forecasting is a talent. -- Books of the Year * Economist *Captivating . . . [Tetlock's] writing is so engaging and his argument so tantalizing, readers will quickly be drawn into the challenge . . . A must-read field guide for the intellectually curious. * Kirkus Reviews *A top choice [for best book of 2015] among the world’s biggest names in finance and economics . . . Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer, Deutsche Bank Chief U.S. Economist Joe LaVorgna, and Citigroup Vice Chairman Peter Orszag were among those giving it a thumbs-up. * Bloomberg Businessweek *Just as modern medicine began when a farsighted few began to collect data and keep track of outcomes, to trust objective 'scoring' over their own intuitions, it's time now for similar demands to be made of the experts who lead public opinion. It's time for evidence-based forecasting. * Washington Post *Tetlock and his colleagues [have] found that there is such a thing as foresight, and it’s not a gift that’s bestowed upon special people, but is a skill that can be learned and developed . . . To obtain this apparent superpower does not take a PhD or an exceptionally high IQ; it takes a certain mindset. * Guardian *Superforecasting is a very good book. In fact it is essential reading - which I have never said in any of my previous Management Today reviews . . . It should be on every manager's and investor's reading list around the topics du jour of decision-making, prediction and behavioural economics. -- Andrew Wileman * Management Today *Read Philip Tetlock’s Superforecasting, instead of political pundits who don’t what they’re talking about. -- Dominic CummingsWe should indeed apply superforecasting more systematically to government. Like systematic opinion polling, it is an aid to decision-makers and informed debate. It is ideologically neutral, unless you have a bias in favour of ignorance. This is all good. -- Andrew Adonis * Independent *

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARThe No.1 bestselling author of The Future of the Mind brings us a stunning new vision of our future in spaceHuman civilization is on the verge of living beyond Earth. But how will it happen? World-renowned physicist Michio Kaku takes us on a journey to the future, introducing the mind-boggling developments in robotics, nanotechnology and biotechnology that will one day enable us to make our homes among the stars.''With admirable clarity and ease, Kaku explains how we might colonize not only Mars but some of the rocky moons of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn . . . The book has an infectious, can-do enthusiasm'' Steven Poole, The Wall Street Journal''Kaku grounds his readers in science happening right now, while throwing open the windows to imagine where it might lead in a thousand years'' Adam Frank, The New York Times Book Review''Kaku is an international treasure and a man of infectious enthusiasm'' The Times

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Book SynopsisWith clarity, conscience, and courage, global-systems pioneer Jorgen Randers and his distinguished contributors map the forces that will shape the next four decades. Forty years ago, The Limits to Growth study addressed the grand question of how humans would adapt to the physical limitations of planet Earth. It predicted that during the first half of the 21st century the ongoing growth in the human ecological footprint would stop-either through catastrophic "overshoot and collapse"-or through well-managed "peak and decline." So, where are we now? And what does our future look like? In the book 2052, Jorgen Randers, one of the coauthors of Limits to Growth, issues a progress report and makes a forecast for the next forty years. To do this, he asked dozens of experts to weigh in with their best predictions on how our economies, energy supplies, natural resources, climate, food, fisheries, militaries, political divisions, cities, psyches, and more will take shape in the coming decades. He then synthesized those scenarios into a global forecast of life as we will most likely know it in the years ahead. The good news: we will see impressive advances in resource efficiency, and an increasing focus on human well-being rather than on per capita income growth. But this change might not come as we expect. Future growth in population and GDP, for instance, will be constrained in surprising ways-by rapid fertility decline as result of increased urbanization, productivity decline as a result of social unrest, and continuing poverty among the poorest 2 billion world citizens. Runaway global warming, too, is likely. So, how do we prepare for the years ahead? With heart, fact, and wisdom, Randers guides us along a realistic path into the future and discusses what readers can do to ensure a better life for themselves and their children during the increasing turmoil of the next forty years.Trade ReviewChoice- In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Limits to Growth (CH, Nov'73), Randers (climate strategy, BI Norwegian Business School) forecasts changes in population, consumption, energy use, emissions, quality of life, and climate over the next 40 years. As one of the original contributors to Limits to Growth, the author's current forecast is based on the ‘overshoot and collapse’ scenario. Regional scenarios highlight the distribution of benefits and costs from climate change across the globe, underscoring the distinct consequences on the developed and developing world. The author emphasizes that shortsighted decision making associated with democracy is ill suited to handle climate change, given its long-term outcomes. A novel feature of this work is the inclusion of predictions from more than two dozen experts working in ecology, political science, industry, and economics. These individual contributions are woven into the larger story to provide comparison with the author's predictions. Overall, this work is accessible to a general audience; however, Randers's limited analysis and justification of model assumption restrict the usefulness of this book as a stand-alone text. It could be useful in conjunction with some formal texts on globalization, economics, and the environment. Summing Up: Optional. General readers and undergraduate students.Publishers Weekly- Randers has made it his life's work to caution the world about the dangers of unfettered expansion, and to seek out solutions to current and prospective problems. Beginning with The Limits to Growth in 1972, he has explored possible scenarios for our social, economic, and environmental future. In this global study, Randers presents a forecast for the next 40 years, supported by ‘statistical data, anecdotal stories, impressions from traveling the world…formal analyses of particular developments,’ and short essays by a variety of experts. While he discusses his own opinions—such as his belief that the world economy must shift its focus from ‘fossil-fuelled economic growth’ to ‘sustainable well-being’ — the enormous amount of information and speculation here function additionally as an excellent springboard for a timely discourse. And open and informed conversation seems crucial to Randers's project—indeed, he posits that unchecked climate change is not a technological problem, but a political one. Randers and his colleagues present a portrait of the future that is radically different from today, but not entirely bleak: while he believes that the worst of his predictions are possible, he humbly asks his readers to ‘help make my forecast wrong.’"This thoughtful and thought-provoking book will be inspiring, and challenging, for all who really care about our common future."--Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway; leader, World Commission on Environment and Development"A sober, cogent, and courageous assessment of a future not dictated by fate, or economics, or limits to technology, but by the most egregious leadership failure in history. But there is still time to change course...just enough time and no more."--David W. Orr, Oberlin College, author of Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse"Read 2052 and get the views of a great futurist-one with a fine track record of being right."--Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Dominant Animal "This is an extraordinary and profoundly important book. Randers' mastery of many fields is impressive, and he presents his 'best guess' future with clarity and force. As a result, he provides a challenging template against which we can judge our own expectations for mid-century."--James Gustave Speth, author of America the Possible"An unconventional and lucid explanation of the likely macroeconomic developments of the world over the next forty years."--Lord Nicholas Stern, author, The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change; chair, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics "With clarity, conscience, and courage, global-systems pioneer Jorgen Randers and his distinguished contributors map the forces that will shape the next four decades. Their sobering but far from despairing insights will encourage all who strive in applied hope to build a society worthy of nature's legacy and humans' potential."--Amory B. Lovins, chairman and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute; senior author, Reinventing Fire; coauthor, Natural Capitalism "It's too late to wonder how different and refreshingly breathable the world would be if everyone had listened hard to Jorgen Randers 40 years ago. The question now is if we'll heed him this time. Here's our chance. Please seize it, everyone."--Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us and Gaviotas Table of ContentsPreface: what will the future bring Part 1: Background. Worrying about the future Five big issues toward 2052 Part 2: My global forecast The logic behind my forecast Population and consumption to 2052 Energy and CO2 to 2052 Food and footprint to 2052 The nonmaterial future to 2052 The Zeitgeist in 2052 Part 3: Analysis Reflections on the future Five regional futures Comparison with other futures What should you do? Closing words

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Book Synopsis"The future" plays a dominant role in everybody's lives. But for many, it is a blur and mystery, a wall of fog in which we struggle to see beyond what is immediately in front of us. By leading futurist Magnus Lindkvist, this book provides the means and tools to plan for and navigate a path into the long term to your advantage. Anyone who wants to have a better, more inspiring life in the future has to plan for it - to future-proof it. In this powerful little book, Lindkvist presents a set of practical and easy-to-apply tools that will help you to create a mindset and path for tomorrow.

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Book SynopsisLong-term thinking and planning is such an ingrained part of everyday life that we tend either not to see it or merely take it for granted. From pensions, retirement, holiday planning, marriage (or divorce) to corporate strategy and choosing the right school for our kids - the assumptions we make about tomorrow tend to be sketchy at best! Why do we so often underplay such important future plans in our lives? One of the main reasons is that we have never been given the right tools with which to think and plan ahead. Futurology - the art of thinking ahead - has often been relegated to science fiction writers and witch doctors. In fact, it's a tool that can actually help us understand and plan for a better future for ourselves. This book, by a leading futurologist, presents the practical tools of long-term thinking and planning to the everyday situations that we all face.Table of Contents1.Seduced by the future 2.A future-thinking world 3.The fine art and questionable science of predicting the future 4.Futurological fallacies and predictive pitfalls 5.Creating and changing the future 6.Future friends and future foes 7.The eternal promise

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Book SynopsisAs you read this, thousands of remote computers are refining secret models of who you are, using the information to make huge fortunes for a few people. Does the future have to be this way? How can we change it? In this visionary book Jaron Lanier imagines an alternative, where economic power is given back to creators. Drawing on sources ranging from ancient philosophy to the latest technology, he proposes a radical system that truly rewards endeavour - whether it''s in the media or manufacturing - and ultimately preserves human dignity.Trade ReviewDaringly original ... sharp, accessible ... terrifically exciting * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisAn intriguing glimpse into the future provides information detailng the political and social collision that could occur shortly after the millennium, based on a repeating series of eighty to one hundred year cycles, divided into four turnings--a High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis. Reprint.

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Book SynopsisThe international best-selling phenomenon loved by BARACK OBAMA and BILL GATES in a new and updated illustrated edition'A hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.' BARACK OBAMA'One of the most important books I've ever read - an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.' BILL GATES*#1 Sunday Times bestseller * instant New York Times bestseller * Observer 'best brainy book of the decade' * #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller * Irish Times bestseller * Audio bestseller * Guardian bestseller * FACTFULNESS: the stress-reducing habit of only having opinions for which there are strong supporting facts.Things aren't as bad as we think. Fact.When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.In Factfulness, legendary statisticians Hans, Anna and Ola Rosling offer a radical new explanation of why this happens, and reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. But when we let the bad news take on outsize proportions instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world.Trade ReviewA hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases. * Barack Obama *One of the most important books I've ever read-an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world. -- Bill GatesFactfulness ... , a light-hearted but data-rich book, calibrates our view of the world and explains how our cognitive processes can lead us astray -- Steven Pinker * New Statesman, The best books of 2018 *Wonderful... a passionate and erudite message that is all more moving because it comes from beyond the grave... His knack for presentation and delight in statistics come across on every page. Who else would choose a chart of "guitars per capita" as a proxy for human progress? * Financial Times *An assault both on ignorance and pessimism . . . helping countries improve their governance and public health and opening them up to the rule of law and market exchange works. But not by some sort of magic. Because we act. And to this, as Rosling argues, we first have to understand the world we live in. -- Daniel Finkelstein * The Times *A wonderful guide to an improving world, as well as being a well-stocked source of sound advice as to how to think about factual and statistical claims . . . The book is a pleasure to read - simple, clear, memorable writing - and when you've finished you'll be a lot wiser about the world. You'll also feel rather happier . . . Factfulness - the relaxing peace of mind you get when you have a clearer view of how the world really is . . . I strongly recommend this book. -- Tim HarfordWe need more of this way of thinking, both in business and politics. Where better to start than a new book by one of Gates' favourite gurus, the late Swedish statistician Hans Rosling . . . in an age of so-called post-truth, this is a celebration of the all too often repudiated but underlying story of relentless human progress. -- Jeremy Warner * Sunday Telegraph *[Bill] Gates had selected the tomes as his favourite summer reads . . . [which included] feel-good non-fiction . . . celebrating technological progress and genius, such as Hans Rosling's Factfulness. -- Gillian Tett * FT Magazine *Hans Rosling tells the story of "the secret silent miracle of human progress" as only he can. But Factfulnessdoes much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly. -- Melinda GatesThree minutes with Hans Rosling will change your mind about the world. * Nature *Factfulness has the power to shift your entire perspective. If you want to understand the world, read it now! -- Rolf DobelliTriumphant. * Sunday Times *Bestselling books about statistics are as rare as unicorns. One that gets to No.1 is as rare as a lunar unicorn. Factfulness by Hans Rosling is that moon-based creature . . . engaging. * The Times *Factfulness is a fabulous read, succinct and lively. It asks why so many people - including Nobel laureates and medical researchers - get the numbers so wrong on pressing issues such as poverty, pandemics and climate change... a just tribute to this book and the man would be a global day of celebration for facts about our world. * Nature *Rosling's final work is about the misconceptions most people hold about the world we live in - it's better than we think - and a plea to think critically. -- Robert Muchamore * Metro *An unexpectedly uplifting read. * Emerald Street *The message is refreshingly clear: when you only hold opinions about things you know the facts about, you can see the world more clearly. * Mr Hyde *I had very high expectations; the book exceeded them. Superb guide to the world and how to be wiser about it. Great storytelling. An inspiration. * Tim Harford *An insistently hopeful, fact-based booster shot for a doomsaying, world-weary population [which] parts the dingy curtains of global pessimism to reveal an alternate and uplifting perspective on the state of world issues today. Co-written with Rosling's son and daughter-in-law, the book effectively educates, uplifts, and reassures readers. . . In compelling readers to comprehend the positive aspects of world changes using practical thinking tools, Rosling delivers a sunny global prognosis with a sigh of relief. * Kirkus *I recommend starting 2021 with the late Hans Rosling's book, Factfulness - for incontrovertible evidence of "the secret, silent miracle of human progress." -- Bel Mooney * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisWe live in times of great change. Or so we are told. Headlines blast messages about clashes between tribes, civilisations, political factions, East and West. We are told that unless we abstain from eating meat, flying or enjoying other modern amenities, the planet is doomed. We live in times of trouble. Of crossroads. Of signs of decline. We live in special times. In turn, future thinking is often reduced to people having opinions about other people's opinions. As opposed to manifesto, in manifesto many small ideas are created to inspire one person, your- self. By sharing the vision of the future, we can avoid telling stories and instead strive to surround ourselves with as many strange, conflicting ideas that we can in order to immerse ourselves in future possibilities and possible futures. Incorporating recognisable examples, Minifesto will illustrate how the world changes when a single individual does something new.

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Book Synopsis''A fascinating book . . . Bhaskar is a reassuringly positive and often witty guide''Observer''A fascinating, must-read book covering a vast array of topics from the arts to the sciences, technology to policy. This is a brilliant and thought-provoking response to one of the most critical questions of our age: how we will come up with the next generation of innovation and truly fresh ideas?''Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of DeepMind and Google VP''Have big ideas and big social and economic changes disappeared from the scene? Michael Bhaskar''s Human Frontiers is the best look at these all-important questions.''Tyler Cowen, author of The Great Stagnation and The Complacent Class''Michael Bhaskar explores the disturbing possibility that a complacent, cautious civilization has lost ambition and is slowly sinking into technological stagnation rather than accelerating into a magical future. He is calling foTrade ReviewA fascinating, must-read book covering a vast array of topics from the arts to the sciences, technology to policy. This is a brilliant and thought-provoking response to one of the most critical questions of our age: how we will come up with the next generation of innovation and truly fresh ideas? -- Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder, DeepMind; Google VPHave 'Big Ideas' and big social and economic changes disappeared from the scene? Michael Bhaskar's HUMAN FRONTIERS is the best look at these all-important questions -- Tyler Cowen, author of THE GREAT STAGNATION and THE COMPLACENT CLASSMichael Bhaskar explores the disturbing possibility that a complacent, cautious civilisation has lost ambition, and is slowly sinking into technological stagnation, rather than accelerating into a magical future. He is calling for bold, adventurous innovators to go big again. A fascinating book -- Matt Ridley, author of HOW INNOVATION WORKSMichael Bhaskar deftly delivers big ideas about big ideas ... HUMAN FRONTIERS is an admiring stroll through the history of ideas and an impressive display of innovation erudition -- Safi Bahcall, author of LOONSHOTS: NURTURE THE CRAZY IDEAS THAT WIN WARS, CURE DISEASES, AND TRANSFORM INDUSTRIESMichael Bhaskar's HUMAN FRONTIERS is a greatly welcome contrast to both doom-and-gloom and overly boosterish views of humanity's future. It combines a masterful breadth of social perspective with an impressive grasp of our problems and potential solutions. Visionary and convincing -- Christine Peterson, co-founder, Foresight InstituteBhaskar wants us to believe that big ideas, sometimes seized upon in an instant, propel humankind's progress. The thesis is boldly and elegantly stated; the examples work in its favor. This important book demands our answer -- Margaret C. Jacob, University of California, Los AngelesSweeping in scope and thought-provoking throughout, HUMAN FRONTIERS is vital for understanding every aspect of Big Ideas: their origins, their role in societal progress, and how we can make more of them ... A paean to curiosity, HUMAN FRONTIERS is essential reading for understanding how science and progress works, and how it can work in the future -- Samuel Arbesman, Scientist in Residence, Lux Capital; author of OVERCOMPLICATED and THE HALF-LIFE OF FACTSThe world's big ideas are slowing down, but it needn't be that way. Bhaskar brilliantly shows how we can do better. If you loved books like HUMANKIND and SAPIENS, you'll love HUMAN FRONTIERS -- David Bodanis, author of EINSTEIN’S GREATEST MISTAKE and THE ART OF FAIRNESSIdeas through history often reconfigure our world. But is this vital process slowing down and stagnating? With infectious enthusiasm and verve, Michael Bhaskar addresses these questions by taking us on an exhilarating grand tour of the history and future of big ideas. Bhaskar's inspiring call to arms, shining a bright and unflinching light on the challenges we face, is itself a reason to feel hopeful -- Ziyad Marar, author of JUDGED: THE VALUE OF BEING MISUNDERSTOODFull of fascinating stories and surprising insights, HUMAN FRONTIERS is one of the most exciting and thought-provoking books I've read in years. Only a genuine polymath like Michael Bhaskar could write a book as big and bold as this -- Roman Krznaric, author of THE GOOD ANCESTOR: HOW TO THINK LONG TERM IN A SHORT-TERM WORLDthe most important book that I have read in a long time. With a broadside of explosive arguments, superb examples that effortlessly jump from big science to literature and back again, and an unputdownable writing style, Michael Bhaskar explains why our civilization appears to have run out of big ideas. An essential read -- Mark Piesing, journalist and author of N-4 DOWN: THE HUNT FOR THE ARCTIC AIRSHIP ITALIAA brilliant, and brilliantly readable, survey of the frontiers of human ingenuity and how we might, just, think our way through the big challenges of the century ahead -- Professor Sir Geoff Mulgan, UCLA fascinating book . . . Bhaskar is a reassuringly positive and often witty guide * Observer *

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Book SynopsisCounterpointing Los Angeles's central role in America's fantasy life - the city has been destroyed no less than 138 times in novels and films since 1909 - with its wanton denial of its own real history, Mike Davis creates a revelatory kaleidoscope of American fact, imagery, and sensibility. Drawing upon a vast array of sources, Ecology of Fear meticulously captures the nation's violent malaise and desperate social unease in an era of climate change and social change. With savagely entertaining wit and compassionate rage, this book conducts a devastating reconnaissance of our all-too-likely urban future.With a new 2021 afterword taking stock of LA's 21st century.Trade ReviewGraced with a bold political and environmental vision, much splendid phrasemaking and a multitude of facts...A truly eccentric contribution. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisNeoliberalism isn't working. Austerity is forcing millions into poverty and many more into precarious work, while the left remains trapped in stagnant political practices that offer no respite.Inventing the Future is a bold new manifesto for life after capitalism. Against the confused understanding of our high-tech world by both the right and the left, this book claims that the emancipatory and future-oriented possibilities of our society can be reclaimed. Instead of running from a complex future, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams demand a postcapitalist economy capable of advancing standards, liberating humanity from work and developing technologies that expand our freedoms.This new edition includes a new chapter where they respond to their various critics.Trade ReviewA powerful book: it not only shows us how the postcapitalist world of rapidly improving technology could make us free, but it also shows us how we can organise to get there. This is a must-read. * Paul Mason, author of Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future *Inventing the Future is exactly what we need right now. With immense patience and care, it sets out a clear and compelling vision of a postcapitalist society. Equally importantly, it lays out a plausible programme which can take us from 24/7 capitalist immiseration to a world free of work. -- Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?Neoliberalism and austerity seem to reign supreme - the idea of a society not run for profit seems impossible. Or does it? The fascinating Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams argues for a radical transformation of society. -- Owen Jones * New Statesman *Inventing the Future is unapologetically a manifesto, and a much-overdue clarion call to a seriously disorganized metropolitan left to get its shit together, to start thinking - and arguing - seriously about what is to be done.It is hard to deny the persuasiveness with which the book puts forward the positive contents of a new and vigorous populism; in demanding full automation and universal basic income from the world system, they also demand the return of utopian thinking and serious organization from the left. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Srnicek and Williams demonstrate how a sustainable economic future is less a question of means than of imagination. The postcapitalist world they envision is utterly attainable, if we can remember that we have been inventing the economy all along. -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens NowNick Srnicek and Alex Williams' project dares to propose a different way of thinking and acting. Given the fizzling of the Occupy moment, a radical rethinking of the anarchic approach is badly needed but just not happening. This book could do a lot of work in getting that rethink going. -- Doug Henwood, author of Wall StreetA conceptual launch pad for a new socialist imagination. -- Mike Davis, author of Planet of SlumsThe most important book of 2015. -- Aaron Bastani, co-founder of Novara MediaThey argue that, in the future, the workplace won't exist in anything like the form we have now, and in any case it will have very few permanent workers. Assuming this position, they ask: What would be the social vision appropriate to a jobless future? * n+1 *Inventing the Future may be the shrewdest, sanest pipe dream of a book published since the recession. -- Nathan Heller * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisPerfect for readers of James Rebanks, Wendell Berry and Thomas Piketty, A Small Farm Future is a refreshingly new outlook on the way forward for society. A vital resource for activists, students, policy makers and anyone looking to enact change. In a time of UNCERTAINTY, what would a truly RESILIENT SOCIETY look like? The recent pandemic has brought to light the fragility of a globalised food system. We have seen firsthand how important farmers are and how scary it can be when supply chains break down. This is precisely the type of crisis farmer and former social scientist Chris Smaje delves into in his ground-breaking debut A Small Farm Future. Destined to become a modern classic, A Small Farm Future plants a flag at the intersection between economics, agriculture and society during a time of immense crisis. Smaje makes the case for organising human societies around small-scale, local and ecological farming in order to meet the environmental and political challenges of our times.Trade Review‘Food is the core of culture, and modern industrial culture is rotting from the inside out due to its reliance on fossil-fueled agriculture. The only viable future is one based on small, ecologically regenerative, labor-intensive farming. Chris Smaje’s brilliant book presents the rationale, surveys methods and issues, and supplies an abundance of insight derived from the author’s twenty years of experience. Every young person should read this book.’—Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute ‘We are facing an existential crisis – with species extinction, climate catastrophes, desertification of soil, disappearance of water, pandemics of infectious and chronic diseases, hunger and malnutrition. Industrialized, globalized agriculture based on the myth that it feeds the world is driving the multiple, interconnected crisis. Eighty percent of the food we eat comes from small farms. Chris Smaje’s A Small Farm Future shows that the choice is clear. Either we have a small farm future, or we face collapse and extinction.’—Vandana Shiva, author of Oneness vs. the 1% and Who Really Feeds the World? ‘A Small Farm Future is a solid and truly inspiring book. I have dedicated the last 17 years of my life to creating a micro farm, and what I have learned fully confirms what Chris Smaje says: a small, ecologically inspired farm can produce high-quality, local food while also improving soil fertility, storing carbon, conserving water resources and improving biodiversity. Not to mention creating jobs and improving quality of life. A return to Mother Earth is the foundation on which we can build a new paradigm of sustainable and equitable abundance based on biological resources, renewable energies, eco-construction and solidarity – among individuals and cultures, and across generations. Getting out of a virtual and globalized economy to cultivate the land with love and respect is our only hope to pass on a viable planet to our children. This is also the secret to happiness!’—Charles Hervé-Gruyer, author of Miraculous Abundance; co-founder, Bec Hellouin Farm, France‘On one side we have science-based high tech with neoliberal economics, driven by the perceived need to control nature and to maximize material wealth; and on the other are traditional human skills and values. Whether it’s dressed in the trappings of communism or capitalism or autocracy or democracy, the former is undoubtedly winning. Governments and their chosen advisers the world over equate high tech and measurable economic “growth” with progress. ‘But the dominance of what now passes as modernity is killing us all. The methods it gives rise to and the mindset behind it are at the root of all the world’s crises. What we need now above all else is food production based on small farming – albeit assisted by excellent science and sometimes by high tech; feeding into localised economies; and deployed with true concern for the welfare of humanity and our fellow creatures. Chris Smaje, a sociologist-cum-anthropologist turned smallholder, is showing us exactly what is needed and why. A timely and valuable book – and a very readable read.’—Colin Tudge, co-founder, Oxford Real Farming Conference and the College for Real Farming and Food Culture; author of The Great Re-Think‘A Small Farm Future makes plain that the next 30 years will look very different to the last 30. Yet Smaje’s unique integration of big-picture insight and hard-won experience clears the fog, brilliantly revealing reliable and meaningful paths forward, even as the ground shifts beneath our feet.’—Shaun Chamberlin, author of The Transition Timeline; editor of Lean Logic and Surviving the Future‘This book is such a treat. In an era of generalized crisis, Chris Smaje articulates an appealing, beautiful vision of the future. Chris has walked the talk, which makes his plea all the more powerful and convincing.’—Dr. Giorgos Kallis, ICREA research professor, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)‘Anyone involved in political thought, agriculture, justice, or futurism who is not familiar with Chris Smaje’s writing from his blog should do themselves the favor of picking up this book as soon as possible. Smaje’s writing is pretty much always worth engaging with – whether for the wry humor, the ways he challenges us to think harder and more boldly, his relentless humanism or his ability to marry nuance with accessibility. He is a visionary in the most interesting and exciting meaning of the word. His writing consistently shows him to be an intellectual tour guide par excellence: he may or may not see further than others, but he certainly never fails to help us see what is in front of us better.’—M. Jahi Chappell, executive director, Southeastern African-American Farmers’ Organic Network (SAAFON); author of Beginning to End Hunger‘Chris Smaje brings intellectual rigour to the centuries-old demand for “three acres and a cow”.’—Simon Fairlie, author of Meat: A Benign Extravagance; editor, The Land magazine‘Superb! This book shows with great clarity why we are heading for planetary disaster and suggests ways in which new kinds of more stable social and economic practices might evolve around support for sustainable agriculture. A timely and compelling vision of a New Agrarianism. Highly recommended.’—Paul Richards, author of Indigenous Agricultural Revolution and Ebola; emeritus professor of technology and agrarian development, Wageningen University‘Time to tune in – these are powerful arguments for collective action in agriculture. We know that small farms offer solutions to the crises of our time. Stewardship, guardianship and rebuilding biodiversity is real, meaningful work. If each human engaged meaningfully, every day, in their own subsistence, imagine how much more accountable our society would become. This restoration of our food and ecosystems will take many hands, many years, and much patience and goodwill. This means that those of us already farming will need to become well versed in transmitting the why and the how to those who will join us. The coming radical shifts in ownership, tenure, settlement and structure present an incredible opportunity for sanity, subsistence and self-determination. Onward!’—Severine von Tscharner Fleming, director, Greenhorns; chair, Agrarian Trust‘As a breakdown of the climate, state power and globalized markets pushes us toward an epochal transition, Chris Smaje offers us a hopeful vision of a relocalized, self-sufficient world. With fierce intelligence and rich evidence, he explains the vital role that small farms must play in this emerging future, artfully weaving together neglected strands of economic, ecological, cultural and political thought.’—David Bollier, director, Reinventing the Commons Program, Schumacher Center for a New Economics; coauthor (with Silke Helfrich) of Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons

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Book SynopsisThe clarity, authority, wit and insight Lawrence brings to bear are like torches shining into the turbulent darkness of a subject we all wonder at, but which we mostly feel unable to even to think or talk about with any confidence. Hugely recommended' Stephen FryWhat does Artificial Intelligence mean for our identity? Our fascination with AI stems from the perceived uniqueness of human intelligence. We believe it''s what differentiates us. Fears of AI not only concern how it invades our digital lives, but also the implied threat of an intelligence that displaces us from our position at the centre of the world.Neil D. Lawrence''s visionary book shows why these fears may be misplaced. Atomism, proposed by Democritus, suggested it was impossible to continue dividing matter down into ever smaller components: eventually we reach a point where a cut cannot be made (the Greek for uncuttable is ''atom''). In the same way, by slicing away at the facets of human intelligence that can be replaced by machines, AI uncovers what is left: an indivisible core that is the essence of humanity.Human intelligence has evolved across hundreds of thousands of years. Due to our physical and cognitive constraints over that time, it is social and highly embodied. By contrasting our capabilities with machine intelligence, The Atomic Human reveals the technical origins, capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and how they should be wielded. Not just by the experts, but ordinary people. Understanding this will enable readers to choose the future we want either one where AI is a tool for us, or where we become a tool of AI and how to counteract the digital oligarchy to maintain the fabric of an open, fair and democratic society.

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Book SynopsisLiving on a damaged planet challenges who we are and where we live. This timely anthology calls on twenty eminent humanists and scientists to revitalize curiosity, observation, and transdisciplinary conversation about life on earth.As human-induced environmental change threatens multispecies livability, Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet puts forward a bold proposal: entangled histories, situated narratives, and thick descriptions offer urgent “arts of living.” Included are essays by scholars in anthropology, ecology, science studies, art, literature, and bioinformatics who posit critical and creative tools for collaborative survival in a more-than-human Anthropocene. The essays are organized around two key figures that also serve as the publication’s two openings: Ghosts, or landscapes haunted by the violences of modernity; and Monsters, or interspecies and intraspecies sociality. Ghosts and Monsters are tentacular, windy, and arboreal arts that invite readers to encounter ants, lichen, rocks, electrons, flying foxes, salmon, chestnut trees, mud volcanoes, border zones, graves, radioactive waste—in short, the wonders and terrors of an unintended epoch.Contributors: Karen Barad, U of California, Santa Cruz; Kate Brown, U of Maryland, Baltimore; Carla Freccero, U of California, Santa Cruz; Peter Funch, Aarhus U; Scott F. Gilbert, Swarthmore College; Deborah M. Gordon, Stanford U; Donna J. Haraway, U of California, Santa Cruz; Andreas Hejnol, U of Bergen, Norway; Ursula K. Le Guin; Marianne Elisabeth Lien, U of Oslo; Andrew Mathews, U of California, Santa Cruz; Margaret McFall-Ngai, U of Hawaii, Manoa; Ingrid M. Parker, U of California, Santa Cruz; Mary Louise Pratt, NYU; Anne Pringle, U of Wisconsin, Madison; Deborah Bird Rose, U of New South Wales, Sydney; Dorion Sagan; Lesley Stern, U of California, San Diego; Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus U.Trade Review"Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet exposes us to the active remnants of gigantic past human errors—the ghosts—that affect the daily lives of millions of people and their co-occurring other-than-human life forms. Challenging us to look at life in new and excitingly different ways, each part of this two-sided volume is informative, fascinating, and a source of stimulation to new thoughts and activisms. I have no doubt I will return to it many times."—Michael G. Hadfield, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa"Facing the perfect storm strangely named the Anthropocene, this book calls its readers to acknowledge and give praise to the many entangled arts of living which made this planet liveable and which are now unravelling. Grandiose guilt will not do, we need to learn noticing what we were blind to, a humble but difficult art. The unique welding of scholarship and affect achieved by the texts here assembled tells us that learning this art also means allowing oneself to be touched and induced to think and imagine by what touches us."—Isabelle Stengers, author of Cosmopolitics I and Cosmopolitics II"What an inventive, fascinating book about landscapes in the anthropocene! Between these book covers, rightside-up, upside-down, a concatenation of social science and natural science, artwork and natural science, ghosts of departed species and traces of our own human shrines to memory... Not a horror-filled glimpse at destruction but also not a hymn to romantic wilderness. Here, guided by a remarkable and remarkably diverse set of guides, we enter into our planetary environments as they stand, sometimes battered, sometimes resilient, always riveting in their human—and non-human—richness. Arts of Living On a Damaged Planet is truly a book for our time."—Peter Galison, Harvard University"Calling a book ‘mandatory reading’ usually feels hyperbolic, but it's justified in the case of Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet. A stunning collection of essays from scientists, writers and artists on humankind's impact on the planet, and how we all can survive it."—Shelf Awareness"This vibrant, moving, and philosophical two-sided essay collection reminds us of all the ways that human beings and the natural world are interconnected. Deborah Bird Rose’s piece on the “shimmer of life” alone makes the book worth reading."—Chicago Review of Books"There’s a poetry in facts. And as this book reveals, there is an increasing amount of courage and acceptance to be found in understanding even the most destructive changes in plant and wildlife that the overheated Anthropocene will bring us."—Santa Fe New Mexican"Well worth reading: a frank, luminous set of dispatches from future worlds and fractured pasts."—Full Stop"Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet is a strikingly aesthetic object, carefully curated at the level of form as well as content. It makes a convincing case for the relevance of ‘hard science’ to art and politics."—Glasgow Review of Books"The Anthropocene is characterised by extreme and irreversible changes to the environment, resulting in an exponential scarcity of living beings and threats to most life systems on earth. In response to this precarity, the editors and contributors to Arts suggest that we must collectively observe and study the world around us to attune our co-existence more authentically to these ecologies, through increased knowledge about both the impacts of past actions and our embeddedness in multispecies webs."—Environmental Values"By focusing on entanglement and haunting in this double-sided book, the contributors in Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet demand a reconceptualisation of what it means to be active participants in the Anthropocene. They also want us to recognise that our standing is not at all separate from nature, time, or matter."—Gothic Nature Journal"The editors of Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet set out to illustrate through storytelling the ambivalent entanglements of ghosts and monsters in the Anthropocene as a practical means toward broadening our knowledge-creation of the challenges of a world in the making. If the scientific community takes to heart their offering (and the offerings of those who came before them), the scientific paradigm-shift (that started with feminist science studies, the civil rights movement, and environmentalism) from objectivity to subjectivity might just take hold as a dominant epistemology."—Hypatia Reviews"Arts of Living is a provocative dispatch from the edges of humanity’s new condition."—Sedimenta Table of ContentsContentsGhosts on a Damaged PlanetIntroduction: Haunted Landscapes of the AnthropoceneElaine Gan, Nils Bubandt, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, and Heather Anne Swanson1. A Garden or a Grave?: The Canyonic Landscape of the Tijuana-San Diego RegionLesley SternIn the Midst of Damage2. Marie Curie's Fingerprint: Nuclear Spelunking in the Chernobyl ZoneKate Brown3. Shimmer: When All You Love Is Being TrashedDeborah Bird RoseFootprints of the Dead4. Future Megafaunas: A Historical Perspective on the Scope for a Wilder AnthropoceneJens-Christian Svenning5. Ladders, Trees, Complexity, and Other Metaphors in Evolutionary ThinkingAndreas Hejnol6. No Small Matter: Mushroom Clouds, Ecologies of Nothingness, and Strange Topologies of SpacetimematteringKaren Barad7. Haunted Geologies: Spirits, Stones, and the Necropolitics of the AnthropoceneNils BubandtWhat Remains8. Ghostly Forms and Forest HistoriesAndrew S. Mathews9. Establishing New Worlds: The Lichens of PetershamAnne PringleCoda: Concept and ChronotopeMary Louise PrattContributorsIndexContentsMonsters and the Arts of LivingAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Bodies Tumbled into BodiesHeather Anne Swanson, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Nils Bubandt, and Elaine Gan1. Deep in AdmirationUrsula K. Le Guin Inhabiting Multispecies Bodies2. Symbiogenesis, Sympoiesis, and Art Science Activisms for Staying with the TroubleDonna Haraway 3. Noticing Microbial Worlds: The Post Modern Synthesis in BiologyMargaret McFall-NgaiBeyond Individuals4. Holobiont by Birth: Multilineage Individuals as the Concretion of Cooperative ProcessesScott F. Gilbert5. Wolf, or Homo Homini LupusCarla Freccero6. Unruly Appetites: Salmon Domestication “All the Way Down”Marianne Elisabeth Lien7. Without Planning: The Evolution of Collective Behavior in Ant ColoniesDeborah M. GordonAt the Edge of Extinction8. Synchronies at Risk: The Intertwined Lives of Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot BirdsPeter Funch9. Remembering in Our Amnesia, Seeing in Our BlindnessIngrid M. ParkerCoda. Beautiful Monsters: Terra in the Cyanocene Dorion SaganContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisA ground-breaking analysis from one of the world's foremost experts on global trends, including answers on how COVID-19 will amplify and accelerate each of these changesTrade ReviewWe do not know what the world will look like in 2030. But we do know the underlying trends that will shape it, argues Guillén of the Wharton School. This thought-provoking book illuminates the most important: demographic shifts, notably the African baby boom; the changing nature of ageing and retirement; the emergence of a new global middle class; the rise of women as entrepreneurs and leaders; the challenges to cities; “more cell phones than toilets”; the sharing economy; and the future of money. It is fun. Enjoy -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times Best Books of 2020 *

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Book SynopsisThis book envisions the future of tourism in an economy that is largely automated.Robonomics' is the term given to this economic system that relies on robots, artificial intelligence and automation technologies for the production of goods and delivery of services instead of human labour. The volume examinesthe unique technological, socioeconomic and political situation that such an economy will create, and reflects on how tourism is then produced, consumed and paid for. The chapters explore some controversial solutions to the challenges of the robonomic economic system, such as redefinition of human rights, robot rights and universal basic income schemes. The chapters also consider the transition to a robonomic tourism ecosystem and the adjustments and innovations that will be required of consumers, industry and society.

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Book Synopsis“Full of intelligence and insights, as the author gleefully turns ideas upside down to better understand them. . . Replete with lots of nifty, whimsical footnotes, this clever, speculative book challenges our beliefs with jocularity and perspicacity.” —Kirkus (starred review)“Klosterman’s trademark humor and unique curiosity propel the reader through the book. He remains one of the most insightful critics of pop culture writing today and this is his most thought-provoking and memorable book yet.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)The tremendously well-received New York Times bestseller by cultural critic Chuck Klosterman, exploring the possibility that our currently held beliefs and assumptions about the world will eventually be proven wrong—now in paperback. But What If We're Wrong? is a book of original, reported, interconnected pieces, which speculat

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Book SynopsisPosthumous Life launches critical life studies: a mode of inquiry that neither endorses nor dismisses a wave of recent “turns” toward life, matter, vitality, inhumanity, animality, and the real. Essays examine the boundaries and significance of the human and the humanities in the wake of various redefinitions of what counts as life.Trade ReviewThis superb book haunts in all of the best and most disquieting ways: memories of a future already lost to ourselves, with writers who illuminate those registers of nonlife and postlife that arise when all of the living-on and living-through of humans has been exhausted or self-extinguished. The chapters serve as a chanting of rites to the nonhuman animal, to plants, to birds, to the inorganic, to the planet, to the ends of stories. -- Gregory Seigworth, Millersville University This splendid collection proposes a site of inquiry-critical life studies-that not only generates unexpected questions but offers invaluable perspectives on many obdurate philosophical topics that currently confront us regarding the posthuman, the inhuman, the inorganic, and the anthropocene. If, as the title of Isabelle Stenger's essay proposes, "Thinking Life: The Problem Has Changed," then these essays consider-in rigorous as well as ludic modes-what it may now mean to think life. -- Stacy Alaimo, author of Exposed: Environmental Politics and Pleasures in Posthuman Times This collection of insightful and comprehensive essays resists the celebratory tone on the question of the posthuman and provides much-needed critical depth and analytic vigor. A necessary and novel contribution to the studies of life and biopolitics. -- Donna V. Jones, author of The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy: Negritude, Vitalism and ModernityTable of ContentsPreface: Postscript on the Posthuman Introduction: Critical Life Studies and the Problems of Inhuman Rites and Posthumous Life, by Jami Weinstein and Claire Colebrook Part I. Posthuman Vestiges 1. Pre- and Posthuman Animals: The Limits and Possibilities of Animal-Human Relations, by Nicole Anderson 2. Posthumanism and Narrativity: Beginning Again with Arendt, Derrida, and Deleuze, by Frida Beckman 3. Subject Matters, by Susan Hekman Part II. Organic Rites 4. Therefore, the Animal That Saw Derrida, by Akira Mizuta Lippit 5. The Plant and the Sovereign: Plant and Animal Life in Derrida, by Jeffrey T. Nealon 6. Of Ecology, Immunity, and Islands: The Lost Maples of Big Bend, by Cary Wolfe Part III. Inorganic Rites 7. After Nature: The Dynamic Automation of Technical Objects, by Luciana Parisi 8. Nonpersons, by Alastair Hunt 9. Supra- and Subpersonal Registers of Political Physiology, by John Protevi 10. Geophilosophy, Geocommunism: Is There Life After Man?, by Arun Saldanha Part IV. Posthumous Life 11. Proliferation, Extinction, and an Anthropocene Aesthetic, by Myra J. Hird 12. Spectral Life: The Uncanny Valley Is in Fact a Gigantic Plain, Stretching as Far as the Eye Can See in Every Direction, by Timothy Morton 13. Darklife: Negation, Nothingness, and the Will-to-Life in Schopenhauer, by Eugene Thacker 14. Thinking Life: The Problem Has Changed, by Isabelle Stengers Index

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Book SynopsisMany people deploy photo media tools to document everyday events and rituals. For generations we have stored memories in albums, diaries, and shoeboxes to retrieve at a later moment in life. Autobiographical memory, its tools, and its objects are pressing concerns in most people's everyday lives, and recent digital transformation cause many to reflect on the value and meaning of their own mediated memories. Digital photo cameras, camcorders, and multimedia computers are rapidly replacing analogue equipment, inevitably changing our everyday routines and conventional forms of recollection. How will digital photographs, lifelogs, photoblogs, webcams, or playlists change our personal remembrance of things past? And how will they affect our cultural memory? The main focus of this study is the ways in which (old and new) media technologies shape acts of memory and individual remembrances. This book spotlights familiar objects but addresses the larger issues of how technology penetrates ouTrade Review"The book is accessible to undergraduates and provides an excellent framework for postgraduates both in terms of its clarity in developing the conceptual tool of 'mediated memory' and in addressing some aspects of the digital in relation to this. One of its strengths concerns the way in which van Dijck unpacks the conceptual flaws conventionally associated with collective memory and the problematic assumptions that underlie much of the discussion of the relationship of media to this... The book is beautifully written, telling an engaging story, as well as tackling with academic erudition the study of mediated memories in the digital age." -- Memory Studies"Van Dijck shares many fascinating insights." -- CHOICE"Mediated Memories in the Digital Age is an engaging and important book that challenges scholarly understanding of the relation between memory, memory artifacts, and memory practices and elucidates how these relationships are changing in the digital age. José van Dijck brings a theoretically sophisticated yet pragmatic approach to bear on her survey of today's most widespread digital practices of mediating memories. Her persuasive and timely thesis is solidly grounded in cultural and media studies, and her work is well informed by recent research in cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, and visualization technologies." -- Richard Grusin * ayne State University *"The medium is the experience. A personal memory box full of private media objects was the inspiration for José van Dijck's newest and most innovative contribution to the zone between media studies and science studies where she has been such an important voice internationally. Detailing the ways that media and memory are not separate experiences through readings of the digital diaries and lifelogs of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Dutch recorded popular music, and still and moving images from a range of contexts, van Dijck presents an exciting new way of thinking about cultural memory and a cultural sense of self." -- Lisa Cartwright, University of California * San Diego *"José van Dijck performs a sophisticated analysis that blends neurological research on memory, media technologies, and the "personal cultural" construction of memories into a coherent, far-reaching theory of the function, role, and significance of memory as we move from analogue to digital representations. Filled with deep insights and surprising observations, this book should be required reading for anyone interested in memory, digital technologies, and their co-evolution." -- N. Katherine Hayles, University of California * Los Angeles *Table of ContentsContents Preface Acknowledgements 1 Mediated Memories as a Conceptual Tool 2 Memory Matters in the Digital Age 3 Composing the Self 4 Record and Hold 5 Pictures of Life, Live Pictures 6 Projecting the Family's Future Past 7 From Shoebox to Digital Memory Machine 8 Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBy the time of his untimely death in 1983, Herman Kahn was recognized by both friends and intellectual adversaries as ''one of the world''s most creative and best minds.'' The current growing resurgence of interest in Kahn''s ideas and intellectual legacy demonstrates the enduring relevance of his work. Yet, in spite of the constant influence of his arguments, there is a shortage of books summarizing Kahn''s essential contributions, and thus his work is not as well known as it should be. The Essential Herman Kahn is an attempt to cope with this predicament and offer the public for the first time an anthology consisting of the essence of Kahn''s work, organized thematically. The two decades that have passed since his death allow us today to approach his work undisturbed by the ''sound and fury'' of the many public debates and controversies he participated in and to focus on some of the deepest and most enduring dimensions of his intellectual contributions. The anthology will try to brTrade ReviewHerman Kahn’s seminal thinking, extracted in this smart volume, is timeless. From thinking about nuclear war to anticipating the complaints about capitalism and forecasting the future, Kahn offers relevant ideas for today’s challenges of terrorism, financial meltdown, and global warming. An indispensible read or re-read! -- Henry R. Nau, The George Washington UniversityBroken into four parts, The Essential Herman Kahn reflects his wide range of interests: from nuclear strategy to prospects for economic growth, from the state of Western culture to methodologies for forecasting. Kahn, as one might suggest, would be no easy man to condense; but Aligica and Weinstein have done a remarkably good job of it. * The Weekly Standard, September 7, 2009 *An excellent selection of the works of one of the most original and influential thinkers of our time. -- Mark Blitz, Claremont McKenna CollegeTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Section 1. Thinking About the Unthinkable: Scenarios, Grand Strategy, and Thermonuclear War Chapter 3 In Defense of Thinking Chapter 4 Twelve Nonissues and Twelve Almost Nonissues Chapter 5 The Revolution in Warfare: Continuities and Discontinuities Chapter 6 On Escalation Chapter 7 Seizing the Moral, Political, and Strategic High Ground Part 8 Section 2. A World Turning Point: Economic Growth, Cultural Change, and the Long View Chapter 9 The Big Picture—And Some Details: Watersheds of History Chapter 10 Viewing Growth in Context Chapter 11 Four Characteristic Views of Two Basic Images of the Earth-Centered Perspective Chapter 12 Some Current Cultural Contradictions of Economic Growth: The New Emphases Chapter 13 Economic Development: Economic and Cultural Parameters Chapter 14 The Alienated-Affluent Society Part 15 Section 3. The Challenge of the Future: Futurology, Methodology, and Policy Research Chapter 16 The Objectives of Future-Oriented Policy Research Chapter 17 The Agnostic Use of Information and Concepts Chapter 18 Forecasting the Future. History Happens in Straight Lines and Curves Chapter 19 A Methodological Framework: The Alternative World Futures Approach Chapter 20 The Method of Classes of Variables Chapter 21 Ways to Go Wrong Chapter 22 Technological Innovation: Mistakes of Omission and Commission Part 23 Section 4. The Task Ahead: Observations, Recommendations, and Parting Polemics Chapter 24 The Normative Perspective and the Ideology of Tomorrow Chapter 25 Transitional Problems Chapter 26 The Expert and Educated Incapacity Chapter 27 Current Western Cultural Trends Chapter 28 Futurology and the Future of Economic Development Chapter 29 The Task Ahead 30 Herman Kahn. A Bio-Bibliographical Note

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Book SynopsisPolitics in the Twentieth Century was dominated by a single question: how much of our collective life should be determined by the state, and what should be left to the market and civil society?Now the debate is different: to what extent should our lives be directed and controlled by powerful digital systems - and on what terms?Digital technologies - from artificial intelligence to blockchain, from robotics to virtual reality - are transforming the way we live together. Those who control the most powerful technologies are increasingly able to control the rest of us. As time goes on, these powerful entities - usually big tech firms and the state - will set the limits of our liberty, decreeing what may be done and what is forbidden. Their algorithms will determine vital questions of social justice. In their hands, democracy will flourish or decay.A landmark work of political theory, Future Politics challenges readers to rethink what it means to be free or equal, what it means to have poweTrade ReviewThe most interesting exploration yet of the political realities in the digital era. * Matthew d'Ancona, Books of the Year 2018, Evening Standard *He steers a course to the future that is as convincing as it is shocking. * Bryan Appleyard, The Sunday Times *An impressive feat of intellectual organization ... To have written it all down so lucidly, engagingly and succinctly is a formidable achievement. * Raphael Behr, The Guardian *A work of clarity and effortless genius which is a must for anybody seeking to understand the impact of modern technology on our body politic now and in the future. * Robert Rinder Evening Standard *[Susskind] has tremendous talent and the book is very readable. * Tim Stanley, The Telegraph *The tone of this book is as refreshing as the originality of insight. Susskind contends that "that there are causes for both optimism and pessimism, but what the future requires above all is vigilance. * Paschal Donohoe, The Irish Times *Future Politics is a riveting book that sparkles with great ideas ... It is chock full of facts and the book combines knowledge of politics and technology in a unique and fascinating way. * Catherine Balavage, Frost *Superb and necessary book. * Nick Cohen, The Observer *Future Politics should be essential reading for those with the will to anticipate the future challenges facing defence and society. * Wavell Room *Brilliant ... detailed research, colourful examples, and a pacy, upbeat style ... Future Politics will remain relevant for several years. All elected officials should read it as a matter of urgency. * Jamie Bartlett, Catholic Herald *Future Politics challenges readers to rethink what it means to be free or equal, what it means to have power or property, what it means for a political system to be just or democratic, and proposes ways in which we can - and must - regain control. This is no less than a call for a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. * Dominic Lenton, Engineering & Technology *...rigorous and thoughtful book ... * David Patrikarakos, Literary Review *Brilliant and ground-breaking ... It is essential reading for anyone who wants to get to grips with the profound and far-reaching impacts of digital technology on politics. * Paradigm Explorer *Original and thought-provoking, this ground-breaking book challenges us to develop new policies for new times. * Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 2007-2010 *Few understand politics. Even fewer understand technology. Susskind is that rare soul who understands both - and more importantly, how the latter will change the former. Whether correct or not - and I believe he is correct - there is no better glimpse into our shared future than this book. * Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law School *This book crackles with ideas, sparking new thoughts with every page. And it is superbly organised, too. It's difficult to help people understand the past, but to help understand the future is a real achievement. Terrific. * Lord Finkelstein, Associate Editor, The Times *From Arendt to artificial intelligence, from Machiavelli to machine learning, Susskind seamlessly weaves modern technology with classic theory to present a tour de force introduction to the future-explaining with erudition and humor the powerful digital systems that will govern our lives. * Beth Simone Noveck, Professor in Technology, Culture and Society, New York University Tandon School of Engineering *Only an elite can control the power of computation, dispersed in space, integrated in the cloud, and enabled to operate on ever bigger data. What are the implications for freedom, democracy, and justice? Jamie Susskind offers a pathbreaking exploration of the challenge that these issues pose for our political thinking and practice. It's a must-read. * Philip Pettit, L. S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton University, and Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy, Australian National University *This brilliant and ground-breaking book ... is essential reading for anyone who wants to get to grips with the profound and far-reaching impacts of digital technology on politics. * David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer *Future Politics' is intelligently written and utterly compelling in its treatment of a subject too often ignored by today's politicians and academics. * Luke Geikie, SF2 Concatenation *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I. THE DIGITAL LIFEWORLD 1: Increasingly Capable Systems 2: Increasingly Integrated Technology 3: Increasingly Quantified Society 4: Thinking Like a Theorist Part II. FUTURE POWER 5: Code is Power 6: Force 7: Scrutiny 8: Perception-Control 9: Public and Private Power Part III. FUTURE LIBERTY 10: Freedom and the Supercharged State 11: Freedom and the Tech Firm Part IV. FUTURE DEMOCRACY 12: The Dream of Democracy 13: Democracy in the Future Part V. FUTURE JUSTICE 14: Algorithms of Distribution 15: Algorithms of Recognition 16: Algorithmic Injustice 17: Technological Unemployment 18: The Wealth Cyclone Part VI. FUTURE POLITICS 19: Transparency and the New Separation of Powers 20: Post-Politics

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable progress in algorithms for machine and deep learning have opened the doors to new opportunities, and some dark possibilities. However, a bright future awaits those who build on their working methods by including HCAI strategies of design and testing. As many technology companies and thought leaders have argued, the goal is not to replace people, but to empower them by making design choices that give humans control over technology.In Human-Centered AI, Professor Ben Shneiderman offers an optimistic realist''s guide to how artificial intelligence can be used to augment and enhance humans'' lives. This project bridges the gap between ethical considerations and practical realities to offer a road map for successful, reliable systems. Digital cameras, communications services, and navigation apps are just the beginning. Shneiderman shows how future applications will support health and wellness, improve education, accelerate business, and connect people in reliable, safe, and trustworthy ways that respect human values, rights, justice, and dignity.Trade ReviewThe book will be of interest to anyone interested in AI-including software engineers, designers, computer scientists, policymakers and philosophers -- and our future. Its writing style is accessible, and consequently can be read by both experts and novices. It may also be useful for pedagogical purposes. * Gloria Andrada, Metascience *does a great job in promoting HCAI, putting human and societal needs center stage in the design and application of AI, and in presenting and discussing several very practical ideas * Marc Steen, Prometheus *Your new book, Human-Centered AI, is the most balanced, pragmatic and optimistic analysis of artificial intelligence that I've read. You lay out a comprehensive guide to building reliable, safe, and trustworthy applications that feature both high levels of human control and high levels of automation. A critical part of your argument is that if we want to achieve a flourishing and humane future it's essential for us to understand that computers are not in fact people, and vice versa. * John Dalton, Fidelity Center for Applied Technology Newsletter *The authors approach could not be more important as a moral and normative position on the development of the field, and should be taken as a starting point for public policy discussion... the book is essential reading and its fundamental argument constitutes a moral imperative. * David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer *A focus on developing AI that helps people will dissolve much of the fear of lost jobs and machine control... Few books on AI discuss the importance to good design of applying the right sort of pressure to the corporate owners of AI systems to push them into social fairness. This one does. * Wendy Grossman, ZDNet *This book combines persuasive arguments with catchy lists and phrases it also is meticulously researched with extensive citations and well-written for a broad audience , HCI NewsThis expert believes we can create AI systems that can have both high levels of automation and human control... Shneiderman provides guidelines covering visual design, previews of expected actions, audit trails, near-miss and failure reviews, and others that can help ensure reliability, safety, and trustworthiness. Basically, by acknowledging the limits of both human and artificial intelligence, designers and developers of automated products can find the right division of labor between humans and AI. * Ben Dickson, thenextweb.com *the book [is] especially relevant to AI researchers and developers...Expanding the variety of inputs into AI design will be essential to achieving Shneiderman's transformative vision of a more human-and humane-future. * Angelique Taylor, Issues in Science & Technology *The book is well-structured and a delight to read. The coverage is comprehensive. But it will be controversial. AI scientists and engineers, and anyone concerned about the scientific, social, ethical, legal or philosophical impacts of AI should engage with the theses of Human-Centered AI, even if it is to contest them at times. * Alan Mackworth, University of British Columbia, Canada *From design metaphors to the much needed governance structures, this new book by Ben Shneiderman is a tour de force into the increasingly important topic of human-centred AI. Going beyond the many benefits and dark possibilities, the book provides a fresh vision of AI as a supertool for human wellbeing. A must read. * Virginia Dignum, Umeå University, Sweden *Intellectually re-positioning the practice of AI is the most important social movement of our age. Human-Centered AI is a moral imperative. The graveyard of AI products is replete with well-intended systems centered on the technology. Don't make the same mistake—adopt an HCAI mindset. * Sean McGregor, Founder and Project Lead, the AI Incident Database (Partnership on AI), USA *For many years, the debate surrounding AI has been all about a dystopian or utopian-driven future. Ben Shneiderman, in his informative and timely new book presents a fresh look on the future of AI; one that considers how to empower and augment humans rather than automate and replace them. Throughout the book, that is illustrated with convincing case studies, he presents a new discourse that rethinks the benefits of AI advances from a human perspective. A truly trailblazing work that is both provocative and persuasive, inviting academics, policy-makers, industry researchers and the general public to engage with a new, forward-thinking paradigm of where humans meet AI. * Yvonne Rogers, University College London, UK *A critical call for AI to be human-centered...offers insightful lessons and practical takeaways. * Avi Parush, Management and Business Review *Human-Centered AI makes a case for AI systems that amplify and extend human abilities and performance. * Gloria Andrada, Metascience *Table of ContentsPart I: What Is Artificial Intelligence? 1: Dreams and Nightmares 2: Alchemy, Astrology, and AI: Lessons from the Past 3: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! 4: Stories that Shape the Future: Self-Efficacy and Control 5: Getting Beyond AI to Human-Centered Thinking Part II: Human-Centered AI: Empowering People, Expanding Possibilities 6: Introduction 7: Defining Reliable, Safe And Trustworthy Systems 8: Two-Dimensional Framework for RST Systems 9: Prometheus Principles and Examples 10: Skeptic's Corner Part III: AI's Two Grand Goals: Human Emulation and Useful Applications 11: Introduction 12: Two Goals for AI Researchers and Developers 13: Intelligent Agent and Powerful Tool 14: Simulated Teammate and Tele-Operated Device 15: Autonomous System and Supervisory Control 16: Humanoid Robots and Mechanical-Like Appliances 17: Skeptic's Corner Part IV: Governance Structures for Human-Centered AI 18: Introduction 19: Reliable Systems Based on Software Engineering Practices 20: Safety Culture Through Business Management Strategies 21: Trustworthy Certification by Independent Oversight 22: Skeptic's Corner Part V: Where Do We Go from Here? 23: Stopping AI-Driven Misinformation and Criminals 24: Supporting Environmental Protection, Social Justice And Human Rights 25: Compassion in Caring for Our Older Adults 26: Beyond Robots: Notbots and Newbots 27: Frontier Thinking to Chart the Future Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe first decade of the twenty-first century marked the demise of the current world order. Despite widespread acknowledgement of these disruptive crises, the proposed response from the mainstream remains the same. Against the confines of this increasingly limited politics, a new paradigm has emerged. Fully Automated Luxury Communism claims that new technologies will liberate us from work, providing the opportunity to build a society beyond both capitalism and scarcity. Automation, rather than undermining an economy built on full employment, is instead the path to a world of liberty, luxury and happiness. For everyone.In his first book, radical political commentator Aaron Bastani conjures a new politics: a vision of a world of unimaginable hope, highlighting how we move to energy abundance, feed a world of nine billion, overcome work, transcend the limits of biology and build meaningful freedom for everyone. Rather than a final destination, such a society heralds the beginning of history.Fully Automated Luxury Communism promises a radically new left future for everyone.Trade ReviewIn 100 years' time many of the ideas in this book will be mainstream, while kindergarten students laugh at our mainstream economic textbooks. Bastani's genius is to see the future with crisp clarity, unafraid of the consequences of being right. -- Paul Mason, author of PostcapitalismOne of the most important books to come out of the British left in recent years. Incredibly ambitious and wide-ranging, but also well-written and readable, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a future beyond scarcity and beyond capitalism. Not simply a set of predictions about an unknowable future, it is a call to action to those seeking to bring an entirely new world into being. -- Grace Blakeley, New StatesmanThe debate is no longer about tinkering with our current broken social order, but replacing it: this fascinating book is an absolutely critical contribution, and a must-read for all those who aspire to build a new society. -- Owen Johns, author of The EstablishmentAt a time when our horizons have shrunk, when instead of striving for a better world we look backward to old comforts, Aaron Bastani calls us to dream and struggle for the type of society finally fit for humanity to live as humans should.' -- Bhaskar Sunkara, author of The Socialist ManifestoA startlingly sunny and audacious manifesto that reads the extremity of current political, economic, and environmental crises as a sign of the scale of opportunity for radical change...[Bastani] gamely reclaims the stuff of dystopia for a more buoyant vision . . . Bastani's arguments rest on the conviction that the major problems that face citizens are political in nature-and thus that their only possible solutions will be political, too -- Lidija Haas * Harpers *Angry and lyrical, uncompromising and vivid, Imperial Intimacies is a daughter's reckoning with the bitter legacies of slavery and colonialism as they come to shape the lives of families and individuals, their dreams and desires. A deeply searching and often moving book, it made me think again about the writing of family history and about what it means to be British. -- Alison Light, author of Common PeopleBastani writes with pace, economy and infectious enthusiasm ... There are more ideas crammed in here than in a whole shelf of standard politics books. And in today's fraught world, the time to read whole shelves of politics books may have passed. -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *Fully Automated Luxury Communism offers a hopeful vision of a possible future, one that, with its blend of utopian energy and careful argumentation, is worth taking seriously. * Vector *Attempts to take the word back to Marx's post-work, post-scarcity future. -- Sarah Jaffe * Bookforum *A startlingly sunny and audacious manifesto that reads the extremity of current political, economic, and environmental crises as a sign of the scale of opportunity for radical change...[Bastani] gamely reclaims the stuff of dystopia for a more buoyant vision. -- Lidja Haas * Harpers *A rising young leftwing provocateur . . .There are more ideas crammed in here than in a whole shelf of standard politics books -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *[Fully Automated Luxury Communism] is a provocative ... reckoning with the end of market capitalism, and what might follow ... in outlining the benefits of decarbonised economies, worker-owned businesses, people's banks, planet taxes and universal basic services, Bastani is starting to put flesh on the spectre that might one day haunt Europe again. -- Gavin Jacobson * New Statesman *In outlining the benefits of decarbonised economies, worker-owned businesses, people's banks, planet taxes and universal basic services, Bastani is starting to put flesh on the spectre that might one day haunt Europe again -- Gavin Williamson * New Statesman *Jeremy Corbyn's new left ... do not wish only to manage capitalism. They want something more. They are something more. And this book is an attempt to explain what that more is. * Times *[Bastani's] limpid prose, fuelled by an infectious revolutionary elan, adroitly synthesises ... big ideas for lay readers and deftly elucidates the continued relevance of Marx's writings... [Fully Automated Luxury Communism] serves as a vital broadening of our political horizons * Morning Star *A feisty manifesto . . . proposes a blueprint for a new society; one in which advanced technology will free humanity from the necessity to work * New Internationalist *An entertaining ... romp through some of the most profound innovations and developments that could, if managed under the aegis of socialism, transform the way in which we live our lives. * Quietus *A stimulating intervention ... fascinating on the dazzling possibilities of the present * New Humanist *A knowingly provocative ... utopian manifesto ... a refreshing departure from the the usual forecasts of machine-led jobpocalypse. * Times Literary Supplement *It's a manifesto that imagines life in a post-capitalist world where automation has replaced manual labour, and it applies the theories of Marx to show how this could save us from dystopia. Its a pretty audacious book.' -- Gruff Rhys * Observer *

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Book SynopsisOur society has a technology problem. Many want to disconnect from screens but can''t help themselves. These days we spend more time online than ever. Some turn to self-help-measures to limit their usage, yet repeatedly fail, while parents feel particularly powerless to help their children. Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies shows us a way out. Rather than blaming users, the book shatters the illusion that we autonomously choose how to spend our time online. It shifts the moral responsibility and accountability for solutions to corporations. Drawing lessons from the tobacco and food industries, the book demonstrates why government regulation is necessary to curb technology addiction. It describes a grassroots movement already in action across courts and legislative halls. Groundbreaking and urgent, Unwired provides a blueprint to develop this movement for change, to one that will allow us to finally gain control.Trade Review'Gaia Bernstein's Unwired offers a compelling roadmap for tackling one of our most pressing problems: the irresistible pull of technology. Over the course of our lives, we and our children will spend between fifteen and twenty years glued to our screens. As Bernstein shows, though, there are regulatory remedies at hand to help us retain our time and our wellbeing.' Adam Alter, Professor of Marketing and Psychology, NYU Stern School of Business, author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink'In this important and powerful book, Gaia Bernstein shows us how to reclaim our power and our humanity from the Big Tech cartel that have intentionally addicted us to their devices and platforms.' Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D., Author of 'Glow Kids' and 'Digital Madness", former Clinical Professor, Stony Brook Medicine'Unwired is a compelling, accessible, and vital intervention into the overuse of technology. Instead of offering overly simplistic self-help strategies that are doomed to fail, Professor Bernstein rightly targets the manipulative design of technologies and the need for us to work together to hold the tech industry accountable. This book vividly blends personal stories with the latest research and lessons from history to paint a clear picture of our struggle with screens and what it's going to take to improve things. Everyone should read this book.' Woodrow Hartzog, Professor of Law at Boston University and author of Privacy's Blueprint: The Battle to Control the Design of New Technologies'Inviting and intelligent, Gaia Bernstein's extraordinary book masterfully combines honest personal reflections about her experiences with the creep of digital tech together with a sobering academic account of our collective public struggles to deal with technologies designed to addict, manipulate, and even control our behavior. Throughout, Bernstein maintains a can-do attitude that inspires change.' Brett Frischmann, The Charles Widger Endowed University Professor in Law, Business and Economics, Villanova University School of Law'Unwired is a powerful rejoinder to voices that would seek to minimize the threat technological manipulation poses to human freedom. But Gaia Bernstein goes beyond a mere accounting of the harms and proposes systemic changes that can help us take back control. Comprehensive in its scope and clear-eyed in its analysis, Unwired is an indispensable guide to the landscape of digital technology reform. Anyone who cares about the future of technology should read this book.' James Williams, author of Stand Out of Our Light'This trenchant clarion call rings loud and clear.' Publishers Weekly'Mixing expertise and passion, the author sets an agenda to rein in the tech behemoths that have run rampant for years.' Kirkus Reviews'Bernstein is shrewd about the political maneuvers and public relations options available to industries challenged for doing harm to the general welfare. At the same time, she shows that imposing some control or countermeasures … has been possible in the past, and might be in the future.' Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed'Unwired exists to be used: an agenda for social change through legal action. It is a knife, not a brush. But it'll be of much more than academic value to those of us whose parenting years were overshadowed by feelings of guilt, frustration and anxiety, as we fought our hopeless battles, and lost our children to TikTok and Fortnite.' Simon Ings, New Statesman'Bernstein … doubts that addicted users … can will themselves out of their habits. Instead, she argues, regulatory intervention of the supplying corporations will be necessary.' Harvard Magazine, Off the ShelfTable of ContentsPrologue; Part I. The Price of the Illusion of Control; 1. Becoming the Choice-Makers; 2. Addiction, Our Children, Our Bonds; 3. Invisible Chains; Part II. Who Are the Choice Makers? 4. Clouds of Smoke; 5. The Food Wars; 6. The Privacy Phoenix; 7. Lessons from Battling Titans; Part III. Fighting for Choice; 8. The Art of Redesign; 9. The Tools of Awareness; 10. The Ground is Burning; 11. The Achilles Heel; 12. Acupuncture for Change; Epilogue.

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Book Synopsis A brilliant young neuroscientist explains how to preserve our minds indefinitely, enabling future generations to choose to revive usJust as surgeons once believed pain was good for their patients, some argue today that death brings meaning to life. But given humans rarely live beyond a century even while certain whales can thrive for over two hundred years it's hard not to see our biological limits as profoundly unfair. No wonder then that most people nearing death wish they still had more time.Yet, with ever-advancing science, will the ends of our lives always loom so close? For from ventilators to brain implants, modern medicine has been blurring what it means to die. In a lucid synthesis of current neuroscientific thinking, Zeleznikow-Johnston explains that death is no longer the loss of heartbeat or breath, but of personal identity that the core of our identities is our minds, and that our minds are encoded in the structure of our brains. On this basis, he explores how recently invented brain preservation techniques now offer us all the chance of preserving our minds to enable our future revival.Whether they fought for justice or cured diseases, we are grateful to those of our ancestors who helped craft a kinder world yet they cannot enjoy the fruits of the civilization they helped build. But if we work together to create a better future for our own descendants, we may even have the chance to live in it. Because, should we succeed, then just maybe, the future will love us enough to bring us back and share their world with us.

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Book SynopsisFrom a renowned pioneer of the localization movement, an anthology of essays challenging the narrative that technological progress and an increasingly globalized economy will lead us to a better world This collection of essays has been selected from 30 years of published articles, book chapters and blog posts by the staff of Local Futures, internationally known as pioneers of the emerging localization movement. Some of these writings involve a fundamental rethinking of our most basic assumptions—about progress, poverty, and happiness—while others seek the root causes of our multiple crises, from climate change and income inequality to the erosion of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism. All of them point towards the most strategic steps we can take to confront these problems and bring a healthier, happier world into being. Several of these prescient essays were written decades ago, but they have become even more relevant today as our crises deepen, and the need for systemic change becomes more apparent.

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Book SynopsisIn the future, how many identities will you have? How many do you want? Digital technology is causing us to think differently about who we are and who we could become, but with the right knowledge we can turn this incredible capacity to our advantage. 'Who am I?' is one of the most fundamental questions of all. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to answer as technology enables us to negotiate and create many different versions of ourselves. In our digital, data-driven world, Facebook gets a say in verifying who we are, science can alter our biology, and advances in AI are revolutionizing not only how we interact online but with the physical world around us. Understanding and defining ourselves is becoming confusing but, as this fascinating book argues, it is possible to embrace this new era of transformation while preserving our autonomy. In The Future of You, Professional futurist Tracey Follows shows how our personal freedoms and potential will be transformed over the coming decades. From health passports, bio-hacking and relationships with machines to mind clones, digital voting and virtual legacies beyond the grave, we need to understand these vital issues today so that we might design the future of our identity tomorrow. 'This fascinating book explores the way that emerging technologies such as AI might affect the nature of personal identity and personhood. It paints an intriguing, thought-provoking, and occasionally disturbing picture.' Michael Wooldridge, author of The Road to ConsciousTrade Review 'This fascinating book explores the way that emerging technologies such as AI might affect the nature of personal identity and personhood. It paints an intriguing, thought-provoking, and occasionally disturbing picture.' Michael Wooldridge, author of The Road to Conscious

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