The world has seen five big extinctions in the last 500 million years, each of which led to the decimation of more than 75% of the species. But for the first time in history, we have a species which is capable of not just causing an extinction but being aware of it as well. I loved the book for the curiosity it evoked and adding a sense of romanticism in science.
Around us, the arts and entertainment space is being converted into efficiency machines. What are we losing out on when we optimise for consumption instead of creation?
A very interesting set of perspectives about living and being, referencing the thoughts of everyone from Nietzsche and Dostoevsky to Milton and Jung. I might not agree with a bunch of perspectives, but it did give me an opportunity to question my own value system and beliefs.
The pandemic has the potential to cause a step shift in disparity. Not just in the familiar 1% and 99%, but within the privileged classes as well. This is an exploration along three areas – money, relationships & society, and evolution – to the future of front tier (and frontier) journeys.
In Guns, Germs & Steel, Jared Diamond showed how and why civilisations unfolded differently across the globe. In Collapse, he uses a five-point framework to analyse why different civilisations collapsed. He cites examples from the past and then examines modern societies, their challenges and what leads civilisations to make disastrous decisions. Not an easy read, and the depth of research sometimes overwhelms, but an insightful read.