Living on the Real World
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Wicked problems.
The future’s problems – at least the ones that matter – are wicked. Today’s young people use this word for...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Tackling the future? It’s more than just facing our problems.
Once on a plane flight from DC to Raleigh-Durham, I happened to sit next to an associate dean for minority...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Tackling the future.
Years ago, when I was in high school, football players in western Pennsylvania industrial towns didn’t wear face masks. (Talk...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Prediction 5. In the future, command-and-control top-down decisions and actions will be increasingly ineffective.
A few days have passed since the last post. In part this is because my wife and I took some...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Prediction 4. We will face declining margins and greater scarcity.
Sure, the human race is on a roll. But can we keep it up? In my life I’ve run a...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Prediction 3. The future will be punctuated by acute, highly-localized pollution episodes.
Love Canal dioxins. The Minamata mercury spill. PG&E’s leak of Chromium VI into Hinkley, CA groundwater. DDT. PCB’s. Other endocrine...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Prediction 2. Hazards will prove more dangerous and disruptive than we expect.
The tremendous success of the human race over the past century or so – our rapid population growth, increased resource...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
Prediction 1. The future will be characterized by adverse climate shifts.
Today, let’s start with a bit of review. The last several posts have argued that: On the skin of the...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
The human race is on a roll (Part 2). Metamorphosis!
The human race is on a roll. Our numbers are up, dramatically. So is our rate of resource use per...
Living on the Real World, Perspectives
The human race is on a roll.
A lot of people question this. Why? Their reasons vary all over the map, but share a bit of this...
