In his 1979 novel, The Neverending Story, author Michael Ende introduced a world called Fantasia. Fantasia was falling apart because its Childlike Empress was dying. Her illness threatened its very existence. As the story unfolds, we learn that the Childlike Empress needs a new name in order to be cured and to save Fantasia.
As a species, we have been evolving for only six million years from other proto-primates, and only 200,000 years as modern Homo sapiens. The end of the last ice-age took several thousand years for us to adjust and adapt to change. If we are to survive and thrive in a world with all the challenges facing us, the required changes will have to take place by mid-century.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has captured the imagination of scientists, technologists, and futurists alike.
The role of technology in our daily lives has become increasingly important. One area has recently garnered significant attention and investment is artificial intelligence (AI). In simple terms, AI refers to computer systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding natural language, perception, and creativity.
May 18th, 2023 will be 43 years since 1300 feet of the top and side of Mount St. Helens was blown off and pulverized in an eruption 500 times the power of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, creating chaos and violence here in the Pacific Northwest.
What could the largest war in Europe since WWII, over 70 years ago, have in common with a current-day melting glacier? The answer is that both events are the result of human greed.
Modern societies operate through their formal institutions. These institutions are run by bureaucracies that carry out the tasks necessary for the functioning of that society. As with aging human bodies that increasingly fail to function, bureaucracies also go into decline. A sure indicator of a society’s impending demise is the breakdown of its bureaucracies.
In times of rapid change, quality of leadership is vital to the outcome of what type of society emerges. We are collectively and specifically, in such a time. What goes into good leadership? How can we tell if someone has the leadership qualities needed to guide us forward? These questions confront us every time we go to the ballot box to choose new leaders or when we decide which organizations to support or who to follow.
The Putin/Russian invasion of Ukraine is the physical manifestation of an asymmetrical world war that began in modern times with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but with roots going father and deeper to the fundamental nature of who we are as a species.
What is Putin really doing in this struggle with Ukraine? Let’s take a moment and pan outward… let’s talk about the big picture and the clues to be found there.
