Ed Dowding

Month: November 2013

Post-materialist delight

I have to cut this from a presentation, but I just wanted to share it with someone before I do so that it’s not completely wasted. We live in an era of great change. The post-industrial society has spread across the world as fast as the economic globalisation which has driven it. The workers of ...

Self-Discipline in 5 Sentences

Have a powerful reason — when things get difficult, “because it sounds nice” or “to look good” aren’t going to cut it. Start tiny, with a simple but unbreakable promise to yourself to do one small thing every single day. Watch your urges, and learn not to act on childish whims. Listen to your self-rationalizations, ...

Running on ice

Imagine you’re standing on a hill near the edge of a huge frozen lake. Hundreds of people are skating on it, having a great time. As the day goes on, more families come down to the shore with flasks of hot chocolate, put on their skates, and head out onto the ice. By lunchtime, as ...

If we can imagine it, we can do it. Right? Right?! RIGHT!

There must be lights burning brighter somewhere Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue If I can dream of a better land Where all my brothers walk hand in hand Tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true Oh why There must be peace and understanding sometime ...

The status update I never write

The reason I don’t socialise much and lose myself in audiobooks, reading, exercise, and drugs is because I find it hard to spend more than an hour in the company of others without wondering why we all maintain the collective illusion that everything is OK. We live in a world beset by problems which challenge ...

There is still time

via Ainda dá Tempo (There is still time).

The changing nature of human communication. And all the cool things which happen now.

wThis is summary notes from an essay (“Forthcoming Major Revolution in Global Dialogue“) which goes quite deeply into the opportunities for robots / artificial intelligence to engage meaningfully with us. However in reading it, it became obvious that there was more to it than that. It is a great analysis of the modes and capabilities of ...

What did the world do before capitalism?

I keep feeling the urge to make this point on various networks, so I’m just going to write it here and link to it. Before capitalism we explored the world, developed philosophy, had central heating and plumbing, invented mathematics, worked out the circumference of the world, evolved democracy, started medical practises, had universal education and ...

Reincarnation

Ruby from Emma Allen on Vimeo. An animated self-portrait exploring the idea of rebirth and illustrating the transfer of energy from one incarnation to another. I painted this stop frame animation on myself over 5 days, using some face paints, a mirror and a camera. www.emmaallen.org twitter.com/imakefings Story & Performance – Emma Allen Photography & ...

I love the NHS but I’m about to have a micro-rant.

I popped my knee this summer. I went to doctor who diagnosed it. She send me for an MRI, which diagnosed it. I was referred back to doctor, who confirmed MRI diagnosis. She referred me to specialist, who confirmed the MRI findings  and the doctor’s diagnosis. He’s now referred me to another specialist to confirm the ...

Great and glorious

Our solar system is very big. Voyager has taken some thirty five years to reach the edge of it, travelling at 10.5 mi/s. It’s now between solar systems, and will take 10000 years to reach the next one. In our galaxy there 200 billion solar systems. But ours is just one galaxy in a much ...

Surviving the post-employment economy

What do these people have in common? They are trained professionals who cannot find full-time jobs. Since 2008, they have been tenuously employed – working one-year contracts, consulting on the side, hustling to survive. Via http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/11/surviving-post-employment-economy-201311373243740811.html

Boring doesn’t have to be boring.

I’m so glad to see that the world is increasingly realising things can be fun. I just watched the whole thing and I’m not even on a plane. Which is an odd definition of fun, I grant you. Virgin America Safety Video #VXsafetydance – YouTube.

How and Why to Be a Leader (Not a Wannabe)

We need a new generation of leaders. And we need it now. We’re in the midst of a Great Dereliction — a historic failure of leadership, precisely when we need it most. Hence it’s difficult, looking around, to even remember what leadership is. Via http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/07/how-and-why-to-be-a-leader-not/