Ed Dowding

Category: Systems thinking

Models and maps

I keep referring to these so putting them in one place for easy sharing.

Stop the domino effect concept for business solution and interve

Civilisation Continuity Planning

I was thinking about how governments respond to ‘surge capacity’ issues like this.  Part of the reason they don’t drill for BIG things as well as they could is that they’re TOO complex. So rather than work out and maintain relationships with tonnes of organisations which you’re ‘very unlikely’ to  need, you create emergency laws ...

Protected: Another referendum on Europe won’t solve the problems we all feel. It’s time to create a better democracy.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Disrupt manifesto

http://disruptmgzn.com/manifesto/

two silver fishes on round white ceramic plate

First rule of Corporate Club

First rule of Corporate Club: If you teach a man to fish, you’ve lost a customer.

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 ...

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 ...

Evidence-based policies

Let’s face it, we know a lot of stuff now. Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media ...

“The Great Feast” – TEDxOxbridge

This is the transcript from my talk at TEDxOxbridge last weekend. —————–   If you a have a phone, take it out and hold it up. This device makes us magicians: At any time, from any where, we can know almost ANYTHING that is known to mankind. Ok – hands down. But what is truly ...

The Bottled Water Challenge – your opinions sought!

Public opinion needed here, please help! There’s a charity water company which raises £10k/yr from bottled water sales. This funds 3 clean water projects in India. The person running this activity costs £10k/yr in salary. Externalised costs include extraction, bottling, labelling, transport, and refrigeration. Costs: £10k + externalities Yield: £10k + cascading benefits So by ...

14 big trends to watch in 2013

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/12/14-trends-for-2013.html

The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist

Oh Jesus.. There is nothing to see here. Move along. Everything will be fine. Keep flying, buying stuff you don’t keep, and eating meat at least 5 times per week. I SAID MOVE ALONG: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist.

The world is on track for disaster. Who wants to buy a farm?

Written by MIT researchers for an international think tank, the Club of Rome, the study used computers to model several possible future scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario estimated that if human beings continued to consume more than nature was capable of providing, global economic collapse and precipitous population decline could occur by 2030. However, the study ...

Manifestos for life

Posters in the Hub Westminster with typographical design by Robert Reed. Source: This is Reed

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Dark Skies

This is cool. I didn’t know this even existed! Exmoor National Park has been designated the first International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe! A view of the stars is a view of our natural heritage and a spectacular quality of Exmoor’s night time landscape. Dark night skies are a declining resource, threatened by development and ...

Why climate change doesn’t spark moral outrage, and how it could

http://pocket.co/sdtCQ

And this is only talking about cars

Watch from the 30 minute marker for about 10 minutes. The average American car uses 100 times its weight in ancient plants (converted to oil). 7/8th of the energy never gets to the weheel is lost in engine, idling, driveline, etc 1/2 of the remaining 1/8th heats tyres, road, air Only 1/20th of the mass ...

Where does money come from?