Speech: Rachel Botsman - The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

A really interesting speech which I happened to attend live a few months ago at the RSA. I am also currently reading the book which is quite inspiring! Enjoy!



Social innovator Rachel Botsman charts the growth of a movement that is transforming the way we consume and contribute.

Documentary: The Corporation (2005)

Watch the rest of the documentary here.

If Academy Awards were given for films most likely to start arguments at dinner tables, this hot-button polemic would have won the 2005 Oscar hands down.

It begins with the revelation that, according to a Supreme Court ruling, a corporation must be considered a person rather than an entity.

Under this definition, reasons profiler Robert Hare, corporations can be categorized as psychopathic because they exhibit a personality disorder: that of single-mindedly pursuing their objectives without regard for the people in and around them.

Speech: Eli Pariser - Beware of online filter bubbles

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

Article: The Economics of Enough

Original Article written for the RSA -  Monday 18, April 2011

The financial crisis and concerns about environmental sustainability have led to some to conclude that economies should no longer strive for growth. Diane Coyle, FRSA and author of The Economics of Enough, argues this conclusion is misplaced.

The economy faces several kinds of problem, each of which seems depressingly intractable. They include climate change, the government debt and aftermath of the financial crisis, and social inequality for starters. Taking them together, the challenge of devising economic policies can look daunting. So it is not surprising that simple solutions look appealing.

One apparent solution that has been gaining momentum is that the economy needs to give up on growth. That would certainly help in terms of environmental pressures. It is also widely believed that GDP growth doesn’t make us any happier, so why not concentrate on happiness or ‘well-being’ instead?

If only things were so easy. Unfortunately the reasoning is flawed. When ‘happiness’ is measured on a fixed scale, say one to three (and the UK is currently at 2.6 on this scale), and GDP is a constructed indicator that can rise without limit over time, it is statistically

Video: Meat Glue - The Shocking Truth About The Meat Industry's Dirty Secret

Article: On Ignorance

Original Article written for Stain of Thought - Thursday 7, April 2011

There’s this popular notion of allowing yourself to be drained into in slopes of ignorance. At birth we were God, and later we’re conditioned and we get excited from simply wetting our lips in consuming, wanting, applying another type of white powder to penetrate your nostrils, pretending, and forfeiting compassion for misconceived feelings of self-worth. It’s a foolish spin-off of appreciating the world for what it is. It’s sometimes a heap of goals

Speech: Nicholas Christakis - Connected: The amazing power of social networks and how they shape our lives

Nicholas Christakis turns the notion of the self-directed individual on its head, and shows us the extraordinary power of social networks.



Find his book here!

Speech: The Internet in Society - Empowering or Censoring Citizens? (RSA Animate)

Does the internet actually inhibit, not encourage democracy? In this new RSA Animate adapted from a talk given in 2009, Evgeny Morozov presents an alternative take on 'cyber-utopianism' - the seductive idea that the internet plays a largely emancipatory role in global politics.

Exposing some idealistic myths about freedom and technology (during Iran's 'twitter revolution' fewer than 20,000 Twitter users actually took part), Evgeny argues for some realism about the actual uses and abuses of the internet.

Speech: Harvey Fineberg - Are we ready for neo-evolution?

Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg shows us three paths forward for the ever-evolving human species: to stop evolving completely, to evolve naturally -- or to control the next steps of human evolution, using genetic modification, to make ourselves smarter, faster, better. Neo-evolution is within our grasp. What will we do with it?

Article: The Osama bin Laden exception

Original Article written for Salon by Glenn Greenwald - Friday 6, May 2011, 09:07

When I first wrote about the bin Laden killing on Monday, I suggested that the intense (and understandable) emotional response to his being dead would almost certainly drown out any discussions of the legality, ethics, or precedents created by this event. That, I think, has largely been borne out, at least in the U.S. (one poll shows 86% of Americans favor the killing, though that's hardly universal: a poll in Germany finds 64% view this as "no reason to rejoice," while 52% believe an attempt should have been made to arrest him; many European newspapers have harshly criticized U.S. actions; and German Prime Minister Angela Merkel's declaration of happiness over bin Laden's death provoked widespread criticism even in her own party). I expected -- and fully understand -- that many people's view of the bin Laden killing is shaped first and foremost by happiness over his death.

But what has surprised me somewhat is how little interest there seems to be in finding out what actually happened here. We know very little about the circumstances of bin Laden's killing, because the U.S. government has issued so many contradictory claims, which in turn

Documentary: Food Inc.(2008)

Another must-watch documentary as it is the best starting point into understanding how the food industry works and operates!

Research: Engineering the weather (HAARP)

HAARP (High frequency active auroral research program)

Eagle River, Alaska
Transmitting antennas, beam radiowaves of 100 millions of Watts up to the ionosphere & stratosphere to engineer the weather.
There is strong evidence that Japan earthquake and Indonesian tsunami were caused by this 'technology' as a means of political pressure.

Watch the videos for more details

Documentary: The War you don't see by John Pilger (2010)

John Pilger's last and maybe most influential documentary. A must-see!

The movie was removed due to copyright infringements and endless respect to John Pilger and his work. You can watch the trailer and order the film here. 

A powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to the current war in Afghanistan and disaster in Iraq.
As weapons and propaganda become even more sophisticated, the nature of war is developing into an electronic battlefield in which journalists play a key role, and civilians are the victims. But who is the real enemy?

John Pilger says in the film:

Video: In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan on Nutrition, Food Science and the American Diet

Acclaimed author and journalist Michael Pollan argues that what most Americans are consuming today is not food but "edible food-like substances." His previous book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. His latest book, just published, is called In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.



Continue to Part 2.

Speech (RSA Animate): Drive, The surprising truth about what motivates us

This lively RSAnimate, adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.