Entering into the future: The Planetary Context

Robert Gilman completed a PhD in astrophysics at Berkeley in 1969 and gradually got more interested and involved in work on global sustainability. He has made a strong contribution in thinking on how we can enter the future as successful as possible.

In one of his recent presentations, dr. Robert Gilman shows us how we are entering into a new context. By looking back through the history, he shows us how we have moved from the tribal age and into the age of empires. We are now taking the next step into what he refer to as the planetary era. Several factors have and will contribute to these changes, including many of the global challenges we are facing. One of his key points is also the importance of working to make the transition periods as painless as possible – both in a short and in a long perspective – to avoid unfortunate consequences and burdens when we enter the new era.

The presentation is very inspiring and can be warmly recommend:

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Når vi trer inn i en ny tidsalder: The Planetary Context

Robert Gilman tok en doktorgrad i astrofysikk før han begynte å jobbe stadig mer med global bærekraft. Han har gjort et stort og viktig bidrag i å bidra til å skissere konturene av framtiden og hvordan vi best mulig kan tre inn i den.

I en av sine presentasjoner viser Robert Gilman hvordan vi er i ferd med å bevege oss inn i en ny tidsalder. Ved å se tilbake gjennom historien, viser han at vi har beveget oss først fra stammesamfunnenes tidsalder og inn imperienes tidsalder. Vi er nå i ferd med å ta det neste skrittet inn i det han betegner som den planetariske tidsalder. En rekke faktorer har bidratt og vil bidra videre til disse endringene – inkludert mange av de globale utfordringene vi idag møter. Et av de viktige poengene er også viktigheten av å gjøre overgangsperiodene minst mulig smertefulle – både på kort og lang sikt – slik at vi ikke trekker med oss uheldige konsekvenser når vi trer inn i en ny tidsalder.

Presentasjonen er svært inspirerende og anbefales på det varmeste:

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela har gjennom sitt liv vist oss hvordan kjærlighet, standhaftighet og visdom kan forandre en verden. Han delte av sin visdom gjennom et langt liv. Her er noen utdrag:

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
– Nelson Mandela

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”
– Nelson Mandela

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation”
– Nelson Mandela

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
– Nelson Mandela

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
– Nelson Mandela

“As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”
– Nelson Mandela

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
– Nelson Mandela

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
– Nelson Mandela

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”
– Nelson Mandela

“As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– Nelson Mandela

“There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”
– Nelson Mandela

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
– Nelson Mandela

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a”
– Nelson Mandela

“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.”
– Nelson Mandela

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Does anybody really think that they didn’t get what they had because they didn’t have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?”
– Nelson Mandela

“That was one of the things that worried me – to be raised to the position of a semi-god – because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed,”
– Nelson Mandela

“Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man”
– Nelson Mandela

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us: it’s in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
– Nelson Mandela

“(…) when a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”
– Nelson Mandela

“One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Where you stand depends on where you sit.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I am the captain of my soul.”
– Nelson Mandela

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Nothing is black or white.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
– Nelson Mandela

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Lead from the front — but don’t leave your base behind.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” 
– Nelson Mandela

Dawn of the Akashic Age: inspirasjon og kreative innspill til hvordan vi kan forme framtiden

Dawn of the Akashic Age er en bok av Ervin Laszlo og Kingsley Dennis som gjør en analyse av trender i verden og samler en rekke spennende framtidsidéer for hvilken vei framtiden vil ta. Tidvis er boken usammenhengende, blant annet fordi andre halvdel består av en rekke essay fra gjesteskribenter. Samtidig er mange av idéene så spennende at de i seg selv gjør boken lesverdig.

Jeg vil derfor anbefale Dawn of the Akashic Age selv om jeg personlig ikke synes den er særlig velskrevet eller gir mye dybdekunnskap om mange felter, men fordi den gir både inspirasjon og kreative innspill til hvordan vi kan rette våre liv inn og bidra inn mot en spennende framtid.

Web meetings: a practical way to save time, reduce travel costs and carbon footprint

You might have been invited to give a talk or participate in a meeting far away from where you originally were intending to be at that time. Earlier you might have weighted the time spent in travelling, the cost related with the travel and also the carbon footprint with the importance of the talk. Now there are fortunately some good alternatives. If you want to give a lecture or participating in a distant meeting with several participants, it is possible to use a mobile conference tool like mconf/bigbluebutton (see http://mconf.org/m/). Setting up such as conference is easy and takes only a few minutes. Here is a short introduction:

Why not try such a web conference tool? It is free (and open source), it will save you time, reduce your travel costs and your carbon footprints. If you want to visit my weboffice, you can visit me on http://weboffice.fadnes.net/ or https://mconf.org/webconf/lars-t-fadnes.  (please send me a message to ensure that I am “at home” in the web office). If you want to make your own web office, you can visit http://mconf.org/m/

Web konferanse med mconf: en praktisk måte å spare tid, reisekostnader og redusere egne klimaspor

Du har kanskje blitt invitert til å holde en presentasjon eller delta i et møte langt vekk fra hvor du i utgangspunktet hadde tenkt å være. Tidligere ville du kanskje veid tiden du ville forvente å bruke på reise, kostnaden ved reisen og karbonsporene reisen medførte opp mot hvor viktig presentasjonen eller møtet var. Nå finnes det heldigvis gode alternativer. Det finnes nå verktøy som gjør at du nå kan delta på møter eller holde presentasjoner via nettet. Et godt verktøy er mconf/bigbluebutton (se nettsiden http://mconf.org/m/). Å sette opp en slik nettkonferanse er enkelt og tar kun noen få minutter. Se en kort introduksjon til dette her:
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Hvorfor ikke teste ut et slikt web-konferanseverktøy? Det er gratis (og open source), det vil kunne la deg spare reisetid og redusere reisekostnader og karbonspor. Hvis du vil ta en titt på mitt web-kontor, ta gjerne en titt på http://weboffice.fadnes.net/ or https://mconf.org/webconf/lars-t-fadnes.  (anbefaler å sende en melding slik at du vet at jeg er “hjemme”/tilgjengelig). Hvis du vil lage ditt eget web kontor, besøk gjerne http://mconf.org/m/
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Nå har også Al Gore valgt å leve vegansk

Tidligere har Bill Clinton valgt å leve vegansk og nå følger Al Gore etter. Disse er en del av en sterkt voksende trend.

Dette er hva Bill Clinton selv sier:

“I just decided that I was the high-risk person, and I didn’t want to fool with this anymore. And I wanted to live to be a grandfather,” “So I decided to pick the diet that I thought would maximize my chances of long-term survival.”

Vil du lære mer om vegansk livsstil, besøk gjerne http://meatless.no/

Novelle: «Fra elgens perspektiv»

Anbefaler denne novellen som forsøker å se naturen fra elgens perspektiv:
http://www.vegansamfunnet.no/novelle-fra-elgens-perspektiv

The Revolution: perle for øyet med rom for ettertanker

På Bergen internasjonale film festival vises nå filmen The Revolution. Dette er en film der Rob Stewart viser oss fascinerende og vakre deler av naturen vi sjelden får muligheten til å se – som f.eks. “flamboyant cuttlefish”. Han viser oss også at en del av dette vil vi neppe se igjen dersom vi ikke løser klimautfordringene. Stewart tar oss med på en reise med mål om å løse utfordringene.

The Revolution får en varm anbefaling. Den vil vise deg nydelig natur og sannsynligvis gi mye inspirasjon til deg også. Du kan se den på Bergen kino ikveld kl 21:50 ikveld eller laste den ned på http://www.therevolutionmovie.com/

“Viktigere enn håp”

Anbefaler på det sterkeste Arne Johan Vetlesen sitt essay “Viktigere enn håp”. “Håp kan bety å bli sittende stille i båten etter at man burde ha forlatt den. I møte med klimakrisen må vi ty til to andre menneskelige kraftkilder.”