Common Sense in 5 minutes

I’ll be doing Voice Box at GBS Visual Centre next Thursday 25 June at 7.30pm. The idea is to do Common Sense in 5 minutes (apparently the bell rings when time is up. 😉 )  It will be a challenge, but fun.  Now to squash the book in to 5 minutes before next week …! …
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System change is accelerating, but we’re still unprepared for our spiritual vacuum.

The Pew Research Centre reports that Americans identifying themselves as having no religion has grown from 16% to 24% since 2007. Naturally the increase has been at the cost of Christian affirmation which remains high at 71% (down from 78%). The increase in non-affiliates is found across America, highest in the west (28%), while even …
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Don’t watch “Earthlings”. You can’t handle it.

Three stages of TRUTH: Ridicule. Violent opposition. Acceptance. Earthlings is a docudrama drawing attention to vile, uncivilised behaviour in which we all play a role.  It focuses on the torture of animals which modern society condones and from which we distance ourselves, covering five aspects: pets, food, clothing, entertainment, science. Be warned.  It is graphic.  …
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Sapiens: Thinking, Stories and Ignorance, then choosing to die.

Yuval Harari’s brief history of humankind, weighing in at a meaty 400 pages, is enjoyable, provocative and very worrying.  The wide-ranging, scholarly story is easy to read and sensible.  I enjoyed the book from beginning to end, though I had to restrain myself from skipping to the last chapter: The End of Homo Sapiens. For …
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You’re NOT only human …

… you’ve got bits of bug in your DNA, and some of it is missing*. These facts help appreciate the diversity of look and behaviour of humans, but looking deeper, it is the similarities in looks and behaviour, a.k.a. culture, which show that nurture is such a powerful influence on each of us. Research published …
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In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded. – Terry Pratchett quotes …

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded. Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along. …
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Goodbye Sir Terry. Grief and legacy.

A long sad sigh was felt around the world when Sir Terry moved on today. Many are grieving. His legacy began with time.  It is infinite.  Stories. Funny thing though, I was talking to him today.  That’s the reality of the space-time continuum and modern technology.  I didn’t think that he’d not hear me.  Ever.  …
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A chapter on death

Well sub-chapter.  From Common Sense. Death Is a Part of Life As my subconscious filtered the idea that weaknesses in our systems occurred when we ignored nature’s example, I realised that we found it difficult to deal with death, although it was clearly a part of life. Death was important because fearing it is difficult …
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Global systems in transition – accountants seeing the light.

Dr Hazel Henderson has released a summary of her upcoming book Mapping the global transition to the solar age – From ‘economism’ to earth systems science. Drawing on over 40 years of data and experience, it offers a comprehensive summary of the issues faced by global systems and indicates ways forward.  It is sponsored by …
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Everyone leads in tomorrow’s world, because it’s natural.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explains that in a flock of birds they take it in turns to lead, because being in the lead is energy depleting and can not last long (look at how every US President goes grey in the job), all birds in the flock learn to …
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