Magazine
The world grows Wiser
A new global databank aims to connect good work everywhere. Marco Visscher| May 2007 issue Imagine you're on holiday in a city in Thailand and you discover the area's natural environment is suffering from the effects of tourism. Back home, you decide to support that local Thai environmental Read More...
Native intelligence
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby is bringing together indigenous knowledge and Western science to inform the search for a sustainable future. Kim Ridley | May 2007 issue If you think a slime mould is just a stupid glob of protoplasm, think again. Japanese researchers have discovered that this Read More...
No one knows anything
Jed McKenna | May 2007 issue Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am. --René Descartes That is all ye know on Earth; And all ye need to know. --John Keats Whaddaya know? Seriously. With absolute certainty, what do you know? Put aside all opinions, beliefs and theories for a moment and address Read More...
Sisterhood is powerful
A nunnery in northern India offers a full slate of classes, leading for the first time to the highest academic degree for Buddhist scholars. Diana Reynolds Roome | May 2007 issue In the spacious courtyard, the voices of nuns are raised in rapid-fire argument in their native Tibetan language, a Read More...
stress is bogus
Marco Visscher | May 2007 issue So what is going on when you think you’re experiencing stress? Angela Patmore: “We know of about 650 definitions of stress, including many opposites. Generally, people who believe they’re suffering from stress are experiencing different emotions, like tension, Read More...
The many sides of Allah
Increasingly, Fouad Laroui heard Muslims making allegations that showed they had very little idea what their religion was about and no clue at all about other religions. So he decided to write a book about Islam. Ode spoke with the author. Tijn Touber | May 2007 issue Fouad Laroui was fed up. He Read More...
We are the world we imagine
Paul Hawken on the optimism of our hearts. Jurriaan Kamp | May 2007 issue In your earlier books - especially The Ecology of Commerce - you sounded more pessimistic about the future of the world than now in Blessed Unrest. Paul Hawken: "The Ecology of Commerce was written for the business community Read More...
The power of many
From the alternative global movement to the Wikipedians, the key word today is "self-organization": not doing what you're told to do, but contributing what you can and wish to for the greater good. Marco Visscher describes the emergence of the participatory culture. Marco Visscher | May 2007 Read More...
How to put time on your side
Now that we can be in touch with anyone at any time, do we risk being out of touch with ourselves? Jon Kabat-Zinn| May 2007 issue Our world is changing radically right under our noses in ways that have never before been experienced by the human nervous system. In light of the enormity of these Read More...
Let them in!
Why rich countries should open their borders to less-skilled migrants. Philippe Legrain | April 2007 issue We take it for granted that restrictions on the movement of people should exist. In particular, we assume that it is normal and desirable that people in poor countries should be confined Read More...