Category Archives: How the World Really Works

Links of the Month: January 2020

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Dave Pollard

Too many great links to wait until the end of the quarter to post them all. So here we go with another Links of the Month: PREPARING FOR CIVILIZATION’S END cartoon by Michael Leunig The Unnecessariat: A fascinating ‘future state’ … Continue reading →

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The Apology

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Dave Pollard

photo by the author Eve Ensler, playwright, author, and screenwriter, recently wrote a haunting and powerful book called The Apology, and, after writing it, she realized that there was an apology inside her waiting to be spoken too. She explains: … Continue reading →

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Collective Intelligence to Make Sense of Complexity

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Dave Pollard

I recently did a mini introductory workshop on complexity and systems thinking, describing the difference between complicated and complex systems using my friend Dave Snowden’s Cynefin Framework (characteristics of each type of system in red; approaches in green; small business … Continue reading →

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Making Sense of Who We Are

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Dave Pollard

Have you ever had the experience of learning several things, each of which evolved completely independently, such that when you put them together you get a very satisfying or profound new insight? This recently happened to me. As an admirer … Continue reading →

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Links of the Quarter: December 2019

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Dave Pollard

The stuff in this post is pretty heavy so I thought I’d start off light: “The reason we know the earth isn’t flat is that if it was, cats would have knocked everything off it by now.” (origin unknown) cartoon … Continue reading →

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Understanding Collapse: A Physical Systems View

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Dave Pollard

image from the good folks at Pixabay CC0 (thanks Guillaume Preat) While my belief in the inevitability of civilization’s collapse in this century is rooted in my study of complexity science and a commensurate appreciation of how change happens in … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works, Preparing for Civilization's End | 6 Comments

What Would Net Zero Emissions by 2025 Look Like?

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Dave Pollard

graph by Our World in Data The latest IPCC report says that in order to prevent catastrophic climate change global net CO2 emissions will have to reach net zero by 2050, from their current levels of 33-38B tons rising by … Continue reading →

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XR and the Defence of Necessity

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Dave Pollard

Image of Ken Ward in 2016 Valve-Turners action, from the film The Reluctant Radical.  Last week, Donald Zepeda was found guilty by a jury in Washington State for his actions to disrupt the flow of Alberta tar sands bitumen sludge … Continue reading →

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Pollard’s Laws and XR

Posted on September 28, 2019 by Dave Pollard

some of the half-million Montréalers who participated in yesterday’s climate march; from Greta’s twitter posts One of the things that intrigues me about XR is that their three demands are simple, measurable and revolutionary: Government must tell the truth by … Continue reading →

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IFLS

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Dave Pollard

image from nutritionfacts.org There’s a new survey that suggests that 1/3 of Canadians, up from 1/4 in the last survey, are “skeptical” of scientists and scientific research. And globally, 45% say they only agree with science “if it aligns with … Continue reading →

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