Interconnected Networks – The Modern Day Norm For Understanding The Organization Of Information And Social Interactions

Interconnected Networks – The Modern Day Norm For Understanding The Organization Of Information And Social Interactions

Culture, Featured

Manuel Lima, senior UX design lead at Microsoft Bing, shows how interconnected networks are increasingly becoming the modern day norm for understanding the organization of information and social interactions, and as a result, visualized networks are increasing in popularity as cultural memes. In An Interconnected Network, If One Element Changes, The Whole Network Changes As shown in the above video, a defining factor of an interconnected network is that if one of its elements changes, that change affects the whole network and thus the whole network changes. Accordingly, a collapse in one part of the network clearly causes all the other parts to be affected by it, as is most painfully and obviously exemplified by the global financial crisis. Thus, this interconnected network perspective of understanding the organization of social interactions clearly shows the need for mutual responsibility as a leading social value. When Will Commonly Accepted Social Values Grow To Harness The Interconnected Network Perspective In Human Relationships? As knowledge advances to harness the interconnected network outlook on every area of life, the  social values that characterize “the world of the past” – individualism, maximizing profits and self-interest – and their methods of stratification and protectionism still prevail in human society. What will it take for society at large to realize how living to satisfy one’s individual interests is an outdated way of living, which leads to increasing crisis? Moreover, is it possible that the flourishing knowledge of interconnected networks could start penetrating and reformatting the way human beings relate to each other, before facing another crisis tipping...
Is It Possible We Can Actually Extend Our Empathy To The Entire Human Race As An Extended Family? [RSA Video]

Is It Possible We Can Actually Extend Our Empathy To The Entire Human Race As An Extended Family? [RSA Video]

Culture, Featured

Bestselling author, political adviser, and social and ethical strategist, Jeremy Rifkin, says we must “begin rethinking human nature” and “bring out our empathic sociability so that we can rethink the institutions of society and prepare the groundwork for an empathic civilization.” Empathy Is: the acknowledgement of death and the celebration of life and rooting for each other to flourish and be.” based on our frailties and imperfections, so when we talk about building an empathic civilization, we are not talking about utopia.” about the ability of human beings to show solidarity.” Empathy Evolves There was no such thing as Germany, there was no such thing as France. These are fictions but they allow us to extend our families so that we can have loyalties and identities based on the new complex energy communication revolutions we have that annihilate time and space.” Is it really a big stretch to imagine the new technologies allowing us to connect our empathy to the human race writ large in a single biosphere?” Science Shows: All humans are soft wired with mirror neurons” meaning, “if I’m observing you – whatever it is – the same neurons will light up in me as if I’m having that experience myself.” We are soft wired not for aggression, violence, self-interest, utilitarianism” rather, “for sociability, attachment, affection, companionship, and the first drive is actually the drive to belong.” We are “soft-wired to experience another’s plight as if we are experiencing it ourselves.” The Goal Is To: Begin thinking as an extended family.” Rethink the human narrative.” Bring out our core...
Forced Positive Thinking Doesn’t Solve Problems [RSA Video]

Forced Positive Thinking Doesn’t Solve Problems [RSA Video]

Culture, Featured

My very radical suggestion is realism where we try to figure out what is actually happening in the world, and see what we can do about those parts of it that are threatening or hurtful.” Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist, author and political activist began to see a pattern and found it in more and more aspects of American life: this mandatory optimism and cheerfulness.”   Ignoring Problems Doesn’t Solve Them One area where it is strongly concentrated now and has been for some time now is the corporate world. The biggest evidence is the financial meltdown of 2007. People who tried to raise problems would be shut up or fired: You couldn’t be inside Countrywide Mortgage Company and say ‘I’m worried about our sub-prime mortgage exposure’ or you’d be out. People within Lehman Brothers who tried to point out that the housing prices could not last forever were fired. It was willful ignorance.”   To Solve Problems, They Need To Be Raised & Worked On We are hard-wired to be vigilant…and on guard, that is how our ancestors survived, not by saying everything’s probably okay. My very radical suggestion is realism where we try to figure out what is actually happening in the world, and see what we can do about those parts of it that are threatening or hurtful.”   Watch ‘Smile Or Die’ With Barbara...
Is It Time To Look Beyond Capitalism Toward A New Social Order? [RSA Video]

Is It Time To Look Beyond Capitalism Toward A New Social Order? [RSA Video]

Culture, Featured

Is it time to look beyond capitalism towards a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that could be responsible, just and humane?” Professor David Harvey, PhD, researches to figure out the role of crises in the whole history of capitalism and what’s specific and special about the crisis this time around” by looking at “the internal contradictions of capital accumulation.” An Internal Contradiction Of Capital Accumulation Financial profits in the United States were soaring after the 1990s” while “profits in manufacturing were coming down … you can see the imbalance … you’ve screwed industry to keep financiers happy,” and as a result “the wealth of the rich … has accelerated.” How Did This Happen? Since the 1970s, we have been in a phase that we call wage repression.” If you diminish wages, where is your demand going to come from?” The answer was, well … get out your credit cards.” Capitalism Never Solves Its Crises Problems, It Moves Them Around Geographically Out of this comes a theory which is very, very important: that capitalism never solves its crises problems, it moves them around geographically.” In other words, you had a finance crisis … you sort of half solved that, but … at the expense of a sovereign debt...