data.world转发了
My latest article on this beautiful Thanksgiving week. Excerpt: "What might Tisquantum, the indigenous entrepreneur – in the original sense of that word, to undertake or begin something – who founded our Thanksgiving tradition four centuries ago, say on our current moment? What might this early sojourner between continents, cultures, languages, political systems, language, and even technologies advise us on civilizational fusion, artificial intelligence, and the urgent need for a new ethos to organize ourselves? From the global to the “planetary” This third de-centering, the authors argue, is certainly revolutionizing our understanding of the systems of life and geology as they combine into one, and as we humans figure out just how we adapt and adopt. Now, they continue in the second dimension of this book, our knowledge is compelling us to reexamine just how to run things. In short, they argue, we need a new “planetary OS” (my term not theirs.) For starters, the governance model they advocate demands a shift in our perspective from global issues, still largely seen through the lens of national interests, to truly "planetary" issues that require a holistic approach. This includes redefining political representation to include non-human entities and systems, reflecting a deeper understanding of humanity's embeddedness within the Earth's systems. “The vision we put forth will no doubt be dismissed by some as madly ambitious, if not unhinged and perilous – thoughts we have at times shared,” Blake and Gilman write. But visions always begin with unique insights, whether they be those of Tisquantum or the entrepreneurs remaking the planet and improving life today – by those who break patterns of old ways of thinking and behaving, as my friend Mike Maples, Jr so effectively argued in his recent new book, "Pattern Breakers". Or as Steven Pinker has argued in another game-changing book, "Enlightenment Now", innovation, driven by human ingenuity and rationality, has historically improved lives and will continue to do so. I share Pinker’s optimism about the future, and Blake and Gilman’s vision of what it might look like. It’s up to us to create it. "Children of a Modest Star" is not a blueprint. It’s not a roadmap. But it is a first rough draft of ideas and concepts we should all be pondering. This is hardly the end of this planetary discussion. But it is a modest beginning. We need to stretch our imaginations and this book certainly does that.