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Volume 2
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Abstract
Economic Neoliberalism in its most perverse form has been recapturing the imagination of policy makers worldwide. It emerged in the context of a prolonged crisis, increasing unemployment and unsustainability in the public sector. Growth slowdown reflects several factors, including domestic errors of economic policies, lower commodity prices and structural... Read more
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The general framework of this paper is to focus on the evolution of scientific consciousness and the dramatic technological developments it has generated, which have vital and highly consequential consequences for social organization on a global basis. The central fact about the current technological revolution is the enormous challenges it provides for... Read more
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A feeling of uncertainty about the future as well as the perception that the past classical securities are gone are widely spread among people. Criticism or disaffection affects the majority of the traditional political forces of the European continent. It is not possible to talk about the European crisis without referring to the crisis of the wage-based... Read more
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This paper offers some elements for the construction of a theory of global crises. It distinguishes between man-made crises and human-induced crises. The conceptual framework developed draws upon the ideas set forth by Douglass North in his explanations of the historical process of economic change and by Ronald Heiner in his critique of the conventional... Read more
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Ruđer Josip Bošković (1711-1787) was a Jesuit priest and a scientist from the former Republic of Dubrovnik in today’s Croatia. He published many works in such fields as mathematics, physics, astronomy and geodesy. According to Werner Heisenberg, Bošković’s “main work, Theoria Philosophiae Naturalis, contains numerous ideas which have reached full expression... Read more
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In this article, a principal place is given to the question of how the ways we conceptualize the use of our mind influence the generation of social power. We define social power as the potency of socially integrated individuals to accomplish specific predetermined values. These values can be related to anything from concrete material prosperity to abstract... Read more
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Global civilization is the product of diverse cultures, each contributing a unique perspective arising from the development of different mental faculties and powers of mind. The momentous achievements of modern science are the result of the cumulative development of mind’s capacity for analytic thinking, mathematical rendering and experimental validation. The... Read more
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The exponential growth of knowledge demands an interdisciplinary reflection on how to integrate the different branches of the natural sciences and the humanities into a coherent picture of world, life, and mind. Insightful intellectual tools, like evolutionary Biology and Neuroscience, can facilitate this project. It is the task of Philosophy to identify those... Read more
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The rational mind is the highest evolved status of human consciousness. The evolution of mind and civilization has proceeded hand in hand for millennia. The development of new capacities of mind made possible the development of tools, language, agriculture, permanent settlements, towns, cities, religion, trade, transportation, communication, government, law,... Read more
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We are prisoners of our minds and the prevailing system of education. The evolution of mind and the evolution of civilization are complementary, mutually reinforcing movements of history—one internal, the other external. Limitations in current theory reflect limitations in the way we are presently using and misusing the rich diversity of mental faculties evolved by different cultures over... Read more
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Society unknowingly follows the course of spiritual evolution. Spirituality is the quest for self-existent order and harmonious perfection. The evolution of society is driven by an irrepressible aspiration for the values that are the translation and embodiment of that order. The history of civilization is a record of its progressive emergence. Spirituality is... Read more
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This article describes a global governance system that—from the author’s point of view—would lead to sustainability and allow the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have just been adopted at the UN level. Major elements are (1) the integration of existing international regimes in the area of the UN, WTO and the world financial... Read more
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The Market can be understood as a self-organizing system that is constantly evolving. Like all social institutions, it is governed by principles and rules created by society, not by any universal laws of nature. If it does not work the way we want it to, we have the power and freedom to change its rules. However, prevailing notions about the market are veiled... Read more
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The future science of Economics must be human-centered, value-based, inclusive, global in scope and evolutionary in perspective. It needs to be fundamentally interdisciplinary to reflect the increasingly complex sectoral interconnections that characterize modern society. It must also be founded on transdisciplinary principles of social existence and human... Read more
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Over the past century there have been many profound scientific, technological, economic and social transformations. In the near future, the most dramatic breakthroughs will probably be achieved through combinations of various scientific disciplines, such as work cutting across physics, molecular biology, neurosciences, biotechnology, nanotechnology and... Read more
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Democracy was the most successful political idea of the 20th century. However since the beginning of the new century democracy has been clearly suffering from serious structural problems, rather than a few isolated ailments. Why has it run into trouble, can it be revived? In the consumption driven world people have started to be driven by the belief in economic... Read more
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Universal suffrage has been the primary goal of democratic evolution. Despite elections and other measures taken to ensure democratic rights, some desired outcomes such as equality and transparency are not being met. The current mode of our democratic system is archaic in addressing the world’s multifaceted global crises. So, there’s a dire need to incorporate... Read more
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The World Academy of Art & Science was founded in 1960 by eminent scientists confronting the profound policy implications and social consequences of science and technology. The threat of nuclear weapons to human security, which was uppermost at that time, still persists more than a half century later. But today fundamental questions regarding the role and social responsibility of science and... Read more
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Get Full Text in PDFGlobal temperatures are rising, along with droughts, floods, storms, wildfires, and melting of glaciers and tundra. Concern about climate change and sustainable development is necessarily growing. Three of the most important recent books and reports are reviewed here, as an introduction to major thinking about what must be done.
I. Pope Francis on Integral Ecology and a... Read more
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This paper deals with an analytical framework to provide a measure of overall performance which involves both socioeconomic activities and environmental sustainability using a recent Index of well-being. The composite indicator, created by Medrano-B & Teixeira (2013), is associated with the so called “Magic Square”, a diagram stimulated by the... Read more
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This the first of two articles that describe the development of a new generation of global modelling tools that was first proposed by the authors as members of a working group of the Canadian Association for the Club of Rome in 1993. This paper describes the underlying conceptual framework adopted by the group. The companion paper describes the Global Systems... Read more
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This article addresses the discussion proposed by the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS) about the need to build a new paradigm to confront the challenges of the global society and to move across to a New Society discussing specific problems related to economic globalization and proposing changes. The ways in which economic orthodoxy and heterodoxy... Read more
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This paper tries to find an answer to the question of how to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the world has just decided to implement. I argue that besides the existing wealth of proposals, mainly along the lines of better governance and co-financing strategies, we need a complementary approach: parallel Quantitative Easing (QE) for SDGs... Read more
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A global transition is manifesting in sustainable technologies, policies and investment tools. We are moving beyond the Industrial Era. Crises in energy, water, food and ecosystem services are being met with many forms of renewable energy; United Nations, NGOs, World Bank and other global programs; and with creative investment opportunities such as green bonds.... Read more
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The call for a new humanism in the 21st century roots in the conviction that the moral, intellectual and political foundations of globalization and international cooperation have to be rethought. Whilst the historic humanism was set out to resolve tensions between tradition and modernity and to reconcile individual rights with newly emerging duties of... Read more
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The world we live in is a product of the way we think. Our conception of reality determines what we see and what we achieve. The Greek crisis is not simply a case of high public debt, economic mismanagement or weak political will in Greece or the Eurozone. It is underpinned by economic premises, constructs and resulting practices that promote exactly the type of... Read more
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Life is filled with seemingly intractable problems. But life wisdom affirms that if there is a problem, there must be a solution. Or better yet, the solution to the problem lies within the problem itself. Problems have their roots in disharmony. Disharmony arises when a part separates itself from the whole and acts independently of the wider reality of which it... Read more
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Higher education has continuously evolved in its purpose and methods. As the demands on education have become increasingly complex today, it becomes essential to determine the needs of the future, and evolve a system of education that equips youth to face the challenges that the 21st century will bring, and scale its yet unseen peaks. The following paper draws... Read more
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Education, together with family and culture, is one of the fundamental building blocks of the social construction of reality. It is more and more evident that we need a paradigm change in the field of education in order to enable people to deal effectively with the mounting challenges facing humanity.
This retooling needs to start with our frames of reference.... Read more
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Editors’ Note
The Double Helix of Learning and Work by Orio Giarini and Mircea Malitza is a report to the Club of Rome first published by UNESCO in 2003. It advances fundamental paradigm-changing ideas in the field of education. Drawing inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA, the authors seek to strengthen the relationship between education and employment in... Read more
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When the knowledge gained over centuries has to be presented to students through a 12-15 year study, it has to be abridged and organized elaborately. This process of encapsulating all knowledge into an educational course often results in fragmentation of knowledge and a mental divorce from life. Life knowledge that is reduced to objective principles may be... Read more
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Education abridges the time required for individual and social progress by preserving and propagating the essence of human experience. It delivers to youth the accumulated knowledge of countless past generations in an organized and abridged form, so that future generations can start off with all the capacities acquired by their predecessors. However, today... Read more
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The need for revolutionary transformation of higher education discussed in previous issues of Cadmus is acquiring momentum. In spite of the initial problems, skepticism and resistance, online education is rapidly gaining ground both within universities and outside them in MOOCs and alternative educational delivery systems. Today more than 17 million students are participating in online courses... Read more
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Two Cheers for the Millennium Project2013-14 State of the Future (17th Edition)
Jerome C. Glenn* (Director, Millennium Project), Theodore J. Gordon (Senior Fellow, Millennium Project), and Elizabeth Florescu (Director of Research, Millennium Project).
Washington: The Millennium Project, April 2014, 247p (6x9”), $39.95pb. PDF in English or Spanish, $29.95. www.themp.org... Read more
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Abstract
Social evolution is a continuation of biological evolution. The difference is the presence of mind, language and thinking. Therefore, society can be viewed as a living and rational system. The engine of social evolution is knowledge. Development of society is determined bilaterally by objective and subjective factors. Objective factors determine the form of... Read more
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The energy sector is pivotal to our aspirations for a sustainable planet and yet two major challenges face policymakers worldwide. The first is to decide what set of technical choices provide the best solution to meet social, economic and environmental agendas; and the second is to decide how these choices can be financed. The bulk of new energy demand will... Read more
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The need for a paradigm change in economic thought has been well established, but the contours and fundamental characteristics of a new paradigm in economic theory are yet to be worked out. This article views this transition as an inevitable expression of the maturation of the social sciences into an integrated trans-disciplinary science of society founded on... Read more
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Editors’ Note
The Double Helix of Learning and Work by Orio Giarini and Mircea Malitza is a report to the Club of Rome first published by UNESCO in 2003. It advances fundamental paradigm-changing ideas in the field of education. Drawing inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA, the authors seek to strengthen the relationship between education and employment in... Read more
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Abstract
Employment and the unity of social sciences are discussed. The paper argues that employment is the simplest and the best indicator of human-centered sustainable and secure development.
1. Introduction
The 20th century is referred as the measuring century.1 Indeed, the conception of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its operational definition were introduced in... Read more
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Everyone takes decisions and initiatives. Leaders take charge and initiate changes. Transformational leaders take responsibility for all and, guided by positive values, lead society into the future. These men and women of profound vision give expression to the subconscious aspirations of society that are striving to awaken, and act as a catalyst for their... Read more
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The Ukrainian crisis provoked a serious and dangerous deterioration of relations between Russia and the West. However the relations between Russia and the West should not be reduced to the current Ukrainian crisis. The rational interpretation requires getting rid of Cold war prejudices and facing the systemic disfunctionality of the current international system... Read more
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This article explores issues discussed at three recent WAAS events regarding the process of transition to a new paradigm. The prominent institutions and policies governing the present paradigm are founded upon a bedrock of ideas and values and an abstract, reductionistic mode of analytic thinking detached from people and social reality. Escape from the present... Read more
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The World Academy of Art & Science has conducted fifteen conferences over the past three years exploring various dimensions of a human-centered development paradigm intended to address the multi-dimensional challenges confronting humanity today. This project is based on the premise that incremental improvements in institutions and policies are insufficient to cope with the increasingly... Read more
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The articles in this issue examine the political, economic, social, educational and ecological dimensions of transition to a new human-centered paradigm as discussed during the conference at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University last November and on the agenda for upcoming conferences in Kiev, Baku and Gainesville in April-May 2015.
We hope you enjoy this Part.
The Editors Read more
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To fulfill its mission a human-centered paradigm as envisioned by World Academy of Art & Science should combine optimism with pessimism. An essential meta-value is avoiding the bad, in addition to achieving “the good”. Realistic assessment of human beings is a must. An appropriate phased time horizon of 10 to 80 years should frame the paradigm. Evaluation... Read more
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To all appearances the world seems to be floundering without leadership, direction or even a clear formulation of goals and processes. Yet, paradoxically, amidst the apparent chaos and confusion, evolutionary patterns of advance somehow seem to emerge, universal values become ever more prevalent and powerful as deep drivers and determinates, a more than... Read more
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Global economic growth has undoubtedly produced enormous benefits for hundreds of millions of people in both developed and developing countries. But we are heading fast into a perfect storm of connected environmental, economic and social challenges. The issues confronting the world community today are more intense and threatening than those we have faced in the... Read more
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Because of the military aggression by Russia, Ukraine is in war, and is in a poor political, economic, social and ecological state. The world is helping Ukraine by condemning Russia’s actions, by imposing sanctions on Russia and by financially helping Ukraine. A majority of the countries in the world are however themselves in a very poor state, with... Read more
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War and peace perpetually alternate. Peace is always seen as an endless project, even a dream, to be realised in brotherhood by everyone all over the earth. During the last centuries, outstanding endeavours have been undertaken by the international community to create an international order free from wars through the strengthening of mechanisms aimed at... Read more
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“I pretended not to know. / And now / my conscience / is without rest / night and day”.
Abstract
In the last few years, there has been an enormous decline on all fronts and in all areas. The world, Europe and Spain undoubtedly suffer its effects. Our political leaders have surrendered to the rules of the markets and obediently subjected our society to “austericide”,... Read more
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Contemporary challenges create the need for a new paradigm of global development. This is why Kazakhstan wants to tackle this problem. President Nursultan Nazarbayev launched the G-Global initiative that aims at uniting efforts of the international community to establish just and secure world order.
This initiative offers an absolutely new form of global discussion... Read more
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Humanity-Craft for New Epoch LeadersAvant-Garde Politician: Leaders for a New Epoch
Yehezkel Dror (Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Washington: Westphalia Press (Policy Studies Organization), April 2014, 350p, $17.50pb.
[With Comparative Comment on Henry Kissinger World Order (Penguin, Sept 2014) and Ross Jackson, Occupy... Read more
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Summary of the 2014 Report of the US Association for the Club of Rome
Francesco StipoChair, Legal & Political Committee, US Association, Club of RomeAnitra ThorhaugChair, Energy & Environment, US Association, Club of RomeMarian SimionChair, Health & Religion Committee, US Association, Club of RomeJack Allison, Keith Butler, Ryan Jackson, Roberta Gibb Welch*... Read more
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The international climate policy is in trouble. CO2 emissions are rising instead of shrinking. The 2025 climate summit in Paris should lead to a global agreement, but what should be its design? In an earlier paper in Cadmus on the issue, the author outlined a contract formula based on the so-called ‘Copenhagen Accord’ that is based on a dynamic cap and an... Read more
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Editors' Note
The Double Helix of Learning and Work by Orio Giarini and Mircea Malitza is a report to the Club of Rome first published by UNESCO in 2003. It advances fundamental paradigm-changing ideas in the field of education. Drawing inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA, the authors seek to strengthen the relationship between education and employment in... Read more
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Abstract
World civilization depends on the provision of global public goods such as tackling climate change, ensuring international financial stability or peace and security. Yet, the intergovernmental system of global governance is not capable of delivering the required results. At a fundamental level, the change necessary to achieve functioning world governance... Read more
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Part 2 of this issue of Cadmus continues our exploration of New Economic Theory with a report on issues discussed during the “11th International Colloquium on Global Crisis and Changes of Paradigms: Current Issues” conducted in Brasília on May 6-8, 2014. “Fictitious Capital & the Elusive Quest in Understanding its Implications: Illusions & Paradoxes” by Joanilio Rodolpho Teixeira &... Read more
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After the very long cycle (about 10,000 years) of societal and economic development based on agriculture, followed by a short cycle in which the industrial revolution became the prime mover (for less than 3 centuries), the world has entered a phase marked by the growing and determining importance of service activities (both monetarized and non-monetarized) .... Read more
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The European Union has introduced the Europe 2020 Strategy and Horizon 2020, which contain several elements for a transition into a Socio-ecological Market Economy. But their implementations are mainly hampered by the unduly large financial sector and the political striving for high economic growth. A turn into low growth equilibrium needs a reduction of total... Read more
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The prevailing economic paradigm has fallen short as a guide to policy making in this era of global economic crises. Numerous efforts are underway to revise it or replace it with a science of society that integrates intellectual disciplines. This paper makes a contribution to those efforts by arguing that the economic concept of externalities is no longer... Read more
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This paper deals with the interaction between fictitious capital and the neoliberal model of growth and distribution, inspired by the classical economic tradition. Our renewed interest in this literature has a close connection with the recent international crisis in the capitalist economy. However, this discussion takes as its point of departure the fact that... Read more
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Part 1 of this issue of Cadmus contains discussion documents for the next in the series of World Academy conferences on New Paradigm of Sustainable Human Development, which will be conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan on November 5-7, 2014. Efforts to date confirm the conclusion that a new paradigm must necessarily be founded on a new theoretical framework based on universal values and a trans-... Read more
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The re-emergence of dangerous East-West tensions, atrocities in the Middle East, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), bloodshed in Ukraine, traumas inflicted on many children by war and violence, massive war in Europe becoming imaginable for the first time since the end of the Cold War, violation of current international laws, unfulfilled expectations, missed... Read more
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This article traces the evolutionary development of human consciousness and its increasingly complex and sophisticated organization as human personality from the instinctive behavior of the animal and the subconscious conformity characteristic of early forms of human civilization through progressive stages of transition from physical to social to mental levels... Read more
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Society is the source of immense power. Over the past few centuries humanity has recorded phenomenal growth in its collective capacity for accomplishment, as reflected in the 12-fold growth in global per capita income since 1800. The remarkable achievements in living standards, longevity, science, technology, industry, education, democracy, human rights,... Read more
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Anticipation is increasingly at the heart of urgent contemporary debates, from climate change to economic crisis. As societies are less confident that tradition will provide an effective guide to the future, anticipatory practices are coming to the foreground of political, organizational and personal life. Research into anticipation, however, has not kept pace... Read more
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The social sciences have contributed significantly to humanity’s remarkable progress over the past two centuries, but the multidimensional crises confronting the world today reflect the need to rapidly move beyond the limitations imposed by the compartmentalization of social science disciplines and the absence of common unifying principles equivalent to those... Read more
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Sixteen Worldviews: A Summation of Recent Reviews
Now for the Long Term: The Report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations
Security and Sustainability
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
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Sixteen Worldviews:A Summation of Recent Reviews
Where is humanity headed? What are the major problems that must be... Read more
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We acknowledge the inadequacy of the ancient model to develop the wealth of nations and the recognition that both economics and ecology are the best possible ways to manage world and human resources to achieve a better wealth of nations. The rebuilding of economics and of a credible strategy for increasing the wealth and well-being of nations is today at the... Read more
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The history of World War I is reviewed, starting with a discussion of the development of nationalist movements in Europe. It is pointed out that the global disaster started with a seemingly small operation by Austria, which escalated uncontrollably into an all-destroying conflagration. A striking feature of the war was that none of the people who started it had... Read more
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A new paradigm in human development must be founded upon a new paradigm in education. A human-centered educational system is needed whose aim is the fullest development of the capacities of each individual. Today humanity is on the cusp of a major transition in education, our most powerful instrument for conscious social evolution. Quality education can now be... Read more
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Editors’ Note
The Double Helix of Learning and Work by Orio Giarini and Mircea Malitza is a report to the Club of Rome first published by UNESCO in 2003. It advances fundamental paradigm-changing ideas in the field of education. Drawing inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA, the authors seek to strengthen the relationship between education and employment in... Read more
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Abstract
There is currently significant dissatisfaction with conventional economic theory. The unreliability of conventional theory as a predictor of future economic possibilities of catastrophes emphasizes the need for a new paradigm of political economy. This paper provides a capsule of some of the important limitations and consequences of the “old” paradigm. It... Read more
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The digital media are the new interface between mind and world. They enable us to gain instant access to an infinitely expandable collective memory system. This is an indispensable breakthrough, but has the potential to seriously violate the ancient co-evolutionary pact between brain and culture which has kept the rate of cultural and technological change... Read more
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Earlier issues of Cadmus Journal have explored new ideas and strategies for addressing the multiple challenges confronting global society today in the fields of economics, ecology, governance, security, society and culture.
Beginning last year the focus of the World Academy of Art & Science shifted from examination of individual sectors to a search for comprehensive, integrated... Read more
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This article seeks to underline the central challenges to world order that are outcomes of our current system of global, social, power and constitutional processes. The article outlines these major problems which it is suggested represent a crisis for the future trajectory of human survival and well-being. The paper then uses the problem of the emergence of... Read more
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We live in a world of opportunity – the opportunity to use the insight generated through the multiple crises humanity finds itself in to transit into a much more liveable, sustainable and equitable society.
A paradigm change seems to be taking place, a movement for change seems to be in the making, but at the same time there is a widespread feeling that things... Read more
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We are on a collision course with nature. And the underlying reason is that humans' creative capacity has largely bypassed their adaptive capacity.
Due to existing trends in 10 years the world will be changed dramatically.
These trends will change the social standards and human behaviour patterns; shift “centres of gravity” from the West to East, from the North... Read more
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Abstract
The contemporary world is global, uncertain and rapidly changing. The present economic, social and political paradigm is destroying natural, human and social capital at an accelerating pace. Problems generated by these destructions require urgent solution. All these problems are complex, and cannot be addressed in a piecemeal, sectorial fashion. These problems... Read more
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The multi-dimensional challenges confronting global society today will not lend themselves to resolution by piecemeal sectoral strategies and incremental measures. Their causes are deep, inextricably interconnected and result from deficiencies in values, concepts, institutions, policies and actions. Fundamental change is needed in both thought and action – a... Read more
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"The coming revolution in education is a harbinger of the coming freedom of the individual."
There are many kinds and degrees of freedom – political, social, psychological and spiritual. The end of colonialism following WWII liberated a third of humanity from the oppression of foreign rule. The end of the Cold War brought the freedom of democracy to hundreds of... Read more
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The World Academy of Art & Science was founded as a network of concerned individuals committed to addressing the multi-faceted global challenges of the modern era. It would appear that a small group of people – no matter how distinguished – cannot expect to have significant impact on problems that span the entire globe and confront all of humanity. But appearances... Read more
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“We need a new paradigm for the 21st century which is not dependent on what worked in the 20th century.”
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Politicians are distracted with the on-going economic crisis and instability. While understandable this is far from the only challenge facing the world. If we are to seize the opportunities of the future then we have to address the legacy of the past and... Read more
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Editorial Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “Opportunities and Challenges for the 21st Century – Need for a New Paradigm”, which was organised by the United Nations Office and the World Academy of Art and Science and held at the United Nations Office in Geneva on June 3, 2013.
Abstract
If there is a loose consensus on aiming at a world free... Read more
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This article seeks to appraise the Rule of Law in the context of international sovereignty and the growth of international non-governmental organizations. The article explores the meaning of the Rule of Law and suggests that it is better understood as a symbol representing the most basic values that underline our global constitutional system. When we relate the... Read more
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Exactly 100 years ago, Austrian writer Robert Musil’s book “The Man Without Qualities” foresaw the cultural challenge that Relativity and Quantum Theory would pose to the Newtonian mechanistic worldview of the 19th century. His book anticipated the transition that would eventually compel a deterministic, reductionist science of predictability to enter into... Read more
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The challenge is to redirect central bank money into the real economy and to the needs of society. If new money is issued to expand the productive capacity, there is no reason for inflation. Long-term financing could become available at an affordable price. Central bank money must not replace a sound tax system and the distribution of income and wealth, but... Read more
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The distinction between complicated and complex systems is of immense importance, yet it is often overlooked. Decision-makers commonly mistake complex systems for simply complicated ones and look for solutions without realizing that ‘learning to dance’ with a complex system is definitely different from ‘solving’ the problems arising from it. The situation... Read more
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This paper is the result of two recent e-workshops organized by The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), one on the Science of Networks, the other on Complexity. These Sciences have emerged in the last few decades and figure among a large group of ‘new’ sciences or knowledge acquisitors. They are connected with one another and are very well exposed in... Read more
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Replacing the United Nations system and large international institutions with plutocratic groups (G-7, G-8, G-20) and universal principles with the laws of the market has led to multiple crises that require immediate reaction to prevent them from becoming irreversible.
Neoliberalism has placed military, energy, economic and media power in the hands of a very... Read more
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The current socio-economic-political paradigm is destroying our most precious capital – natural, human and social. The current paradigm is non-sustainable. It has to be changed! The required paradigmatic change will have to be one of the most dramatic in the history of humankind, comparable to or even more profound than the agricultural, commercial, democratic, and... Read more
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“The current paradigm conflates economic growth with development globally.”
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We are the first civilization in which the pursuit of the real and the good has become separated. The current predominant worldview adopts the scientific method as the singular legitimate method of discovering the truth. It relies on prediction, repetition, control, and quantification.... Read more
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Alison Smith(UK). London & NY: Earthscan/Routledge, Jan 2013, 408p, $59.95pb.
Review by Michael Marien
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For several decades, we have heard, over and over, that climate change is a very bad development, and that addressing climate change and evolving to a sustainable or low-carbon society are a necessary response—seemingly painful in the short term, desirable in the... Read more
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Urban centers are the engines which must bear the brunt of required changes to meet climate change mitigation goals, whilst continuing to provide social and economic opportunities. Restoring nature to the city is not a luxury; it is vitally important to our health and well-being. Biopolicy can help international decision-makers find new ways for understanding... Read more
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Abstract
The international climate policy is in big trouble. The governments of the world cannot agree on a reasonable, enforceable cap on global CO2 emissions – not today and not in the future. Concerning a strict enough cap, this issue is politically not handleable today, because this would directly interfere with the options of countries to generate future economic... Read more
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Abstract
Despite the UN’s adoption of a new economic and social right in 2010 - the Right to safe drinking water and sanitation - the deficit of fresh water is becoming increasingly severe and large-scale.
The mounting water crisis and its geography make it clear that without resolute counteraction, many societies’ adaptive capacities within the coming decades... Read more
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Abstract
Education is the most important catalyst of social evolution. Today higher education is in the early stages of a revolutionary transition that will have immense impact on the future of global society. This article presents an overview of perspectives explored at the World Academy's Forum on Global Higher Education conducted at the University of California at... Read more
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America was founded by immigrants from many nations of diverse political ideals, disparate religious beliefs, social backgrounds (French aristocrats, Irish serfs, Chinese coolies), different races (white, black, oriental), and a multitude of linguistic groups. They shared only one thing in common that bound them to one another – a common quest for liberty, a love of... Read more
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Editors' Note
The Double Helix of Learning and Work by Orio Giarini and Mircea Malitza is a report to the Club of Rome first published by UNESCO in 2003. It advances fundamental paradigm-changing ideas in the field of education. Drawing inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA, the authors seek to strengthen the relationship between education and employment in... Read more
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Abstract
The emerging Knowledge Revolution goes beyond the changing technologies and the challenges and opportunities they create to include the structure of knowledge and how it is transmitted inter-generationally and across countries. There are seven major features of that profound transformation, which I call “The Seven Pillars of the New Knowledge Revolution”. These... Read more
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Abstract
Internet and Communication Technologies are transforming education, taking it out of the traditional classroom and making it open, affordable and dynamic. Universities, publishers, corporates and individual lecturers are creating online courses. A course consists of video lectures, electronic study notes, online tests and assignments. Anyone who wishes to... Read more
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Abstract
Consciousness is creative. That creativity expresses in myriad ways – as moments in time in which decades of progress can be achieved overnight, as organizational innovations of immense power for social accomplishment; as creative social values that further influence the evolution of organizations and society; as the creativity of individuality in the leader,... Read more
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Knowledge is the sustenance of civilization and culture. Language is the instrument for mental comprehension and transmission of knowledge. Education is the means by which each generation passes on to the next in a concentrated, systematic manner the cumulative knowledge and wisdom acquired in the past. Of all the technologies developed by humanity, none is as powerful... Read more
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Volume 2