Navigating the polycrisis–life in turbulent times

Navigating the polycrisis–life in turbulent times

By Michael Lerner, Angle of Vision…The polycrisis has many names—cascading crises, the metacrisis, the permacrisis, the great unraveling, the great simplification, “the end of the world as we know it” [TEOTWAWKI], and more. In Latin America it’s called “eco-social collapse.” The French call it “collapsologie.” Or one can simply call it turbulent times or a rapidly changing world.

The surprising thing A.I. engineers will tell you if you let them

by Ezra Klein, The New York Times…This is an example of “alignment risk,” the danger that what we want the systems to do and what they will actually do could diverge, and perhaps do so violently. Curbing alignment risk requires curbing the systems themselves, not just the ways we permit people to use them.

This changes everything

This changes everything

In a 2022 survey, A.I. experts were asked, “What probability do you put on human inability to control future advanced A.I. systems causing human extinction or similarly permanent and severe disempowerment of the human species?”

Climate, fiction, and the future

Artists have a long history of channeling social change into their works, shaping our cultures, societies, and institutions. When informed by science, this becomes a powerful tool for action.

Let’s imagine we knew exactly how the pandemic started

In a March Guardian editorial that similarly treated the matter of origin as an arcane sideshow, the paper emphasized expanding disease surveillance, protecting natural habitats, reforming factory farming and ramping up lab safety — and concluded that all “this, rather than the blame game, is what politicians should prioritize.”

The Long View Vol 22

The Long View Vol 22

Since the Long View started as a newsletter almost 2 years ago, our aim has been to curate the highest quality polycrisis news, research, and analysis to support this growing learning community. As this polycrisis work has gone global, so has the volume of content, debate over its relevance, and evolving language. Here are this month’s top picks of polycrisis news, curated by Omega Program Director Stanley Wu. It was quite a month, worldwide. These selections were chosen to help foster thinking about these times and how we consider resilience in light of the global polycrisis.

More in this tag

Jul 06 2023

Global polycrisis: The causal mechanisms of crisis entanglement

by Dr. Michael Lawrence at The Cascade Institute….. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or more fast-moving trigger events combines with...
Nov 08 2024

Resilience revisited 06: Roman Krznaric: Harnessing history to shape philanthropic futures and build collective resilience

by Tamzin Ractliffe on LinkedIn…Krznaric emphasises the importance of long-term thinking and creating compelling visions for the future that enhance collective...
Nov 07 2024

Open letter by climate scientists to the Nordic Council of Ministers

by Climate Scientists….Many further impacts are likely to be felt globally, including a shift in tropical rainfall belts, reduced oceanic carbon dioxide uptake...
Nov 06 2024

Derailment risk: A systems analysis that identifies risks which could derail the sustainability transition

by Laurie Laybourn, et al. in Earth Systems Dynamics…How will the effects of climate change, nature loss, and other environmental change impact our ability to...
Nov 05 2024

Cli-Fi—helping us manage a crisis

by Howard Frumkin in the British Medical Journal…Cli-fi may be important for our patients as they come to grips with the looming climate crisis—a hyper-object too...
Nov 04 2024

The disturbing power of information pollution

by Michael P. Lynch in MIT Press…When we’re lulled into giving up on truth, we give up on critical thought — even dissent itself.

Nov 01 2024

The Regeneration Handbook: System-changing strategies

by Don Hall in Resilience.org…Many Transition Initiatives, from Fujino, Japan, to London, England, have started their own community-owned renewable energy...
Oct 31 2024

Insurable losses from natural disasters – how have the numbers changed over the years?

by Terry Gangcuanco in Insurance Business Magazine….Canadian insurtech MyChoice has released a new study showing a sharp rise in insurable losses linked to...
Oct 30 2024

Holding states to account: do humanitarians undermine civil society?

by Zainab Moallin in ODI.org…Are humanitarian efforts, despite their best intentions, diminishing civil society’s capacity to advocate for systemic change with...
Oct 29 2024

AI Snake Oil—A New Book by 2 Princeton University Computer Scientists

by Eric Topol in Ground Truths….A Counter to the Hype and Some Misleading Claims

Oct 28 2024

The Earth Does Not Speak in Prose, A conversation with Paul Kingsnorth

Interviewed by Charlotte Du Cann, Paul Kingsnorth, writer and Dark Mountain co-founder….writes about forging a language that can speak with and for the...