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Let’s Invent a Global Society – Lee Bollinger on Global Challenges
By The Editors In the video below, Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, and Chrystia Freeland, Thomson Reuters Consumer News Editor, discuss how Columbia University tackles the challenges of rapid global changes – the changes we have described in a previous post on the great acceleration, results of the events that define the space age and the information age. Lee Bollinger’s…
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What is Global Competence?
By The Editors There are few definitions currently available to help understand what global competence is, or better, understand the current interpretations of the global competence concept. One of these definitions is: “Having an open mind while actively seeking to understand cultural norms and expectations of others, and leveraging this gained knowledge to interact, communicate and work effectively in diverse environments.”…
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The Great Acceleration
By The Editors Global changes characteristic of both Space Age and Information Age are defined by exponential increases in a variety of dimensions related to the human relationship with the natural world. Examples of these dimensions are human population growth, resource use, and economic activity. The scale and speed of these increases, clearly recognizable since the 1950’s, can be best approximated with exponential curves. The process that…
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The Information Age
By The Editors The Information Age is the era shaped by information and communication technologies—and therefore by information-based industries. It started in the mid-1970s in association with the Digital Revolution, and partially overlaps with the Space Age, which started in the late 1950s with the launch of the world’s first artificial satellite. The Information age has been characterized by widespread optimism…
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The Space Age
By The Editors On October 4, 1957, the 184-pound Sputnik 1 was successfully launched by the Soviet Union and entered Earth’s orbit. Sputnik 1 was the world’s first artificial satellite, only 56 centimeters (22 inches) in diameter, orbiting the Earth in 96 minutes. Its launch ushered in what is now called the “Space Age“, a new era characterized by a variety of political, scientific…
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The Schwarzman Scholars Program: Focus on China
By The Editors The $300 million “Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University” program, jointly founded by Tsinghua University in Beijing and Stephen Schwarzman, was launched on April 21 and will emulate the famous Rhodes Scholarship program, the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship in the world. The launch ceremony was held at Tsinghua University. Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama both sent congratulatory letters.…
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The Global Environmental Impact of Clothes Production
By The Editors Sandblasting is not all. Textile factories use dyes that have a huge environmental and human health impact. In this video, you can see a dye-blue river in China. You can also see Indian children with grey hair – one of the effects of pesticides used in cotton fields. Follow a T-shirt journey around the globe: The T-shirt may…
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Climate Change Arguments? Use Flowchart Help!
By The Editors James West, the Climate Desk Producer at Mother Jones, has developed an entertaining and scientifically correct flowchart – actually a cheat sheet – to help everyone win every climate argument. Go to his page: You’ll find many more topics clearly explained with brilliant flow charts. In the mean time, we’ll wait for the answer to “So what…
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Global Shortage of Baby Formula
By The Editors Chinese families — aware of the dangers posed by baby formula contaminated with melamine and other harmful substances — prefer to buy brands produced and sold in other countries. That is, if they can afford it. Many can. The increasing demand from Chinese families has resulted in the current global shortages and subsequent imposed limits on purchases. In…
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The Blue Jean Distressed Look: Sandblasting Versus Eco-Aging
By The Editors Sandblasting is used to make new blue jeans look distressed. Unfortunately, sandblasting kills people. In 2011, a rigorous study published in the journal Chest showed that formerly healthy young people exposed to silica sand, used in the sandblasting of jeans, developed silicosis — a disabling and potentially fatal lung disease for which there is no cure. The young…
