“What are we optimising for?” This is the favourite question of my dear friend, Ellen Petry Leanse, when faced with … Read More
What Are We Optimising For?
Happiness
Overconsumption – Must, or Madness?
I have been enjoying a robust exchange of ideas with a regular correspondent. We disagree, in some cases vehemently, but … Read More
Society and the Veil of Ignorance
[Including a personal update at the end, under Other Stuff…] I was intrigued by this recent article by one of … Read More
Capitalism and Consumerism
On a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon reveals to Amy his guilty secret – a large storage … Read More
Of Equality, Ecology and Economics
I’ve been reading Ecofeminism, by Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies. Even if you don’t have much time for the … Read More
Possible Worlds
“The most wonderful and the most terrible of futures that have ever been possible are now possible.” — First speaker … Read More
Of Plutocrats and Pitchforks
“The greatest country, the richest country, is not that which has the most capitalists, monopolists, immense grabbings, vast fortunes, with … Read More
Money Makes The World Go Round?
When I give a talk about my adventures, I almost always describe the obituary exercise that I did around 20 … Read More
What Kind Of Intelligent Are You?
It was while I was teaching at Yale last year that I first came across Harvard professor Howard Gardner’s work … Read More
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