» 10 Big Questions http://www.catboant.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:08:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Two Stars for Peace – Invitation for a Grass Roots Movement http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:50:49 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=549 There will be no peace and terror won’t end unless the Palestine-Israel will be solved. There have been many attempts to find solutions, millions of papers have been written and the one-state and the two-state-solution have been discussed over and over again. No results! The questions occurs: Why? Maybe the politicians, those who are in charge aren’t interested in a solution?

I believe that most of the people in Israel and Palestine want nothing but peace. And to achieve this goal finally, new unusual – outside the box – approaches should be discussed seriously. Martine Rothblatt, US based lawyer and entrepreneur, offers a new approach and invites YOU all to participate. She
calls her solution “Two Stars for Peace” which is a proposed agreement for Israelis and Palestinians to secure their mutual futures by petitioning the United States Congress to become the 51st and 52nd U.S. states.

Please discuss!
You find a Hebrew and Arabic translation on the website of the book.

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/feed/ 1 “One World” http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/10/one-world/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/10/one-world/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:15:26 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=420 “Even though an incredible 83% of the world is literate and 80% have access to electricity a mere 25.6% has internet access. How can we call this the “information age” when so few have access to information? Information that can help people all over the world to help themselves: Why send food when you can teach a generation of families how to cultivate their own crops with 21st century practices. Why must individuals like William Kamkwamba, re-inventor of the windmill, be limited to re-discovering technologies that are well documented and freely available? In order to close the gap between the developed and the developing world we must bring the information age to them, to help them help themselves.” By Kosta Grammatis

Related conversations:

Iris Brosch

Related websites:

A Human Right
OneDayForOneGoal, Project by Queen Rania of Jordan during the FIFA Worldcup

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/10/one-world/feed/ 0 Economy & Markets http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/08/economy-markets/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/08/economy-markets/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:48:25 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=415 The world’s economy is an ungovernable, hyper-complex, and constantly changing matrix of relationships between companies, individuals, financial institutions, and governments. It has long moved away from being a straight forward exchange of goods and services for money. And perhaps most important are the side-effects of complexity, coupled with the globalization of industries like manufacturing, food, energy, and services.

We are moving into an economic era where the laws of complexity — more than classical economic theory — will be a better means to understand, or to predict, economic behavior at the macro level. At the most basic level, the interconnection of so much of our world’s economic infrastructure — stock markets, banking, capital transfers, governmental loans, manufacturing investments, outsourced
manufacturing, processing of raw materials and energy production — has led to a greatly increased likelihood of disastrous oscillations in the various interconnected market sectors.

The only question is whether there is any solution to the danger inherent in this new world order other than decoupling and decomplexifying? Are we capable of taking the steps necessary to decrease the risk of catastrophe? By Stowe Boyd

Related conversations:

David Weinberger
Don Tapscott

Related websites:

More to come

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/08/economy-markets/feed/ 0 Flesh & Machines http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/06/flesh-machines/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/06/flesh-machines/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:11:40 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=405 The co-evolution of human culture and its technologies is radically altered by the advent of thinking machines.
All tools extend the reach of the mind and body. Thinking machines represent a dramatic enhancement of human faculties. Some people will even elect to be cyborgs by integrating thinking machines into their bodies. Autonomous thinking machines may eventually function as companions and perhaps as competitors. By Wendell Wallach

Related conversations:

Martine Rothblatt

Related websites:

PW Singer on military robots and the future of war
Interview with Wendell Wallach
Tool To Fight Terrorists Or A Harbinger Of Big Brother
Robo-Ethicists Want to Revamp Asimov’s 3 Laws
The Singularity Is Near
Mindfiles, Mindware and Mindclones

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/06/flesh-machines/feed/ 1 Education http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/06/education/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/06/education/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:54:50 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=364 “Many education systems are in need of major overhaul. They are struggling with large numbers of high school dropouts and don’t provide sufficient preparation for the jobs of the future. The smartest societies will find new ways of educating their citizen, combining the power of networks and institutions.” Sebastian Hirsch

Related conversations:

Stephen Downes

Related websites:

More to come.

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