This Fleeting World

Recommendations

Info

Our World: The Modern Era 91 Modern Era in World History In 1969, by landing on the moon, human beings took the first, hesitant steps toward leaving their home planet. These steps brought into focus some of the major changes of the modern revolution, reminding humans that the increasing power and complexity of human societies were bought at a price and came with many dangers. Humans now have the power to destroy themselves and to do much damage to the planet. Our increased power clearly has brought responsibilities for which we are ill prepared, and the great complexity of the modern global community has created new forms of vulnerability and the fearsome prospect of a major collapse, similar to the collapses suffered in the past by many overambitious irrigation-based societies from Sumer to the Maya. On the other hand, the immense sophistication and scale of the knowledge available today hold out the promise of a managed transition to a more sustainable relationship with the biosphere. What remains unclear, then, is whether the modern revolution will lead to the emergence of a new global system capable of relative ecological, economic, and political stability, or whether the accelerating change of the modern era is the prelude to a sudden, sharp collapse that will drive many parts of the world back to the productivity levels of the early agrarian era, if not even further. Perhaps the fundamental paradox of the modern Thought Experiment Can you imagine the future? Imagine a future that you like. How different would the world be from today’s world? How many people would there be? How would they live? How long would they live? Would there be a world government? Or many small, local governments? Now imagine a future you don’t like, and ask the same questions. Finally, imagine what you think is the most likely future. It will probably be a mixture of good and bad. Don’t get too worried about whether your answer is right or wrong. The important thing is to try to imagine these future worlds because you belong to a generation that will help create them.
92 This Fleeting World revolution is that on the one hand human control over the biosphere has increased spectacularly; yet, on the other hand we have not yet shown that we can use that control in ways that are equitable and sustainable. Are we really in control of our astonishing creativity as a species? We must wait to see whether the astonishing collective achievements of our species will prove ephemeral or enduring.
Page 2 and 3:
Praise for This Fleeting World Davi
Page 4:
This Fleeting World • A Short His
Page 7 and 8:
Copyright © 2008 by Berkshire Publ
Page 10 and 11:
Contents Preface ix Publisher’s N
Page 12 and 13:
Preface This Fleeting World: A Teac
Page 14 and 15:
Preface xi That is why we are so en
Page 16 and 17:
Preface xiii That is not to say eve
Page 18 and 19:
Preface xv influence and consequenc
Page 20 and 21:
Introduction As Henry Ford is suppo
Page 22 and 23:
Introduction xix me clarify my own
Page 24 and 25:
Prequel xxi we can tell a story tha
Page 26 and 27:
Prequel xxiii sion known as a “su
Page 28 and 29:
Prequel xxv more successfully, pass
Page 30 and 31:
Prequel xxvii the appearance of a l
Page 32:
This Fleeting World • A Short His
Page 35 and 36:
This Fleeting World • Key Events
Page 37 and 38:
This Fleeting World interpretations
Page 39 and 40:
This Fleeting World or Homo erectus
Page 41 and 42:
This Fleeting World environments, l
Page 43 and 44:
10 This Fleeting World Low producti
Page 45 and 46:
12 This Fleeting World other specie
Page 47 and 48:
14 This Fleeting World Thought Expe
Page 49 and 50:
16 This Fleeting World eras of huma
Page 51 and 52:
18 This Fleeting World Thought Expe
Page 53 and 54:
20 This Fleeting World less comfort
Page 55 and 56:
22 This Fleeting World some of the
Page 57 and 58:
24 This Fleeting World civilization
Page 59 and 60:
26 This Fleeting World • Key Even
Page 61 and 62:
28 This Fleeting World of particula
Page 63 and 64:
30 This Fleeting World communities
Page 65 and 66:
32 This Fleeting World General Char
Page 67 and 68:
34 This Fleeting World The “Secon
Page 69 and 70:
36 This Fleeting World other world
Page 71 and 72:
38 This Fleeting World important in
Page 73 and 74: 40 This Fleeting World expectations
Page 75 and 76: 42 This Fleeting World complexity a
Page 77 and 78: 44 This Fleeting World Topics for F
Page 79 and 80: 46 This Fleeting World Thought Expe
Page 81 and 82: 48 This Fleeting World
Page 83 and 84: 50 This Fleeting World Worth Debati
Page 85 and 86: 52 This Fleeting World A sixteenth-
Page 87 and 88: 54 This Fleeting World Thought Expe
Page 89 and 90: 56 This Fleeting World Spanish ship
Page 91 and 92: Our World: The Modern Era The moder
Page 93 and 94: 60 This Fleeting World Worth Debati
Page 95 and 96: 62 This Fleeting World communities
Page 97 and 98: 64 This Fleeting World men more con
Page 99 and 100: 66 This Fleeting World the modern e
Page 101 and 102: 68 This Fleeting World of new ideas
Page 103 and 104: 70 This Fleeting World and track st
Page 105 and 106: 72 This Fleeting World industrializ
Page 107 and 108: 74 This Fleeting World By 1900 many
Page 109 and 110: 76 This Fleeting World Modern indus
Page 111 and 112: 78 This Fleeting World comparisons
Page 113 and 114: 80 This Fleeting World production,
Page 115 and 116: 82 This Fleeting World Key Events i
Page 117 and 118: 84 This Fleeting World and politica
Page 119 and 120: 86 This Fleeting World of the econo
Page 121 and 122: 88 This Fleeting World and radio be
Page 123: 90 This Fleeting World relationship
Page 127 and 128: 94 This Fleeting World Davies, R. W
Page 129 and 130: 96 This Fleeting World Taagepera, R
Page 131 and 132: 98 This Fleeting World Problems of
Page 133 and 134: 100 This Fleeting World of the firs
Page 135 and 136: 102 This Fleeting World imply easy
Page 137 and 138: 104 This Fleeting World adopted her
Page 139 and 140: Index A Abbasid caliphate, 47 Achae
Page 141 and 142: 108 Index E Easter Island, 38 Econo
Page 143 and 144: 110 Index Mesopotamia (southwest As
Page 145 and 146: 112 Index Trade agrarian era, 37, 4
Page 147 and 148: Berkshire Encyclopedia of World His
Page 149 and 150: Patterns of Global Terrorism 1985-2
Page 151 and 152: Order multiple copies of Ideal for
show all

This Fleeting World

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?