“We will need a far better understanding of our planet’s complex systems, and much more sophisticated technologies and institutions...to achieve a relationship with our surrounding natural environment that is economically and socially sustainable. Ever greater amounts of ingenuity will be required."

With the proper mindset, one can summon up and deliver a ton of ingenuity while on a plane. This may be largely due to an enhanced ability to focus, assuming one can avoid the siren call of the TV screen. What about installing a seatbelt on that desk chair? :)

Happy #Thanksgiving and #NativeAmericanHeritage Days! They teach us about the importance of traditional knowledge embedded in #foodsystems. The Pilgrims had no clue how to farm New England soils and wouldn't have survived without the sharing of lessons learned by #NativeAmericans over millennia.

Arthur Koestler (1964), argued that Darwin's thought showed that "creative originality does not mean creating...a system of ideas out of nothing but rather out of the combination of well-established patterns of thought...a process of cross fertilization." The power of the combinatorial approach...

U. of Maryland Prof. Julian Simon (1932-1998):

"Minds matter economically as much as, or more than, hands or mouths...The main fuel to speed the world's progress is the stock of human knowledge." OK, but Simon was focused on growing populations, rather than on improving the minds we already have...