ECONOMIC CRISIS THE MIDWIFE OF BOLD EXPERIMENTATION
by Mark Sommer
Inter Press Service
The good news in the cascade of terrifying statistics is that we are about to enter an era of unprecedented experimentation, writes Mark Sommer, host of the award-winning, internationally-syndicated radio programme, A World of Possibilities.
In this column, the author writes that this innovation transformation will occur not only in technological invention but also in our social relationships at all levels --in our habits, attitudes, institutions and behaviour. Will we continue to use our incomparable ingenuity to undermine our collective well-being or will we reinvent the way we live on the basis of sustainability and the common good?
The model that will drive this innovation transformation is the open source movement that created the Internet two decades ago. The challenges we now face are of such complexity and interconnectedness that their solution will require both a wider range of perspectives and participants and better communication among them than can be gathered from even the most brilliant team of specialists.
(*) Mark Sommer hosts the award-winning, internationally-syndicated radio programme, A World of Possibilities (www.aworldofpossibilities.org).
//NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM//
Global Issues