Maybe it is too late

Saw this on the Guardian website this morning.

"Space is no longer for power and prestige; it's truly for economic benefit," the Apollo 11 flight director Eugene Kranz said. "The technology that emerges from high-risk, high-profile, extremely difficult missions is the technology that will keep the economic engine of our nation continuing to go through the years."

If lunatic scientists lead us into believing that we can solve our problems by screwing up other planets, then we really will have gone too far, literally and metaphorically. When will we ever learn? Too late?

Not too late

Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: ‘Too late.’ -Martin Luther King

With around 1000 days to get the plans in place that usher our businesses and communities into a long, steady process of carbon descent and the transformation towards sustainable business, let's not forget Mr King's observations. Focus instead on the spirit of Doversity: The art of making good things happen quickly.

Notes from Kaos Pilot flight control

This lovely paragraph was written by Kaos Pilot adviser Hanne Vibeke-Holst and forwarded to me by Do Collective colleague Em Metcalf. Kaos Pilots were founded and run by Uffe Elbæk and have developed into an outstanding education intiative to develop skills for real change. Uffe is joining us in Cardigan for the Do Lectures to share his story with us, and around a million others over the next year. Here are Hanne's words

You can see them in your mind’s eye; the young, bright-eyed pilots, who take off – the one after the other – in order to carry out their mission. They fly through the night, crossing borders and territories, filled with the courage and will powerthat comes from knowing that what they are doing is right. Undaunted, they plough through the clouds; without fear, they dodge enemy fire; without hesitation, they continue towards their goal like the true heroes of history, who know that the future is what you dream of today. They know that someone must undertake to navigate through chaos, that someone must dare to loose their foothold for a shortwhile, that someone must fly through the clouds to get a bird’s-eyeview of the world, in order not to sink into earth-bound resignation.They know that without daring and ambition, it will never be possible to find new solutions to old problems. Risky flights are needed to turn chaos into order – and order into chaos, when necessary. And I, where am I in all this, as I am not the one sitting with my hand on the control column in the small, exposed cockpit? I sit in the Tower, like a flying instructor who makes sure that the young pilots take off successfully. I give directions; I study the sun and the stars. I incite and I ground. I am there, a voice in the ear, when the aircraft nose dives and an emergency landing is the only possibility left; but I am also there when the wheels hit the runway, and yet another victory can be celebrated. I am there with my cool head and my warm heart. Because I cannot imagine a more meaningful place to be, now that darkness threatens to swallow us up, no matter where on this Earth we live.

Do Lectures - speakers confirmed

All 20 speakers for September's Do Lectures are now confirmed and slotted into the timetable, which is excellent as we can now concentrate on selling the last 40 tickets to indicidual and corporate attendees. If the mix of people has a chemistry that's even close to 2008, we'll have magnificent company as well as wonderful input from great speakers and thinkers.

Rethinking the shark

I picked this up from Treehugger via Do Collective member John Grant, and love the way that a 100 second video can convey such a clear message about risk and perception - there's much to learn from the cheeky eloquence that'e here.