Getting Smart Podcast 322- Thomas Homer-Dixon on Commanding Hope and the Nature of Complexity
Today, Tom is sitting down with Thomas Homer-Dixon, the author of the new book, Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril. Thomas is also the author of the well-received book, The Ingenuity Gap, and, the Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, Canada. Additionally, he also holds a University Research Chair in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo.
In this conversation, Tom and Thomas discuss why and how the world is getting more complex, the role of complexity scientists, the focus of the Cascade Institute, the importance of young people developing a sense of agency, what schools can do to educate their students about climate change, and about his book, Commanding Hope.
Key Takeaways:
[:08] About today’s episode with Thomas Homer-Dixon.
[:38] Tom welcomes Thomas to the podcast.
[:55] What is a complexity scientist? And what do they do?
[3:51] The observations and systems that led Thomas to spot the ingenuity gap that he wrote about 20 years ago in The Ingenuity Gap. And is it worse today than it was 20 years ago?
[7:17] Observations from Getting Smart’s “20 Invention Opportunities in Learning & Development” report.
[9:37] Tom highlights how, increasingly, innovation in the public space requires a combination of public, private, and philanthropic funding.
[10:17] Thomas highlights an advantage we have today: our capacity to ramp up combinatorial innovation.
[11:48] What the Cascade Institute is, what they do, and its mission.
[15:00] Tom congratulates Thomas on his new book and reads the opening passage.
[16:13] Who is Stephanie May and why was she an inspiration for Thomas’s new book, Commanding Hope?
[21:28] How important is helping students develop a sense of agency and knowing that they can have an impact on the world? How do students achieve a sense of agency?
[24:29] How and where students should learn about climate change.
[26:06] How schools and system heads should engage young people in solutions around climate change.
[28:28] Simple cultural efforts schools can make to help create more awareness among their students on their environmental footprint.
[29:35] The importance of creating space for young people to take on their own passion projects and go deep with them.
[30:04] Thomas shares how he continuously learns.
[32:38] Has Thomas read Bill’s new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster?
[32:57] Tom thanks Thomas for joining the podcast!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril, by Thomas Homer-Dixon
The Ingenuity Gap: Facing the Economic, Environmental, and Other Challenges of an Increasingly Complex and Unpredictable Future, by Thomas Homer-Dixon
“20 Invention Opportunities in Learning & Development,” by Getting Smart Staff
Difference Making at the Heart of Learning: Students, Schools, and Communities Alive With Possibility, by Tom Vander Ark and Emily Liebtag
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, by Bill Gates
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