Title: Surfing the Sixth Wave: A Hardboiled Technological Wonderland and the End of the World
Abstract:The sixth wave: How to succeed in a resource-limited world, by James Bradfield Moody and Bianca Nogrady. Vintage Books, North Sydney, 2010, 311pp., endnotes, index. ISBN: 978-1-74166-889-6 (paperback)...The sixth wave: How to succeed in a resource-limited world, by James Bradfield Moody and Bianca Nogrady. Vintage Books, North Sydney, 2010, 311pp., endnotes, index. ISBN: 978-1-74166-889-6 (paperback).This review article critically evaluates predictions about the near future of humanity put forward in The Sixth Wave: How to Succeed in a Resource-Limited World, a book produced by Australian author James Bradfield Moody (Executive Director, Development, CSIRO) in collaboration with freelance science journalist Ms Bianca Nogrady. The book paints a picture of the future, starting from the observation that society today is on the brink of several major crises demanding comprehensive change. Each of these crises presents its own challenge but, according to the authors, they are all related and call for one basic response: we must drastically increase the resource efficiency of our lifestyles. The main limitation of this attempt at ‘prophesy’ is the authors’ poverty of understanding regarding the political and cultural drivers of social change, and hence their misplaced faith in technological innovation as a panacea for all that ails contemporary societies. Anthropology, I argue, can provide a more holistic account of the present moment in human history, and of what may lie in store for us.Read More
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-18
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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