(Clicking the above image will download a pdf file of a larger image.)

In order to understand the complex world emerging around us, it is necessary to have a grasp of the ecological concept of "carrying capacity." This post explains this crucial concept without letting the mathematics distract us from the important points.

Michel Bauwens asked me to discuss bow-tie structures in relation to John Robb's ongoing use of them on his "Global Guerillas" blog. There is so much to say about bow-tie structures and the ways in which the concept is deployed. This article will give a brief background, take a closer look, and end with a note on the importance of bow-ties for the future.

Back in 2004, i wrote a lengthy response to Alexander Wendt's amazing article “Why a World State is Inevitable." (Wendt, Alexander (2003) 'Why a World State Is Inevitable', European Journal of International Relations 9(4): 491-542.), but surfing the web of late has convinced me to bring it forward (finally).

Alexander Wendt begins his paper “Why a World State is Inevitable” with the following concise formulation of his intent: “In this article I propose a teleological theory of the ‘logic of anarchy’ which suggests that a world state is inevitable….” I offer the following equally concise opposition: In this article I propose a teleonomic theory of the ‘logic of panarchy’ which suggests that a world state is not inevitable. I suggest that the stable “state” for
this teleonomic process is a global “complex adaptive system,” or governance network, in which the “logic of anarchy” gives way to the “logic of panarchy.”

http://www.panarchy.com/Members/PaulBHartzog/Papers/Panarchy%20Is%20What...
(folder: http://www.panarchy.com/Members/PaulBHartzog/Papers/ )

I recently read Heart of Dryness (http://www.heartofdryness.com/) by James G. Workman. In an age of permanent drought, this book explores what we might learn from the Kalahari Bushmen about how to manage water resources. The book is well-worth reading, both intellectually and emotionally rewarding.

Circle of Blue is doing a 7-part series of excerpts here: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/heart-of-dryness-revers...

Title: The Five Commons - An invitation to 21st Century wealth-generating ecologies
Authors: Paul B. Hartzog, Sam Rose, Richard C. Adler
Web: The Forward Foundation http://www.forwardfound.org
License: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike
Ref: FF-2010-4-19

Introduction

 

The Five Commons constitutes an evolving vision of the emerging 21st Century economy. Each of the five commons represents a key area in which transition is apparent.

 

The Forward Foundation hopes that by sharing this vision, people will find clues and insights into new ways of structuring human activity and sustainable living.

 

The Five Commons ( http://forwardfound.org/blog/?q=five-commons )

Resource Sharing - Grounding the 21st Century Economy

Twenty-first century wealth-generating ecologies need to remain robust and flexible in order to allocate resources quickly and efficiently, and to mitigate the effects of constant fluctuations and redistributions. Nobel Prize recipient Elinor Ostrom's work on "commons" provides vital thinking towards a solution: peer governance and information transparency.

http://forwardfound.org/blog/?q=resource-sharing-grounding-21st-century-...

Converted my Master's Essay "Panarchy: Governance in the Network Age" (pdf)

http://panarchy.com/Members/PaulBHartzog/Papers/Panarchy%20-%20Governanc...

to html and posted it online here:

http://panarchy.com/Members/PaulBHartzog/Papers/Panarchy%20-%20Governanc...

Why?

Well, so that the inner content becomes available for full-text searching, e.g. sections like this:

We believe in a way of life based on the free exchange of ideas, in which books have and will continue to play a central role. Devices like Amazon's are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon's use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas.

That is why we readers, authors, publishers, and librarians demand that Amazon remove all DRM, including any ability to control or access the user's library, from the Kindle.

I was talking with Ryan Lanham today about his Ocean Thermal Energy Foundation:

http://otec.pbworks.com/

As a futurist, I am very into alternative energy (like fuel cells), and Ryan starting telling me about the new OTEC design.

The older OTEC model uses thermal difference between ocean layers to power turbines, but the new design uses those differences to power desalinization and create raw Hydrogen, which can then be used in the emerging hydrogen economy.

This last week (and for a few weeks yet) I have been setting up and configuring a set of research tools for my work on panarchy.

One of the tools I'm evaluating is a special kind of wiki called Wagn. I fixed a few options and then customized the CSS; here's a preview:

What amazes me so far about Wagn is:

1. It stores everything as "cards"
2. It lets you include cards anywhere (like in other cards)
3. It uses collapsible/expandable headers for sections
4. It uses templates for formatting cardtypes
5. It relates cards using the "+" operator
6. It uses a WQL query language for searching, thus
7. It creates aggregates using advanced logic