THE OTHER DAY, a fellow journalist told me that Happiness equals Expectations divided by Reality (H=E/R). In other words, if you expect Prince or Princess Charming, but reality dishes out a frog, you might not end up being that happy.
Search Results for "view"
Urban Salvation
WE ARE SURROUNDED by a sea of discarded materials that can be reused in building construction. Think of all those political signboards that we see at election time outside private houses and in other prominent locations. Temporary signs are often made of corrugated plastic that could be used as siding […]
The Rhetoric of Resilience
IT IS FREQUENTLY CLAIMED that the human species already possesses the know-how to avert the direst consequences of climate change and environmental collapse – it’s now simply a matter of deploying this know-how.
Resilience 101
“RESILIENCE IS … the ability to absorb and learn from disturbances, to be changed and then to re-organize and still retain basic structure and ways of functioning. Growth and efficiency alone can often lead ecological systems, businesses and societies into fragile rigidities, exposing them to turbulent transformation. Learning, recovery and […]
Planet B
IT’S 2060. Your grandchildren are sitting in their classroom. On the wall hangs a photograph of a blue planet. But it isn’t Earth. It’s a planet in a distant star system. And we know that this planet harbours life. Humanity is not alone. Now imagine a different scenario. Suppose our […]
Calling Buzz Holling
LISTEN TO the full 45-minute interview with Buzz Holling on our Podcast page. Nicola Ross: You’ve written that “Novelty emerges from the interaction between opportunity and crisis.” Can you explain what you mean by novelty?
Kulturträger: Travelogues with Conviction
I HAVE NEVER gone south in the winter. The closest I came was a three-day, mid-February family getaway in Niagara Falls at a hotel with an indoor waterslide park. The chlorine infusion did wonders for my skin! I actually prefer going to Ottawa to skate on the canal or ski […]
Editorial: Resilience for Dummies
OVER CHRISTMAS, I used my recently learned Spanish. Each time I understood a taxi driver or shopkeeper, I felt a great sense of awe. What once seemed to be a jumble of indistinguishable sounds had sub-divided into individual words. It was as if a microscope in my brain were able […]
Editorial: Expand the Bookshelf
FOR BOOK READERS, it’s unimaginable that anyone would not get a rush when they crack open the pages of a new volume, inhale that inky smell and feel the crisp paper. In a small village close to where I live, there’s a publisher who prints on site. Tim Inkster, co-owner […]
The Silent Spring of Al Gore
Welcome to Living Classics, our new book review column. Upcoming issues of Alternativeswill include a look back on classic environmental books and reports. We’ve dusted off old copies of Silent Spring, the Berger Report, Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and more to see how they resonate today. We invite you to suggest your […]
Recent
