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Paulo Coelho’s Counterpoint to my take on Climate change August 10, 2009

Posted by Sunil Malhotra in Business, Innovation, Nature, Perception, Sustainability.
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Over the weekend, my wife was reading my last blog post [Climate Change Bollywood Ishtyle] and, at the same time, Paulo Coelho’s – The Winner Stands Alone. I suspect she may have been hoping against hope that his literary talent will rub off on me through her! And guess what, she suddenly found herself reading about his take on climate change. Synchronicity? Disbelievingly I listened as she read out the following lines that, Coelho – through one of the central characters [Hamid] – professes. His take is quite the antithesis [counterpoint] of my view. It cannot be too good for my ego to even consider such a course but there’s something in there that’s worth a closer look. I have reproduced the lines here …

Paulo Coelho's latest book
Paulo Coelho’s blog

Whenever he [Hamid] reads articles in newspapers or magazines written by politicians using Global Warming or the destruction of the environment as a platform for their electoral campaigns, he thinks:

‘How can we be so arrogant? The planet is, was and always will be stronger than us. We can’t destroy it; if we overstep the mark, the planet will simply erase us from its surface and carry on existing. Why don’t they start talking about not letting the planet destroy us?

‘Because “saving the planet” gives a sense of power, action and nobility. Whereas ” not letting the planet destroy us“ might lead to feelings of despair and impotence, and to a realisation of just how very limited our capabilities are.’

I know this sounds crazy guys, but I can’t help agreeing with him. Sorry Mr. Ego, you’ll have to eat humble pie this time!!

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Tech things for granted. August 4, 2009

Posted by Sunil Malhotra in Everything 2.0, General, Leadership, Politics, Sustainability, Sustainable Innovation.
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I met a classmate a couple of weeks ago after 20-odd years. He’s doing stuff at the leading edges of – you guessed it  - IPTV. The passion with which he explained the potential of the technology, and what it could do, sucked me into a discussion of fancy features; about how we could provide seamless interactivity with the back ends of Amazon, Walmart, Nike, D&G, etc. and how people could order pizzas from the comfort of their TV couches without as much as lifting a finger (after all, you’d only have to press a couple of buttons on the remote handset to achieve the impossible).

Whoa! Not so fast folks. The next time you are relaxing and watching your favorite TV program — think!

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Innovation 101 – “Enjoy life while you can” May 6, 2009

Posted by Sunil Malhotra in Innovation, Innovation 101, Leadership Innovation, Perception, Sustainability, Sustainable Innovation, Wisdom of the leaders.
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James Lovelock doesn’t think we will need innovation 10 years on.  Not because the business world will find a new jazzword to hang their marketing spiels on but ’scarily’ because planet earth wouldn’t exist. According to Lovelock, by the end of the century, 80% of the world’s population will disappear and half of Britain will be under water. And to prove his point, the octagenarian is buying a ticket to outer space.

James Lovelock - Gaia Theory

Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam.’Therefore’, he says, ’Enjoy life while you can’ via ‘Enjoy life while you can’ | Environment | The Guardian.

This is one scary take on climate change and sustainable development. (more…)