This View of Life

What are ecosystems? Do they achieve some kind of balance in their natural state? Do they evolve in a way that can't be explained by the evolution of their component species? I take a deep dive with Tom Whitham into territory that is controversial even among the experts. --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook

As part of TVOL's "Third Way" series of conversations, I explore the concept of "Development" as a type of cultural change effort with Scott Peters, Professor of Developmental Sociology at Cornell University. While many development efforts fail due to centralized planning, disruptive special interests, or having the wrong systemic goals, other development efforts have converged upon the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

Modern life has been transformed by electronic communication, starting with the telegraph and now in full force with the Internet Age. There are many blessings but also many curses associate with the Internet Age. Can the thesis of the Third Way explain both and forge a path to an electronically connected future designed for the common good? Tim O'Reilly, Internet pioneer and founder of O'Reilly Media, is our perfect guide. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

Urban planning represents one kind of positive change effort that has suffered from excessive reliance on laissez-faire in some instances and centralized planning in other instances. The Smart Cities movement is a new breed of urban planning that makes use of technology. Daniel T. Obrien, who directs the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI), helps me explain how the Smart Cities Movement can avoid the mistakes of the past by traveling the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". Dan's book: The Urban Commons: How Data and Technology Can Rebuild Our Communities --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

Science is often imagined as limited to the "facts" and deliberately set apart from "values". But the pursuit of objective reality requires its own set of values, norms, and ideal character of the individual scientist. I explore this fascinating topic with Professor Robert T. Pennock, University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and co-director of BEACON, a NSF-funded center for the study of evolution in action. Robert's book: An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and the Moral Character of Science --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook

The economic and political school of thought known as Libertarianism is most closely associated with laissez faire as a public policy prescription. George Mason University's Mercatus (which means "market" in Latin) Center might seem like a bastion of Libertarianism, but think again. My conversation with Peter Boettke, who directs the center's F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, provides a far more nuanced view that is consilient with the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

The economics profession includes many schools of thought–some that emphasize laissez faire, others that emphasize centralized planning, with many admixtures in between. David Colander, an acute observer of economics who is sometimes described as the profession's court jester, helps me identify the economic schools of thought that best exemplify the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". References from the Show: 12:00- Why aren't Economists as Important as Garbagemen? by David Colander 23:30- Chaos by James Gleick --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

Socialism and Capitalism will be among the hot words thrown around during the 2020 US presidential elections. Geoffrey Hodgson, a great scholar of economics and the social sciences, helps me explain how both forms of national governance fail in their pure forms but how they can be—and even have already been– blended together into the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is the Third Episode of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

In the late 19th century, a tiny group of intellectuals who called themselves Pragmatists were to have an outsized influence on the nation and the world. They were inspired by Darwin and included well-known figures such as William James and John Dewey. Trygve Throntveit, a distinguished historian of the period, helps me tell the story of how the Pragmatists discovered the Third Way. This episode has an accompanying article and is part of This View of Life's new series, "Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship". --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book

Meet Toby Shannan--the son of hippy parents growing up in rural Canada, high school jock, college dropout, construction worker--and Chief Support Officer of Shopify, the world's second largest online retail platform. Toby and Shopify have always had a long-term and holistic mission to be part of a thriving ecosystem into the far future. Now he is teaming up with scientists such as Jonathan Haidt and myself to help Shopify achieve its laudable goals and provide a model for other corporations. Announcing the latest major TVOL series, Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship Toby's "Ideas at Work" podcast: https://ideasatworkpodcast.com EthicalSystems.org, an organization founded on the conviction that in the long run, good ethics is good business. Prosocial, the first change method based on evolutionary science to enhance cooperation and collaboration for groups of all types and sizes. Evonomics article, "Evolving the New Economy: Tim O'Reilly and David Sloan Wilson" --- Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook Order the This View of Life book