WICI Seminar: Ingenuity Theory: Adaptation Failure and Societal Crisis - Thomas Homer-Dixon

Global warming. Emergent diseases. Infoglut. International financial instability. Mega-terrorism. Are the problems we are confronting as individuals, societies, and a species becoming more difficult? If so, can we solve them? Thomas Homer-Dixon will address these questions by drawing on his research on social adaptation to complex change. He will show how and why our requirement for solutions to our complex problems is soaring, and he will explore cognitive, scientific, economic, and political factors that impede the delivery of solutions when and where we need them.

Speaker Profile

Thomas Homer-Dixon holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada, and is a Professor in the Centre for Environment and Business in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. Recently, his research has focused on threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change. His books include ‘The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization’ and ‘The Ingenuity Gap’, which won the 2001 Governor General's Non-fiction Award.