Carne Ross
4.0 out of 5 stars 5 for Superficial Overview, 3 for Pretense, May 13, 2012
It is unfortunate that Amazon's superb “Look Inside the Book” has been limited by the publisher to only the introduction, as I would like the potential buyer to have a much greater feel for the book that the reviews or the few front pages can offer, before making a decision.
Here is the bottom line: nothing in this book is a new insight, and I am astonished by the claimed editorial reviews, as they seem oblivious of the decades of work by others in the areas of co-evolution, panarchy, collective intelligence, hybrid governance, open source everything, small is beautiful, human scale, Epoch B, resilience, intelligence at the edges of the network, etcetera. In other words, this book is more of a “quickie” book, not at all the “deeply researched” effort that is claimed, and it is at best a survey that barely scratches the surface of my two master lists, of lists of book reviews I have done here at Amazon, a means of reading all my reviews sorted into many categories (including the future of democracy, of capitalism, etcetera). The positive list is the one to focus on for everything that this author attempts to convey, and points to many of the sources that the book does not cite. Both lists were the foundation for my 2010 book listed below after my name. The negative list documents the obvious, but with a structure that has been lacking in critiques to date, most are incoherent for lack of an analytic model. To get to the link, just search for full name of the list as shown below.
Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Positive)
Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Negative)
Now within the ten link limit that Amazon has established,
The Tao of Democracy: Using co-intelligence to create a world that works for all
Empowering Public Wisdom: A Practical Vision of Citizen-Led Politics
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
Human Scale
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover))
Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems
Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World
Designing a World That Works for All: How the Youth of the World are Creating Real-World Solutions for the UN Millenium Development Goals and Beyond
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Revised and Updated 5th Anniversary Edition
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
Now, being somewhat jaded on this particular book, but recognizing how limited time and money are for most people, I end by observing that this book can indeed serve as a primer for those who do not read broadly and do not have the time to read the wealth of information available on the Internet for free in terms of cost, but requiring time and insight to acquire. At Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog I have a Links page that can make this much easier, here I will just mention the Co-Intelligence Institute and Reality Sandwich.
Robert David STEELE Vivas
INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity & Sustainability
