OBSERVER: Tipping Out of Trouble
It’s easy to get dispirited when most of the headlines we see in our newspapers and on our televisions are about all the major problems the world is facing, but scientist and author Martin Scheffer says we can do something about it.
He maintains that world crises, wealth inequality, declining trust and climate change are not separate problems, but signs that society is nearing a tipping point.
But before you stop reading in despair, Scheffer also says that humanity has transformed before, and can do so again.
In his new book Tipping Out of Trouble, Scheffer tackles the difficult question of how societies can escape from seemingly inescapable problems.
Examining history, psychology, economics and science, Scheffer shows how societies have consistently reinvented themselves.
He explains that extreme concentrations of power and wealth are distorting democracies and preventing us acting on the challenges that matter most.
So what does he suggest we do about it?
Scheffer claims that societies can break out of destructive patterns and embrace new ways of thinking and living. His book is one of possibility, and he says that while the future may be uncertain, collapse is not predetermined.
Scheffer offers a roadmap for how humanity might ‘tip’ toward a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.
And that’s a piece of good news we can all embrace.
Tipping Out of Trouble by Marten Scheffer is published by Cambridge University Press and available online and in bookstores.
Julie Houghton
Pictured: Martin Scheffer. Photo: Annabel Oosteweeghel