#postnormal

More and more people, and now i realized Rushkoff, are arguing that the myths we need to build for the future is not based on the social construct of nation state...

Nationalism is an ideology that depends on forgetting that the nation is a social construction, subordinating people and places to the imaginary framework.

...but on the real and long term socio-economic construct of cities.

The city is the largest natural amalgamation of people we’ve got. Cities grew as large as our capacity to transport sewage from the center to the periphery. Yet however large a city gets, it remains a local phenomenon, defined by people in a place — not by politicians from afar. It was the city-state that was repressed by the rise of nationalism, and the city-state that will rise again as nations fail to address the challenges of our time.

In these post-normal times, when we are left without meta-narratives, maybe the city-states will emerge as the natural socio-economic foundation for organization of humanity?

http://www.stoweboyd.com/post/49946797759/how-the-postnormal-era-will-change-everything

Welcome to the postnormal: Genetically modified limes

Left, a lime with genes from red grapes. Center, a lime with genes from the blood orange. Right, a control.

Researchers at the University of Florida Citrus Research and Education Center have modified the genetic code of limes, making the fruit more resilient and healthier including a new paintwork.

Neural Network generates new images

In case you're wondering why your child doesn't look like your child in the cloud.

„By combining deep convolutional neural network with MRF prior, our method can transfer both photorealistic and non-photorealistic styles to new images.“

Looking forward to postnormal photo albums, where reality is just a dream of an algorithm.

All that was ‘normal’ has now evaporated; we have entered postnormal times, the in between period where old orthodoxies are dying, new ones have not yet emerged, and nothing really makes sense. To have any notion of a viable future, we must grasp the significance of this period of transition which is characterized by three c’s: complexity, chaos and contradictions. These forces propel and sustain postnormal times leading to uncertainty and different types of ignorance that make decision-making problematic and increase risks to individuals, society and the planet. Postnormal times demands, this paper argues, that we abandon the ideas of ‘control and management’, and rethink the cherished notions of progress, modernization and efficiency. The way forward must be based on virtues of humility, modesty and accountability, the indispensible requirement of living with uncertainty, complexity and ignorance. We will have to imagine ourselves out of postnormal times and into a new age of normalcy—with an ethical compass and a broad spectrum of imaginations from the rich diversity of human cultures.

Postnormal times or "PNT", a concept developed by Ziauddin Sardar, is a description of the turbulent and changing times we are living in. Sardar defines PNT as "in an in-between period where old orthodoxies are dying, new ones have yet to be born, and very few things seem to make sense."[1] This period is characterized by three C’s: chaos, complexity and contradictions, which come together to produce uncertainty and different varieties of ignorance.