Readers offer their solutions to the globe's problems.
Two weeks ago, we published a special report on 25 Ideas To Change The World. Forbes India asked luminaries like microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, philosopher Alain de Botton, designer Milton Glaser and 21 others to pen essays on the topic. You can read all 25 pieces here. But Forbes also asked readers via Facebook (at both the Forbes and Forbes Asia pages) and Twitter to share with us their world-changing ideas. We promised to publish a handful of the suggestions we received.
One theme provoked the most responses: musings on global warming, climate change and pollution put forth by biologist George Schaller, activist Bianca Jagger and "skeptical environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg.
Readers were most passionate--and prolific--about ways we can reduce our impact on the environment, particularly in light of the Gulf Oil spill. Here are a few of the most thoughtful comments.
I agree that attempting to arbitrarily raise the price of carbon fuels to discourage consumption hasn't worked. I don't think it's rational or fair to cut the existing lifelines of cheap carbon-based fuels today to developing countries and inhibit them from creating a more prosperous future. As Tom Friedman suggests, we need a "Million Manhattan Projects" or massive R&D push to discover and develop alternative sources including, wind, solar, nuclear, bio and thermal. Government can play a role in such an ambitious project through leadership, vision and incentives but I'd like to see it led by the private sector. On the consumption side of the equation, I'm encouraged to see industry leaders like Cisco ( CSCO - news - people ), IBM ( IBM - news - people ) and HP taking steps towards a 'smarter' and technologically greener planet through enabling technologies. --BobOlwig, who also has a blog.
Lomborg is correct that previous emissions cutting measures have not been successful. I believe this is due in part to the fact that ordinary citizens in most nations are alienated from these measures and have not been inspired (or forced) to take personal responsibility for the emissions they contribute. I believe the solution to combating climate changes lies in part with our ability to motivate individual consumers to reduce their energy consumption. Creating more individual accountability for energy consumption can be done either by forcing (by increasing prices, which Lomberg claims is not effective) or by motivating. I believe we need to develop a solution which creates motivating factors for consumers to conserve. The way I propose to do this is to use the power of IT to create online systems where consumers can track their consumption of oil & energy (already happening slowly with smart meters) but also create transparency enabling consumers to compare their energy usage to others in their area, in other cities and even in other countries. Such a system would also provide recommendations on ways to cut, and provide insight into the monetary savings and emissions reductions resulting from taking these measures. I believe that this increased level of transparency would inspire people to reduce their consumption, helping to curtail steadily rising emissions until we can fully transition to a clean energy economy. --Jjreif
Our lack of responsibility in dealing with the environment upon which we live--our hubris, in other words--seems likely to bring us down, and sooner rather than later. --mhenriday
We need to appoint global council for climate change, which will look into all matters rationally and come up with a solution [that] will be binding for all countries. And Western countries have to pay upfront charges for whatever pollution they have done in the past. They will not be allowed to get away…I am no climate expert, it is my humble idea. --greenworld2012
Another hot-button topic came from cognitive scientist David Livingstone Smith's exploration of the psychology of violence and hate. In his article, Livingstone Smith describes his quest to explore human tendencies both to abhor and commit violent acts by studying the inner workings of the mind. He concludes that one of the ways this dichotomy is able to exist is because, as a form of justification, we dehumanize those people--for example, deem them the same as animals or worse--against whom we are violent. It is only once we address the psychological dimension to violence, Livingstone Smith says, that we can hope to stop it.
Many readers agreed. "The stranger has always been the 'other,'" writes Kevin_Walsh. "It is only a small step to a dangerous 'other,' requiring a protective response. Many politicians use fear for control. Fear and mutual protection are the original basis for the formation of community." Other commenters, however, were more fatalistic. Adds mcgator: "Dehumanization, in my opinion, is also a reaction to others dehumanizing us…Once a group of people dehumanize another, then the reaction almost has to be to return the favor. I feel terrible that this is the case but there is also the natural desire of survival."
As the special report was put together by the staff of Forbes licensee Forbes India, many of the visionaries focused their efforts at problems prevalent in that country. For example, Jockin Arputham of the National Slum Dwellers Federation emphasized poverty alleviation can be achieved by not by government degree but by empowering the poorest people to help themselves.
Agreed commenter Juwaeriah: "In order to see a profound improvement, our awareness programs should be a bit more stimulating. Awareness that has an effect in such a way mentally draws people to take responsibility. For a beneficial outcome the people factor within the slums as well as urban dwellers need to collaboratively take action."
Harvard Business School professor Tarun Khanna wrote about how to tap the talent of the lower quadrants of populations in emerging markets. "The Government of India [is] in [its] first national attempt to issue a national registration identity to all Indians above the age of 16; [it] will also open an account in their names in a bank and deposit a certain amount of seed money for them," writes vksharan. "It is necessary to bring the poor and illiterate in the mainstream economy. One has to give the poor something that they will guard with their life and use to it to climb higher and prosper in their lives."
In response to philosopher Alain de Botton's piece about creating a secular religion,
GeorgePJelliss points out that Botton's ideas are just the latest in a long line of other thinkers who posited alternatives to traditional religious practice. "A religion of mankind has been proposed many times," he writes. "After David came Auguste Comte's Positivism, and in England Robert Owen's Rational Religion, and George Holyoake's Secularism."
Meanwhile, creativetechnologist of Fareham in the U.K. writes that he is eyeing a similar project to Botton: "The idea I am working on is to create a group (not a religion) that takes the good parts of community and morality from religion (and there are a lot of bad parts!) along with real world values and promote regular meetings and discussion." Another commenter, loafingisgood, echoed Socrates in reflecting on the very essence of what religion means to society. "The proper question to ask about a religion is not 'Is it true?' but 'is it useful?'" he points out. "The question 'Is it true?' is certain to be answered at the end of life, so why argue? The question 'Is it useful?' is certainly worth addressing.
One theme provoked the most responses: musings on global warming, climate change and pollution put forth by biologist George Schaller, activist Bianca Jagger and "skeptical environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg.
I agree that attempting to arbitrarily raise the price of carbon fuels to discourage consumption hasn't worked. I don't think it's rational or fair to cut the existing lifelines of cheap carbon-based fuels today to developing countries and inhibit them from creating a more prosperous future. As Tom Friedman suggests, we need a "Million Manhattan Projects" or massive R&D push to discover and develop alternative sources including, wind, solar, nuclear, bio and thermal. Government can play a role in such an ambitious project through leadership, vision and incentives but I'd like to see it led by the private sector. On the consumption side of the equation, I'm encouraged to see industry leaders like Cisco ( CSCO - news - people ), IBM ( IBM - news - people ) and HP taking steps towards a 'smarter' and technologically greener planet through enabling technologies. --BobOlwig, who also has a blog.
Lomborg is correct that previous emissions cutting measures have not been successful. I believe this is due in part to the fact that ordinary citizens in most nations are alienated from these measures and have not been inspired (or forced) to take personal responsibility for the emissions they contribute. I believe the solution to combating climate changes lies in part with our ability to motivate individual consumers to reduce their energy consumption. Creating more individual accountability for energy consumption can be done either by forcing (by increasing prices, which Lomberg claims is not effective) or by motivating. I believe we need to develop a solution which creates motivating factors for consumers to conserve. The way I propose to do this is to use the power of IT to create online systems where consumers can track their consumption of oil & energy (already happening slowly with smart meters) but also create transparency enabling consumers to compare their energy usage to others in their area, in other cities and even in other countries. Such a system would also provide recommendations on ways to cut, and provide insight into the monetary savings and emissions reductions resulting from taking these measures. I believe that this increased level of transparency would inspire people to reduce their consumption, helping to curtail steadily rising emissions until we can fully transition to a clean energy economy. --Jjreif
Our lack of responsibility in dealing with the environment upon which we live--our hubris, in other words--seems likely to bring us down, and sooner rather than later. --mhenriday
We need to appoint global council for climate change, which will look into all matters rationally and come up with a solution [that] will be binding for all countries. And Western countries have to pay upfront charges for whatever pollution they have done in the past. They will not be allowed to get away…I am no climate expert, it is my humble idea. --greenworld2012
Another hot-button topic came from cognitive scientist David Livingstone Smith's exploration of the psychology of violence and hate. In his article, Livingstone Smith describes his quest to explore human tendencies both to abhor and commit violent acts by studying the inner workings of the mind. He concludes that one of the ways this dichotomy is able to exist is because, as a form of justification, we dehumanize those people--for example, deem them the same as animals or worse--against whom we are violent. It is only once we address the psychological dimension to violence, Livingstone Smith says, that we can hope to stop it.
Many readers agreed. "The stranger has always been the 'other,'" writes Kevin_Walsh. "It is only a small step to a dangerous 'other,' requiring a protective response. Many politicians use fear for control. Fear and mutual protection are the original basis for the formation of community." Other commenters, however, were more fatalistic. Adds mcgator: "Dehumanization, in my opinion, is also a reaction to others dehumanizing us…Once a group of people dehumanize another, then the reaction almost has to be to return the favor. I feel terrible that this is the case but there is also the natural desire of survival."
As the special report was put together by the staff of Forbes licensee Forbes India, many of the visionaries focused their efforts at problems prevalent in that country. For example, Jockin Arputham of the National Slum Dwellers Federation emphasized poverty alleviation can be achieved by not by government degree but by empowering the poorest people to help themselves.
Agreed commenter Juwaeriah: "In order to see a profound improvement, our awareness programs should be a bit more stimulating. Awareness that has an effect in such a way mentally draws people to take responsibility. For a beneficial outcome the people factor within the slums as well as urban dwellers need to collaboratively take action."
Harvard Business School professor Tarun Khanna wrote about how to tap the talent of the lower quadrants of populations in emerging markets. "The Government of India [is] in [its] first national attempt to issue a national registration identity to all Indians above the age of 16; [it] will also open an account in their names in a bank and deposit a certain amount of seed money for them," writes vksharan. "It is necessary to bring the poor and illiterate in the mainstream economy. One has to give the poor something that they will guard with their life and use to it to climb higher and prosper in their lives."
GeorgePJelliss points out that Botton's ideas are just the latest in a long line of other thinkers who posited alternatives to traditional religious practice. "A religion of mankind has been proposed many times," he writes. "After David came Auguste Comte's Positivism, and in England Robert Owen's Rational Religion, and George Holyoake's Secularism."
Meanwhile, creativetechnologist of Fareham in the U.K. writes that he is eyeing a similar project to Botton: "The idea I am working on is to create a group (not a religion) that takes the good parts of community and morality from religion (and there are a lot of bad parts!) along with real world values and promote regular meetings and discussion." Another commenter, loafingisgood, echoed Socrates in reflecting on the very essence of what religion means to society. "The proper question to ask about a religion is not 'Is it true?' but 'is it useful?'" he points out. "The question 'Is it true?' is certain to be answered at the end of life, so why argue? The question 'Is it useful?' is certainly worth addressing.
In response to the creator of India's National Stock Exchange, Ravi Narain, who wrote here about how technology can revolutionize the markets, economies and finance, Lousulliva thought up a tax-based incentive system to encourage wealthy investors to sink money into U.S. startups. First, the person could write off an investment in certain technologies and industries like renewable energy, and second, the person can deduct from his or her taxes a portion of the profits that result from that investment.
"The net effect on this will be a larger tax base as employment falls, [and] increased development capital in the private sector which has always performed better than its government counterparts," Louissulliva writes. "Rules could include but [are] not limited to minimum wages firms who see this kind of capital may pay, [or] a custom 'company" tax' or surtax on its products once profitability is returned."
"Reward those who put their wealth to work through investment," TomBeebe concurs, "and penalize consumption above a certain level. Our tax code should be re-written to this end."
Laxman Thapa agrees that the world's richest people should play a role in its progress, writing on Facebook that "all countries should govern the property of [the] richest persons very carefully, with a need to evaluate and control the tariff they are charging for products to commoners."
Finance was on the forefront of commenter tmd1771's mind, who proposed a system to combat part of the real estate crisis in the U.S.: "What are we spending (have we spent already?) as a country on the various attempts to have trial mortgages refinanced, to administer short sales and foreclosures, to maintain bank-owned real estate? Would it not be expedient to create a fund--equally funded by both federal and bank interests from the money saved by not administering--that compensates for, say, a 20% principle reduction for all home mortgages?"
Some readers were more creative. Jessica Lynn, who wrote via Facebook message, was inspired to think of a more down to earth, world-changing idea. "I'd sure love to make some changes starting right in my own community!" she writes. "I dream of starting a girls' youth group, teaching young ladies how to be confident, independent, self-sufficient and that they can do anything they set their minds to."
Melvin Wizamgee wrote on Forbes' Facebook page that meditation would help change the consciousness and awareness of our leaders. Carmelita Omli says the world should eliminate visa requirements, while Carl Wayne Hardeman believes a cheap way to desalinate sea water could help solve water shortage problems. Ajduggal suggests adopting English as a universal language.
Forbes wishes everyone the best of luck in turning all of these ideas into action!
Hana R. Alberts,
Newscribe : get free news in real time
"The net effect on this will be a larger tax base as employment falls, [and] increased development capital in the private sector which has always performed better than its government counterparts," Louissulliva writes. "Rules could include but [are] not limited to minimum wages firms who see this kind of capital may pay, [or] a custom 'company" tax' or surtax on its products once profitability is returned."
Laxman Thapa agrees that the world's richest people should play a role in its progress, writing on Facebook that "all countries should govern the property of [the] richest persons very carefully, with a need to evaluate and control the tariff they are charging for products to commoners."
Finance was on the forefront of commenter tmd1771's mind, who proposed a system to combat part of the real estate crisis in the U.S.: "What are we spending (have we spent already?) as a country on the various attempts to have trial mortgages refinanced, to administer short sales and foreclosures, to maintain bank-owned real estate? Would it not be expedient to create a fund--equally funded by both federal and bank interests from the money saved by not administering--that compensates for, say, a 20% principle reduction for all home mortgages?"
Some readers were more creative. Jessica Lynn, who wrote via Facebook message, was inspired to think of a more down to earth, world-changing idea. "I'd sure love to make some changes starting right in my own community!" she writes. "I dream of starting a girls' youth group, teaching young ladies how to be confident, independent, self-sufficient and that they can do anything they set their minds to."
Forbes wishes everyone the best of luck in turning all of these ideas into action!
Hana R. Alberts,
Newscribe : get free news in real time
