Z. Bangwei (Hunan) and Y. Yinjian (BIGC): On the Substance of Civilization in Human Society Entering into the Nanomaterials Age. Johann-Albrecht Meylahn (Pretoria): Truth, Reason, and Faith in Modern Civilisation: The Violence of Truth and the Truth of Violence in Modern “Secular” Western Civilisation. Christian apocalyptic literature and ecological predictions both anticipate the end of the world — are they born of the same tradition, asks Jean-Francois Mouhot? Civilization and its discontents: One of our myths is the idea of progress — that things always get better — but many human civilisations before ours have risen and then collapsed; we’re no different, says Paul Kingsnorth, the co-founder of the Dark Mountain project. Nick Bostrom on the possibility of existential threat and how academics and practitioners can begin to think about how to tackle these risks. Computation and the human predicament: Brian Hayes on The Limits to Growth and the limits to computer modeling. A look at how any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from nature.
