The No.9 Bus to Utopia
The No.9 Bus to Utopia

Author: David Bramwell

Publisher: Unbound Publishing

Published: 2014-06-26

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1783520361

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When David Bramwell’s girlfriend left him for someone she described as 'younger, but more mature than you', he decided he had something to learn about giving. Taking a year off, he journeyed through Europe and America seeking out extraordinary communities that could teach him how to share. He wanted answers to a few troubling questions: Is modern life rubbish? Why do so many of us feel lonely and unfulfilled despite a high standard of living? Are there communities out there who hold the key to happiness? And if so, why do so many of their inhabitants insist on dressing in tie-dye? His quest led him to an anarchist haven in the heart of Copenhagen; some hair-raising experiences in free love communities; an epiphany in a spiritual caravan park in Scotland and an apparent paradise in a Californian community dreamed up by Aldous Huxley. Most impressive of all was Damanhur, a 1000-strong science fiction- style community in the Alps with an underground temple the size of St Paul's Cathedral, a village of tree houses and a ‘fully-functioning time machine'. Inspired, he returned home with a desire to change. Not just himself but also his neighbourhood and city. Find out how he succeeded in this wry and self-deprecatingly funny spiritual journey that asks some big questions and finds the answers surprisingly simple.

Automation and Utopia
Automation and Utopia

Author: John Danaher

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674983408

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Automating technologies threaten to usher in a workless future. But this can be a good thing—if we play our cards right. Human obsolescence is imminent. The factories of the future will be dark, staffed by armies of tireless robots. The hospitals of the future will have fewer doctors, depending instead on cloud-based AI to diagnose patients and recommend treatments. The homes of the future will anticipate our wants and needs and provide all the entertainment, food, and distraction we could ever desire. To many, this is a depressing prognosis, an image of civilization replaced by its machines. But what if an automated future is something to be welcomed rather than feared? Work is a source of misery and oppression for most people, so shouldn’t we do what we can to hasten its demise? Automation and Utopia makes the case for a world in which, free from need or want, we can spend our time inventing and playing games and exploring virtual realities that are more deeply engaging and absorbing than any we have experienced before, allowing us to achieve idealized forms of human flourishing. The idea that we should “give up” and retreat to the virtual may seem shocking, even distasteful. But John Danaher urges us to embrace the possibilities of this new existence. The rise of automating technologies presents a utopian moment for humankind, providing both the motive and the means to build a better future.

The Odditorium
The Odditorium

Author: David Bramwell

Publisher: Nicholas Brealey

Published: 2017-10-17

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1473670179

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'I LOVE THE BOOK... A BRILLIANT READ' Chris Evans, Radio 2 Breakfast Show 'This book, that I approached with caution, turns out to be magnificent. Tested it with the Moondog entry. Passed A+' Danny Baker, Radio 5Live A CELEBRATION OF CURIOSITY AND OBSESSION Step into a world of gloriously unpredictable characters such as Ivor Cutler, Quentin Crisp, Joe Orton, Reginald Bray, Ken Campbell, Screaming Lord Sutch, Sun Ra, Buckminster Fuller, Timothy Leary and Ayn Rand. The Odditorium is a playful re-telling of history, told not through the lens of its victors, but through the fascinating stories of a wealth of individuals who, while lesser-known, are no less remarkable. Throughout its pages you'll learn about the antics and adventures of tricksters, eccentrics, deviants and inventors. While their stories range from heroic failures to great hoaxes, one thing unites them - they all carved their own path through life. Each protagonist exemplifies the human spirit through their dogged determination, willingness to take risks, their unflinching obsession and, often, a good dollop of eccentricity. Learn about Reginald Bray (1879-1939), a Victorian accountant who sent over 30,000 singular objects through the mail, including himself; Muriel Howorth (1886-1971), the housewife who grew giant peanuts using atomic energy; and Elaine Morgan (1920-2013), a journalist who battled a tirade of prejudice to pursue an aquatic-based theory of human evolution, which is today being championed by David Attenborough. While many of us are content to lead a conventional life, with all of its comfort and security, The Odditorium reminds us of the characters who felt compelled to carve their own path, despite risking ostracism, failure, ridicule and madness. Outsider artists, linguists, scientists, time travellers and architects all feature in The Odditorium, each of whom risked ostracism, ridicule and even madness in pursuit of carving their own esoteric path, changing the world in wonderful ways. 'BRAMWELL CLEARLY HAS AN EYE FOR THE ODDBALL AND ARCANE' The Guardian

The Mysterium
The Mysterium

Author: Jo Keeling

Publisher: Chambers

Published: 2017-10-19

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1473663571

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'A FANTASTICALLY DIVERTING COLLECTION OF GREAT STORIES... AN IDEAL XMAS PRESENT' Stuart Maconie, 6Music 'I ENJOYED IT ENORMOUSLY' Danny Baker, Radio 5 Live 'BRILLIANTLY DONE ... ORIGINAL AND DIFFERENT', Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing As A Fish A CATALOGUE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY, THE STRANGE AND THE DOWNRIGHT CREEPY... Discover the unexplained mysteries and unsettling oddities of the modern world, from a beach in British Columbia awash with human feet, to the 'tulpamancers' who claim to be channeling the living spirit of My Little Pony. Ponder terrifying thought experiments (can you think yourself to death?), and reflect on life's great questions (was the Garden of Eden located in Bedford?). In THE MYSTERIUM David Bramwell and Jo Keeling (authors of THE ODDITORIUM), present a user guide to the strange and unexplained corners of modern life. THE MYSTERIUM catalogues a host of bizarre, funny and intriguing stories for a post-Nessie generation still fascinated by the unknowable. Drawing on contemporary folklore, unsolved mysteries, and unsettling phenomena from the dark corners of the internet, this book celebrates the joy of asking questions and the thrill of finding answers which stop you dead in your tracks. Featuring a group of men who scared themselves to death, Space's version of the Bermuda Triangle, a cat who can sniff out the dying and the tale of Slenderman, the monster who stepped out of Photoshop and into our nightmares, this fascinating book is a catalogue of the extraordinary, the strange, the mysterious and the downright creepy. Includes a Foreword by Dan Schreiber, comedian and host of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast.

The Odysseum
The Odysseum

Author: David Bramwell

Publisher: Nicholas Brealey

Published: 2019-01-08

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 147368871X

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Explore the extraordinary stories behind some of the greatest - and strangest - adventures and explorations in human history.

Damanhur
Damanhur

Author: Jeff Merrifield

Publisher: Watkins Media Limited

Published: 2021-08-10

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1786784033

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Damanhur in Italy has for nearly 45 years been an experiment in human consciousness and in this fully illustrated book Jeff Merrifield outlines the exciting discoveries that the community is making. Short steps for humans, a giant leap for humankind. For more than four decades the spiritual-artistic community of Damanhur has grown from humble beginnings to become a prime mover in terms of spiritual research and the ecological protection of the planet. A group of people which has remained a stable and active entity over all those years, they have developed a sociological tool to enhance their shared experiences, the concept of a Superindividual, where groups of people or even whole communities become as one, and function and create as one. The best news is, Damanhur is opening out to the world. It will no longer be a closed and introspective collective, but will be sharing its discoveries with humanity at large. Already, groups of indigenous peoples are treading a path to Damanhur, sharing shamanic knowledge and forming mutual bonds on a mission to save the planet and make the world a better place. An ambitious and exciting programme of new building has already started in and around the now famous Temples of Humankind. At the same time, Damanhur is going out into the world, establishing active centres around the globe, as far afield as Iceland and Australia, not as clones of the Italian version, but as thriving vibrant entities in their own right. It's an inspiration to families, to workplaces, to other communities and to movements like Extinction Rebellion. How do we transform society from the ground up? How can we both flourish as individuals and work together in community for a common cause? This book will show you how.

Why Did the Policeman Cross the Road?
Why Did the Policeman Cross the Road?

Author: Stevyn Colgan

Publisher: Unbound Publishing

Published: 2016-05-19

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1783522348

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Can lollipops reduce antisocial behaviour? Could wizards prevent street gambling? Do fake bus stops protect pensioners? Can dog shows help reduce murder rates? Stevyn Colgan spent thirty years in the police service—twelve of them as part of the Problem Solving Unit, a special team with an extraordinary brief: to solve problems of crime and disorder that were unresponsive to traditional policing. They could try anything as long as it wasn’t illegal (or immoral), wouldn’t bring the police into disrepute, and didn’t cost very much. The result is this extraordinary collection of innovative and imaginative approaches to crime prevention, showing us that any problem can be solved if we can just identify its underlying roots. In Why Did the Policeman Cross the Road? you’ll learn how bees can prevent elephant stampedes and what tiger farms and sex workers have in common. You’ll read about killer snakes in African cornfields and cholera epidemics in Soho. You’ll come to appreciate the advantages of sticking gum on celebrities’ faces, why the colour of the changing room might decide a football match, and how eating lobsters may help to save their lives. This book is an amusing, insightful and sometimes controversial celebration of good policing and problem solving that reaches beyond law enforcement and into everyday life.

A Modern Utopia
A Modern Utopia

Author: Herbert George Wells

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1967-01-01

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 9780803252134

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"Well's uncanny ability to highlight the problems which are now most acute and supply tentative solutions that allow a maximum of individual freedom merits serious consideration. Recommended reading for students and teachers dealing with government, science, and the contemporary dilemma of a world facing war, famine, and racial unrest."--Choice A Modern Utopia is one of the first important blueprints for the modern welfare state and an early major statement of Wells's idea of the World State, an idea that is perhaps his greatest contribution to the intellectual history of this century. In this "quintessential utopia," as Lewis Mumford calls it, Wells "sums up and clarifies the utopias of the past, and brings them into contact with the world of the present." The Bison Books edition, with an introduction by Mark R. Hillegas, associate professor of English at Southern Illinois University, brings back into print a work that has stimulated three generations of thinkers. "This is not flight into fancy no voyage into whimsy. It is a sober attempt to imagine what kind of society men would create if they really used their heads and worked at it. The result is one of the most plausible utopias ever written."--Chad Walsh, From Utopia to Nightmare "It is a beautiful Utopia beautifully seen and beautifully thought: and it has in it some of that flavor of airy unrestraint one finds in News from Nowhere."--Van Wyck Brooks, The World of H.G. Wells

Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia
Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia

Author: Anthony M. Townsend

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2013-10-07

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 039324153X

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An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart, mobile, connected future. From Beijing to Boston, cities are deploying smart technology—sensors embedded in streets and subways, Wi-Fi broadcast airports and green spaces—to address the basic challenges faced by massive, interconnected metropolitan centers. In Smart Cities, Anthony M. Townsend documents this emerging futuristic landscape while considering the motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings of the key actors—entrepreneurs, mayors, philanthropists, and software developers—at work in shaping the new urban frontier.

How to Be Idle
How to Be Idle

Author: Tom Hodgkinson

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-07-30

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 006231341X

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Yearning for a life of leisure? In 24 chapters representing each hour of a typical working day, this book will coax out the loafer in even the most diligent and schedule-obsessed worker. From the founding editor of the celebrated magazine about the freedom and fine art of doing nothing, The Idler, comes not simply a book, but an antidote to our work-obsessed culture. In How to Be Idle, Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new, universal standard of living: being happy doing nothing. He covers a whole spectrum of issues affecting the modern idler—sleep, work, pleasure, relationships—bemoaning the cultural skepticism of idleness while reflecting on the writing of such famous apologists for it as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Johnson, and Nietzsche—all of whom have admitted to doing their very best work in bed. It’s a well-known fact that Europeans spend fewer hours at work a week than Americans. So it’s only befitting that one of them—the very clever, extremely engaging, and quite hilarious Tom Hodgkinson—should have the wittiest and most useful insights into the fun and nature of being idle. Following on the quirky, call-to-arms heels of the bestselling Eat, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss, How to Be Idle rallies us to an equally just and no less worthy cause: reclaiming our right to be idle.