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Last broadcast on Sun, 19 Sep 2010, 09:05 on BBC World Service.
Synopsis
On this week's Forum, are we heading towards a brave new world?
Are we on the verge of discovering ways to delay the ageing process and expand our life spans? Award winning British geneticist Dame Linda Partridge reveals some surprising new scientific discoveries.
Who would have thought the number of ethnic conflicts around the world is steadily decreasing? German Professor of International Security, Stefan Wolff explores the reasons.
And what's about to change, now that billions of people can pool information with the rest of the globe at a click of a button? The newest thoughts of American new media visionary Clay Shirky.
Very old people celebrating the wane of ethnic conflict in a digitally legible world (1s and 0s).
Illustration by Emily Kasriel.
Linda Partridge
Distinguished British geneticist Dame Linda Partridge, on the new scientific advances that delay the ageing process and mean we could all live much longer.
Stefan Wolff
German academic and peace adviser Stefan Wolff outlines important lessons on how to overcome the ancient curse of civil war and ethnic conflicts.
Clay Shirky
Leading digital guru, Clay Shirky, explores the exhilarating opportunities to be unleashed by a revolution in the way we pool knowledge and creativity.
SIXTY SECOND IDEA TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Our Sixty Second Idea to Change the World comes this week from internet thinker Clay Shirky, who suggests that everyone should take off all their clothes, figure out where each item comes from, and then calculate the number of miles between themselves and their clothes.
They should then use their social networks to strike up a conversation with the people from the country these clothes come from about the environment. The reason for this is to shock people into realising how big our carbon footprint is, and the scale of the problem that we face in reducing environmental damage.
IN NEXT WEEK'S PROGRAMME
Laurie Santos, Associate Professor at Yale, will be talking about her ground breaking work with monkeys and how they can teach us about human irrationality.
Swiss philosopher Dr Roman Frigg explains why he believes that scientists should work in tandem with philosophers, and award winning American novelist Marilynne Robinson will discuss her new book Absence of Mind, about the importance of altruism.
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Sun 19 Sep 201009:05
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