Possibility: Iran goes green
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 On most mornings, the majestic snowcapped Alborz Mountains that envelope Tehran are obscured by a curtain of smog. Many of the bustling city’s 14 million residents have become accus-tomed to seeing the mulberry trees bloom and the winter’s first Read More...
Possibility: Drones for peace
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 Imagine for a moment that a child is critically ill in a small village weeks away from any hospital. With no quick means of transportation, the child’s worried doctor picks up the phone or sends a text and, in a matter of hours, the much-needed medical Read More...
Possibility: Mars is rising—in nutrition efforts
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 The Mars food company will begin telling its customers which of its foods are healthy enough to eat every day, and which should be eaten only occasionally. Healthy eating sounds simple, but it can be tough—and time-consuming—for the health-conscious Read More...
City life
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 All over the world, millions of people flock to cities. Is this a recipe for more problems and decay? What associations come to mind when you think of cities? Do you see images of moral decline, crime, unemployment, beggars, congested streets and a loss of Read More...
Handiwork of the heart
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 On a mission to save orangutans, Willie Smits rebuilt a devastated rainforest where no rain fell, no birds sang, and the people spent a quarter of their resources just to get enough water to survive. By Rosamund Stone Zander Rosamund Zander, Read More...
Ode to Zuzana Caputova, Pezinok, Slovakia
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 Environmental advocate Rarely are the actions of one individual felt by an entire country, but Zuzana Caputova’s fight for environmental safety in her hometown in Slovakia went even further—it became a victory for the population of the entire Read More...
Ode to the American Buffalo
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 The Return of the Bison By Ivar Laanen After a long absence from American lands, descendants of a bison herd sent to Canada more than a century ago have been relocated to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, in Montana. The animals, also known as Read More...
The secret history of hallucinogens in Christianity
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 The authors’ anthropological journey through European and Middle Eastern churches finds evidence—hidden in plain sight for centuries—that challenges conventional views of the origins of Judeo-Christianity. An excerpt from The Psychedelic Read More...
A new look at an old book
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 We live by our stories. And our most important story, the bestselling book of all time, is the Bible, with an estimated five billion copies in print. The Bible, as a messenger of truth, has influenced millions of lives. And yet, as a new book Read More...
Nature is the best business consultant
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 Nature provides the principles for sustainable business, but a fear-and-greed-driven mindset obstructs us from running business naturally. Why the “whole brain state” is essential to sustainability. By Rob Williams Photography: Bruce Read More...