to fortify their eye in the age of accelerations

00:30 Jul 2, 2019

This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Government / Politics

English term or phrase: to fortify their eye in the age of accelerations

Hello everyone,

From the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas Friedman.

Amory Lovins likes to say whenever people ask him if he is an optimist or a pessimist, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist, because they are each just different forms of fatalism that treat the future as fate and not choice—and absolve you from taking responsibility for creating the future that you want. I believe in applied hope.”

I found a lot of people in Minnesota and St. Louis Park, from diverse backgrounds, still eager to apply hope—eager to innovate at the community level ***to fortify their eye in the age of accelerations***—without knowing how the story will end.

Let’s take a quick tour, starting at St. Louis Park City Hall.

What does "to fortify their eye" mean?

Thank you.

Mikhail Korolev KudoZ activity Questions: 2414 (none open) (10 closed without grading) Answers: 130
Local time: 10:41

Summary of reference entries provided

Explanation of “eye” here

Sheri P

Explanation of "age of accelerations"

AllegroTrans

Reference comments

1 hr peer agreement (net): +4

Reference: Explanation of “eye” here

Reference information:
Friedman says the theme song for his book should be Brandi Carlile’s “The Eye.” Carlile’s lyrics state that it is possible to dance in a hurricane (an appropriate metaphor for accelerating change), but only if you are in the eye...healthy local communities, such as the one that nourished Friedman in his native Minnesota, serve as the eye of the hurricane. Creating such communities cannot be done by the federal government, although supportive policies are helpful. They cannot be built by state governments, although states can provide resources and support. Ultimately the creation of values-driven, adaptive communities, which enable citizens to “dance in the eye of the hurricane,” results from the actions of local leaders and local citizens.

This is Friedman’s call to action. It is a message that we ignore at our peril.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/wisdom-from-brandi-c...

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-07-02 01:40:46 GMT)
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Friedman explains his adoption of the “hurricane eye” metaphor earlier in the book.

Sheri P
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

Note to reference poster

Asker: Thank you very much, Sheri.

18 hrs peer agreement (net): +2

Reference: Explanation of "age of accelerations"

Reference information:
Thomas Friedman's latest book, "Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving In the Age Of Accelerations," is a manifesto for how to cope with our changing planet.

Right now, three powerful forces — technology, globalization and climate change — are accelerating exponentially — and “one of the hardest things for the human mind to grasp is the power of an exponential,” says the columnist for the New York Times.

“Basically, the story I tell in my book is that we're in the middle of three nonlinear accelerations all at the same time, with the three largest forces on the planet,” Friedman says. “As I thought about that, I realized we're not just in the middle of one climate change. We’re in the middle of three climate changes at once. We're in the middle of a change in the climate of the climate, we're in the middle of the change of the climate of globalization, and we're in the middle of a change in the climate in technology.”

https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-24/new-book-explores-how-survive-age-accelerations

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Note to reference poster

Asker: Thank you, AllegroTrans.

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