Perhaps this is where science needs to up it game – instead of touting words that only carry meaning if you know the basis behind it (resilience only means something if you understand the adaptive cycle and what the consequence of “non-resilience” is), we need to put more emphasis on how these concepts work in everyday life. This is what I felt lacked in the presentation by Homer-Dixon, and indeed in many public presentations about such concepts.

I think this also goes Sieber’s comment about letting society off the hook for what we are doing today. If we know how our actions today translate into the breakdown tomorrow we are more likely to work against it instead of waiting for the catastrophe to occur.