Synopses & Reviews
Why can’t we solve our problems anymore? Why do threats such as the Gulf oil spill, worldwide recession, terrorism, and global warming suddenly seem unstoppable? Are there limits to the kinds of problems humans can solve?
Rebecca Costa confronts- and offers a solution to-these questions in her highly anticipated and game-changing book, The Watchman’s Rattle.
Costa pulls headline for today’s news to demonstrate how accelerating complexity quickly outpaces that rate at which the human brain can develop new capabilities. With compelling evidenced based on research in the rise and fall of Mayan, Khmer, and Roman empires, Costa shows how the tendency to find a quick solutions- leads to frightening long term consequence: Society’s ability to solve its most challenging, intractable problems becomes gridlocked, progress slows, and collapse ensues.
A provocative new voice in the tradition of thought leaders Thomas Friedman, Jared Diamond and Malcolm Gladwell, Costa reveals how we can reverse the downward spiral. Part history, part social science, part biology, The Watchman’s Rattle is sure to provoke, engage and incite change.
Review
"The rafts of italics for emphasis can't reduce the value of this engaging book as a warning and a resource. It will give concerned readers new hope in human capability." Library Journal
About the Author
Rebecca D. Costa is an American sociobiologist and futurist. She is a world-renowned expert in the field of "fast adaptation." Costa's first book, The Watchman's Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse, was an international bestseller. Her follow-on book, titled On The Verge was introduced in 2017 to critical acclaim, shooting to the top of Amazon's #1 New Business Releases. Costa's work has been featured in The New York Time, Washington Post, USA Today, SF Chronicle, The Guardian, and other leading publications. Her weekly column, THE FIX, is presently featured on Newsmax.