Natural Resources and Civilizations Exam 1

Civilization

a dynamic society characterized through its advanced developments in art, culture, education, financial systems, government, and technological to industrial skills

List natural resources

air

water

land/rock/mineral

life

How long did Rome exist?

1,200 years

How long did the ancient Egyptian civilization exist?

4,300 years

What can weaken a civilization?

humanity’s movement towards the destruction of ecosystems

climate change (warming and cooling)

hostile neighbors

loss of allies

political/social/cultural factors

List the possible societal reactions to change

failure to perceive the problem

recognize the problem and doing nothing

recognizing the problem and working to fix it but failing

List the patterns of denial

Stage 1 It’s not happening

Stage 2 it’s not our fault

Stage 3 it's not that bad

Stage 4 solutions are too costly

Stage 5 It’s too late

How can science help avoid the end of a society?

the scientific method

observing and testing

How do you lock down the definition of a wicked problem?

develop a description of the problem or related sub problem and tackle that first, learn to communicate well

How do you measure to identify success to solving a wicked problem?

effective collaboration

How do we influence behavior?

prompts

feedbacks

commitments

incentives

rules/regulations/laws

Frames

a mental short cut that uses word associations and images to help people quickly apply meaning to new information

List connections we may communicate with

social groups

organizations

networks

Demand

how much of the product/service is desired by consumers/ how much consumers are willing to pay

Supply

total quantity of the product/services available

____shape the production, distribution, and consumption of products and services

economic systems

Markets

areas that bring buyers and sellers together

What is the purpose of government in economics

try to adjust prices by regulating production and/or the distribution of products

Ethics

a set of moral principles that provides guidelines for personal to collective behaviors

Eternalities

market failures that do not account for all of the costs and benefits of products or services

negative externalities

unintentional adverse impacts to a person or community

positive externalities

unintentional favorable impacts to a person or community