UNESCO Courier articles from February 1996

UNESCO Courier archives from February 1996

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Writer's Craft
February 1, 1996... A master of modern letters, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature, the noted Colombian writer talks to Bahgat Elnadi, Adel Rifaat and Miguel Labarca about creativity and his conception of the writer's craft. Is it possible to protect...

Month by Month
February 1, 1996... It is the most natural thing in the world to want to simplify things and see them in schematic form, and to break complex phenomena down into their component parts. Surely, before starting to look for order in a chaotic world we should make an...

A New Way of Thinking
February 1, 1996... Complexity represents a shift away from the simplifying, reductionist approach that has traditionally shaped scientific enquiry Until the mid-twentieth century, most sciences based their method on specialization and abstraction, i.e. reducing...

A Family Tree with Roots in East and West
February 1, 1996... From Lao-tzu to Hegel, thinkers from different cultural horizons point the way to complex thought Complex thought has a long history, which can be traced in both Western and Chinese philosophies. From Heraclitus to Lao-tzu Some philosophers of...

Cutting the Gordian Knot
February 1, 1996... Since we can never base our decisions on complete knowledge, we have to live with uncertainty Human existence is fraught with uncertainty. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? But this does not prevent us from taking daily decisions, in our private...

Frontiers of Psychotherapy
February 1, 1996... Psychotherapy has invented new forms of dialogue Psychotherapy that takes account of complexity must be based on a form of dialogue that enables those involved to question their convictions and dare to explore new approaches to reality. This...

The Case of the Disappearing Dinosaurs
February 1, 1996... The earth's natural history has known many a chapter of accidents Why did the dinosaurs disappear? This question has intrigued human imagination ever since the first fossils of these enormous prehistoric animals related to the reptiles were...

Logic, Cultures and Individuals
February 1, 1996... The second half of the twentieth century has been characterized by political, social and cultural movements toward heterogeneity and fragmentation. After the Second World War, many new independent nations won freedom from colonial subjugation. In...

'The Voice of Those Who Never Spoke.' (Indigenous Peoples)
February 1, 1996... The suffering of the indigenous communities that were subjugated and deprived of their most elementary rights - the right to cultural identity, to the land of their ancestors, to their language, freedom and beliefs - is one of the disasters of...

Olinda: The Sleeping Beauty of Northeastern Brazil
February 1, 1996... The city of Olinda in northeastern Brazil once wore its heart on its sleeve. It owes its name to the exclamation uttered by its Portuguese founder when he saw its site for the first time: "Oh linda situacao para se fundar huma villa!" ("Oh what a...

Mauritius: Paradise Lost or Paradise Regained?
February 1, 1996... Mauritius emerged from the Indian Ocean some eight million years ago, and since then many animal and plant species - some of them unique - developed there in extreme geographical isolation. The island lies some 800 kilometres southeast of...

Youthful Hands Turn Waste to Good Use
February 1, 1996... UNESCO'S Division of Youth and Sports Activities recently commissioned a survey of 120 youth and student organizations around the world to find out if they were participating in waste recycling activities. Twenty responses were received from...

Chico O'Farrill
February 1, 1996... With his rich tonal range, "Chico" (Arturo) O'Farrill is the most famous composer-arranger of Cuban and Latin jazz. He began working with the leading Havana bands in the 1940s and later worked in New York with the Afro-Cubans ("The Afro-Cuban...

Children and Violence on the Screen
February 1, 1996... A growing number of countries are concerned about violence on the screen - on television or in computer games - and a number of meetings have been held on the subject in different parts of the world. In March 1995 a world summit on children and...

The Divorce between Science and 'Culture.'
February 1, 1996... There was a time when scientists looked askance at attempts to make their work widely intelligible. But, in the world of the present day, such an attitude is no longer possible. The discoveries of modern science have put into the hands of...