The Philosophical Mindset

This talk is part of the Marketplace Lecture Series in an attempt to bridge the gap between academia and industry hosted by @decafquest.

First Lecture: Mahmoud Dgheim | Towards a More Responsible Tech Development

Bio: Mahmoud Dgheim (@dgheim) is a Lebanese blockchain evangelist and Co-founder & CEO at Castalise - a platform introducing the potential behind blockchain and privacy-preserving technologies to the rapidly growing world of data analytics. 

https://twitter.com/Decafquest/status/1322959710270738438

Relevant links:

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest

Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/l/ohYop

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

For more info: [email protected]

Schedule of upcoming talks:

https://twitter.com/Decafquest/status/1319985717032964102

Suggested readings:

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Book by Nick Bostrom

Life 3.0

Book by Max Tegmark

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Book by Ray Kurzweil

Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World

Book by Alex Tapscott and Don Tapscott

Permanent Record

Book by Edward Snowden

Andrew Trask privacy-preserving AI

https://youtu.be/4zrU54VIK6k

Joint Episode with Ronnie Chatah from The Beirut Banyan. 

https://youtu.be/bSQjOWIdKQk

Ronnie Chatah is a Master of Science (2017) graduate in literature and creative writing at the University of Edinburgh. His previous degrees include a Master of Arts (2012) in Middle East Studies from the American University of Beirut and a Bachelor of Arts (2003) in Political Science and Psychology from George Mason University.

Ronnie conducts a history and political walking tour of Beirut called WalkBeirut, which initially ran from 2009 – 2013. The tour has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Voice of America and BBC Radio 4, and navigates Beirut’s recent past while unraveling more complicated episodes - including Lebanon’s civil war - through storytelling. The tour remains popular among tourists and Lebanese alike, and at its inception served as the only walking tour of Beirut.

WalkBeirut was brought to a halt from 2013 – 2017 after Ronnie’s father, Mohamad Chatah - a career diplomat, International Monetary Fund senior official, Lebanese finance minister and senior advisor to former prime ministers Fouad Seniora and Saad Hariri - was assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut on December 27, 2013. Ronnie left Lebanon in the immediate aftermath and decided to pursue his father’s legacy in print and audio narration. The culmination of that work is a novel underway titled Buried in Beirut, and a podcast which Ronnie launched in 2019 named The Beirut Banyan.

From tourism to tragedy, Ronnie’s work reflects on Lebanon’s recent politics and history, addressing the personal wounds associated with untimely and unjust loss.

Relevant Links:

WalkBeirut: http://walkbeirut.com

The Beirut Banyan: http://beirutbanyan.com

New York Times:

https://nytimes.com/2018/02/07/world/middleeast/beirut-walking-tour-history.html

Reuters:

https://reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-walk/beirut-guide-gives-walking-tours-of-citys-history-and-his-own-idUSKBN1FJ22Y

BBC Radio 4:

http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j2bml

BBC World:

http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01s60ww

Kerning Cultures Podcast:

https://kerningcultures.com/kerning-cultures/the-things-that-cant-speak

The Fire These Times Podcast:

https://thefirethisti.me/2020/07/05/34-remembering-through-storytelling-in-times-of-hardship/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Mahmoud Natout is an entrepreneur, consultant, and educator. He is co-founder of L3b, a start-up that utilizes play-based strategies to help organizations build vibrant and human-centered work cultures that foster collaboration and innovative risk-taking.

Relevant Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahmoud.natout

L3b website: http://l3b.space/

Corridorri website: https://corridorri.com/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Nadine Welson Njeim is a Lebanese entrepreneur, and a tech and sustainability geek. She is the founder and managing partner of Microbits, a now leading digital agency. She is also head of the PR & BD department of Designer-24 holding. She is currently pursuing her master's in management at Harvard University. Nadine was elected as Miss Lebanon in 2007.

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nadinewnjeim

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nadinenjeim

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadinewnjeim

Website: https://microbits.co/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Dalal Mawad is a Lebanese journalist currently working as a senior Middle East and North Africa video producer with the Associated Press. She previously worked as a regional video producer for the United Nations Refugee Agency covering displacement in the Middle East and the world. 

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dalalmawad

Website: https://dalalmawad.com/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Ghadi is a Lebanese Journalist and Writer. She's worked as an investigative journalist in the Levant and the region, as well as directed and produced documentaries covering war conflicts, displacement, and humanitarian crises. She currently runs GAIAMEDIA, a media consultancy, and production house. 

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ghadifrancis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrancisGhadi/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghadifrancis/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Karl Sharro (aka Karl reMarks) is an architect, satirist and commentator on the Middle East. He is a Partner at PLP Architecture in London and co-author of Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture which was included in 100 Artists’ Manifestos: from the Futurists to the Stuckists, a survey of 100 influential art manifestos from the last 100 years. He has practised architecture in London and Beirut, and taught for five years at the American University of Beirut.

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Then-Created-Middle-There-Breaking/dp/0863569021

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad is a philologist, epigraphist, and historian of language. His work focuses on the languages and writing systems of pre-Islamic Arabia and the ancient Near East. He has authored books and articles on the early history of Arabic, language classification, North Arabian and Arabic epigraphy, and historical Semitic linguistics.

Relevant links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Safaitic

Personal website: https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/AhmadAlJallad

Recently published book (The Damascus Psalm Fragment, available in pdf format): https://www.academia.edu/43189829/Al-Jallad._2020._The_Damascus_Psalm_Fragment_Middle_Arabic_and_the_Legacy_of_Old_%E1%B8%A4ig%C4%81z%C4%AB_w._a_contribution_by_R._Vollandt

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

#AgriNERDS

1) Souhad Abou Zaki is an #economist with a constant craving for learning. She's passionate about rural development and has been fortunate enough to work in this realm with Rural #Entrepreneurs, an #NGO that works on expanding employment prospects for youth and women and promoting #entrepreneurship as a tool for socio-economic change in rural communities. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/souhad_16

2) Robert Malek is an agricultural entomologist. He studies the chemical ecology and foraging behavior of natural enemies, their interactions with plants and with insect pests and evaluates their potential as biological control agents. He also works on citizen science projects aimed at bridging the gap between science and the public and enhancing scientific literacy.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MalekRobert

3) Mouhaned is rural strategy developer and agriculutral consultant.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MouhanedD

Website: https://agrileb.com/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Table of contents below.

Professor Magda BOU DAGHER KHARRAT is a Plant Geneticist. She is head of laboratory Biodiversity and Functional Genomics at the Faculty of Science in Saint-Joseph University (USJ) Beirut. 

Adapting to the lockdown and working from home: 00:02:00

Research and conservation fieldwork (irises season): 00:03:50

A faulty anthropocentric perspective? 00:11:00

How do you decide which plants to conserve? (invasive vs native species, botanical gardens, cost of maintenance) 00:13:00

Jouzour Loubnan NGO (theory vs practice): 00:22:35

Awareness campaigns about flora, conservation practices, field trips, and hands-on activities: 00:26:00

Being passionate about what you're interested in, choosing to work in plant biology and conservation: 00:32:00

Has the effort been worth it? 00:38:20

Lebanon flora database (info + pics): 00:43:15

Ecosystems need to be protected because they are difficult to restore; how system restoration is carried out; adopting pioneer methods by studying animal excrements; hyenas are not only carnivores, they become herbivores based on the season: 00:47:00

International plant database initiative: 00:55:40

Cost of lab sample analyses is expensive in Lebanon: 00:57:25

Is there awareness about the importance of environmental conservation? 01:00:00

To restore and conserve or to cultivate? (agroforestry) 01:03:00

Arsal project: 01:06:30

Plant names: 01:11:00

Traditional vs innovative strategies: 01:13:20

A reflection on COVID-19 and the human place nature; maintaining the ecosystem balance: 01:20:40

Magda was selected as part of the faces of exchange, which highlights 80 years of the US Visitor Leadership Program: 01:33:00

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/magdaboudagher

Jouzour Loubnan twitter: https://twitter.com/jouzourloubnan

Websites: 

http://www.lebanon-flora.org/

http://biodiversite-liban.blogs.usj.edu.lb/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Magda_Bou_dagher_kharrat 

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest