Nayef Al-Rodhan Quotes

We are therefore driven by both basic survival instincts and rational thought.

All knowledge is to some extent interpreted.

Circumstances will determine what I term the survival value of humankind’s moral compass. Being highly moral in an immoral environment will almost certainly be detrimental to one’s survival and vice versa.

Policies should take account of the emotional dimensions of human behaviour rather than assuming rational action.

Addictive drugs misuse the brain’s existing pre-programming, activating reward mechanisms and extreme feelings of pleasure. When stimulated, the brain’s pleasure centres emit signals to repeat the behaviour. In this sense, the brain is pre-programmed to feel good.

We are neither radically free to choose our nature nor entirely determined by our biological heritage.

Almost every golden age of geo-cultural domains has been characterised by good governance, exchanges, borrowing, innovation and the adaptation of earlier contributions to forms of knowledge, and rationalism.

Human nature as we know it is, nevertheless, malleable and manageable. It may be radically modified as a result of advances in bio-, molecular, nano- and computational technologies. It will therefore be essential to establish a clear code of ethics regulating the use of these technologies sooner rather than later.

One of the key ingredients of coexistence and successful cooperation is trust.

Knowledge is also inferred from what is accepted as established knowledge, with new knowledge being based on the best explanation. This includes possible truths subject to proof.

The enduring assumption that human behaviour is governed by innate morality and reason is at odds with the persistence of human deprivation, inequality, injustice, misery, brutality and conflict.

Institutions should focus on educating against clashes of culture and the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace.

Morality, if present, should not be relied on because it will be trumped by self interest in most circumstances.

A lesser-known fact about the geopolitics of resources has escaped public polemics. This refers to rare earth metals or rare-earth elements (REMs), a set of 17 naturally occurring non-toxic materials, which play a pivotal role for emerging technologies and which are predominantly produced and exported from China.

Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities.