Talk:Thomas Homer-Dixon

Untitled

This appears to be lifted from a biographical source and perhaps could do with a rewrite (since it oddly switches from third to first person midsentence) by someone who knows this subject.

He was born in Victoria, British Columbia and received my B.A. ... and my Ph.D.

I think this has been rectified. I think I qualify to do the rewrite as "someone who knows the subject." I am attempting to bring this article up to date and add much more encyclopedic detail, being very careful to maintain an neutral tone. My goal is simply to provide useful information for anyone searching this person and coming across the Wiki entry. I acknowledge the fact that I am a research assistant for him, but have been through intense discussions re possible COI with user Rrburke, and have studied Wiki policies closely. As a new user, I would appreciate constructive guidance as I proceed in my growth as an encyclopedic writer. Jbghewer (talk) 14:01, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Correcting errors in this entry

I am the subject of this Wikipedia entry. It is inaccurate in a number of respects. I've run into some COI issues previously when my assistant tried to correct errors and add pertinent information. I want to make sure I correctly follow Wikipedia procedures. How should I proceed?70.53.74.180 (talk) 22:29, 1 January 2016 (UTC)

Thomas Homer-Dixon

Minor Issue in References

I'm an idiot and can't figure out how to edit the reference list, but the citation for reference number 13 is wrong. The "On the Threshold" article was published in the Fall 1991 issue of International Security. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.125.63.98 (talk) 01:16, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Corrections of errors requested

Hello.

I’m very aware of, and fully respect, Wikipedia’s COI rules. Having learnt a tough lesson years ago, I’m not going anywhere near the entry about me. But the entry has many factual errors, and some information is missing that could be useful to Wikipedia readers, including much more perceptive critiques of my work.

Could we start by fixing the errors in the lead paragraph? I’m not trained as an ecologist, I haven’t been at the Centre for Environment and Business for many years, and I’ve argued for decades against narrow neo-Malthusianism.

So, I’d suggest changes that are in line with the following basic facts about me:

Thomas Homer-Dixon . . .

. . . trained as a political scientist, in International Relations and Conflict Studies.

His research focuses mainly on applying concepts and theories from complexity science [link: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Complex_system] to study social systems, especially the causal mechanisms connecting societies and the natural world.

. . . has worked since the 1980s at the intersection between the social and ecological sciences, especially on the links between environmental scarcities and violent conflict,[use current citations 1 and 2] how societies innovate in response to complex stresses,[suggested citation 3 below] and issues concerning climate change and the energy transition away from fossil fuels.[suggested citation 4 below]

. . . currently, holds a University Research Chair in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, and is a professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs [link: https://www.balsillieschool.ca/] in Waterloo, Canada.

Suggested citation 3: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/The_Ingenuity_Gap Suggested citation 4: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0096340212444868

Also, I think that the following last two sentences in the opening paragraph should be deleted, since they are incorrect:

“He is well known for his work to broaden the Malthusian theory to include vital resources such as fuel, arable land, and other resources including food. He is a proud Neo-Malthusian along with Paul Ehrlich and Robert Kaplan.[citation needed]"

Rationale for deletion: The first of these sentences doesn’t make sense, because Malthus himself focused on cropland and food availability (so I couldn’t have “broadened” his perspective to include these factors). And “proud” is nonsensical in the second sentence . . . I’ve never boasted about or expressed pride in any form of Malthusianism. In fact, I’ve long argued *against* narrow and simplistic Malthusian interpretations of humanity’s environmental and resource challenges and in favor of “complex” models that allow for human innovation in response. See this citation [link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264156431_Who's_Afraid_of_Thomas_Malthus] for a good overview of this approach (and incidentally, a critique of my work).

Thanks for considering this request. Please let me know if I've missed anything or am not making this request in the right way.

Thomas Homer-Dixon University of Waterloo — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.183.153 (talk) 17:18, 7 January 2019 (UTC)

Reply 07-JAN-2019

  Unable to review edit request  
Your edit request could not be reviewed because the request is not formatted correctly.

1. The citation style predominantly used by the Thomas Homer Dixon article does not appear to be blank URL's. Any requested edit of yours which may be implemented will need to resemble the current style already in use in the article, that is, the use of ref tags with accompanying information. (See WP:CITEVAR.)
2. Citation ref tags have not been placed within the requested text indicating which portions of the text the source is referencing. (See WP:INTEGRITY.)

In the collapsed section below titled Request edit examples, I have illustrated two: The first shows how the edit request was submitted; the second shows how requests should be submitted in the future.

Request edit examples

Incorrectly formatted request: The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles, while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles. The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin. <ref>https://www.booksource.com</ref> <ref>https://www.journalsource.com</ref> <ref>https://www.websource.com</ref> In the example above there are three URL's provided with the claim statements, but these URL's have not been placed along with additional source information, which is the style predominantly used by this article. Additionally, the ref tags have not been placed within the text at the exact positions where the information they reference resides. Using the correct style and the correct positioning of the ref tags, the WikiFormatted text would resemble the following: Correctly formatted request: Please add the following sentence to the first paragraph of the article's "Sun and Moon" section: The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles,<ref>Tristan Sjöblad "The Sun" http://www.booksource.com Academic Press, 2018, p.1.</ref> while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles.<ref>Gabrielle Duvalier "Size of the Moon" Scientific American 78,51 http://www.journalsource.com 2018 p.46</ref> The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin.<ref>Shu Uemura "The Sun's Heat" http://www.websource.com Academic Press, 2018 p.2</ref> Which displays as: Please add the following sentence to the first paragraph of the article's "Sun and Moon" section: The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles, while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles. The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin. References In the example above the references have been formatted along with the additional identifying source information including the author, the source's name, date, etc. Also, the ref tags are placed in the exact location where the text which they reference resides. As Wikipedia is a volunteer project, edit requests such yours are generally expected to have this formatting done before the request is submitted for review.

Kindly rewrite your edit request so that it aligns more with the second example shown in the collapsed section above, and feel free to re-submit that edit request at your earliest convenience. If you have any questions about this formatting please don't hesitate to ask myself or another editor. Regards,  Spintendo  01:20, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

Notes

Corrections of errors requested

Thanks for your comment about formatting.

Is this revised formatting better? I’d suggest these changes to the opening paragraph:

Thomas Homer-Dixon (born 1956) is a Canadian [scientist] and University Research Chair at the [[6]] in the Faculty of Environment, and a professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada. His research on international relations and conflict studies focuses mainly on applying concepts and theories from [science] to study social systems, especially the causal mechanisms connecting societies and the natural world. Since the 1980s Homer-Dixon has explored the intersection between the social and ecological sciences, especially on the links between environmental scarcities and violent conflict, how societies innovate in response to complex stresses, and issues concerning climate change and the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

I’ve deleted the last two sentences in the opening paragraph since they are incorrect: “He is well known for his work to broaden the Malthusian theory to include vital resources such as fuel, arable land, and other resources including food. He is a proud Neo-Malthusian along with Paul Ehrlich and Robert Kaplan.[citation needed]" Rationale for deletion: The first of these sentences doesn’t make sense, because Malthus himself focused on cropland and food availability (so I couldn’t have “broadened” his perspective to include these factors). And “proud” is nonsensical in the second sentence . . . I’ve never boasted about or expressed pride in any form of Malthusianism. In fact, I’ve long argued *against* narrow and simplistic Malthusian interpretations of humanity’s environmental and resource challenges and in favor of “complex” models that allow for human innovation in response. See this citation [link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264156431_Who's_Afraid_of_Thomas_Malthus] for a good overview of this approach (and incidentally, a critique of my work). The last sentence in the Academic Career section should also remove the reference to the Centre for Environment and Business as I haven’t worked there in many years and am now at the Faculty of Environment.

Thanks for considering this request. Please let me know if I’m still missing anything in terms of how this request should be presented. Thomas Homer-Dixon, University of Waterloo — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.183.141 (talk) 11:30, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

References

The request left out its ref tag placements, and the suggested changes do nothing to resolve the article's use of insufficiently paraphrased text. The Balsillie School of International Affairs profile for the article's subject is almost identical to the Wikipedia article, which leaves us with a chicken and egg dilemma asking which came first, the Balsillie profile or the Wikipedia page. The answer to that would make one the "copied" and the other the "copier". In any event, I understand that there is only so many ways to describe "examining links between environmental stress and violence in poor countries." That the words match is not really the issue here - the problem I see is having Wikipedia become an extension of the subject's CV. Another problem is the suggestion made in the article that some kind of special understanding of the oil industry is to be found through the learning of how to weld a pipe — a claim which is ultimately unreferenced (as if a claim such as that could even be referenced). But these are broader issues than the ones raised in the COI edit request and can be addressed later. I'll make these changes shortly. Regards,  Spintendo  13:48, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

Reply 1-APR-2019

  Edit request partially implemented  

• The suggested lead section did not definatively state what the subject is mostly notable for, rather, it stated where the subject works and mentioned the main focus of the subject's own research. As reference for these items, the subject provided links to their work websites and 2 publications which did not contain either DOI's or page numbers.
• Due to the poor state of referencing for the lead section (which is theoretically not supposed to be referenced) the claims proposed there were not implemented. These claims about the subject's research should be referenced by reliable secondary sources. These references should be coordinated with the ones citing the exact same information in the body of the article per MOS:CITELEAD. (No changes were proposed to the main body of text in the current edit request.)
• The items requested to be omitted from the lead section were removed.
• The last sentence of the Academic careers section could not be omitted because not only did it contain the information that the COI editor stated it did that was to be removed (i.e., the reference to the Centre for Environment and Business) it also stated "He is a founding director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation[13] at the University of Waterloo" in the same sentence. Thus, the sentence was split into two, and the desired portion was omitted.

 Additional changes made:

1. Because the COI editor used bare URL's for a portion of their references, a Cleanup bare URLs maintenance template was appended.
2. As the COI editor proposed references which used two different citation styles, the Citation style maintenance template was appended.

Regards,  Spintendo  20:25, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

COI Edit Request - Updates and Corrections

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

The second half of the opening sentence states the Thomas Homer-Dixon is currently " a professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada." This information is outdated. This should be revised to state that he is now the Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. See the Royal Roads University website https://www.royalroads.ca/people/thomas-homer-dixon and the Cascade Institute website https://cascadeinstitute.org/team/

Suggested wording with citations: ...and the Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Biography - Early life and education

In the second sentence, add that Thomas also worked in the Canadian resource industry rather than exclusively the oil industry. It is inaccurate to state that Thomas only worked in “Canada’s oil industry while working as a roughneck on oil rigs, a labourer in gas refineries, and a welder’s helper on pipeline construction.” He also “cruised timber” as stated in this Toronto Star article: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2009/04/19/a_doomsayer_and_a_father_with_a_heart_of_faint_hope.html

In the third sentence, the description about what the Canadian Student Pugwash organization discusses "economics, political science, history, and public policy" is not accurate. The Pugwash organization can be better summarized as a forum for discussion of the relationships between science, ethics, and public policy. Other wording suggestions can be found in the existing citation (5) and at the following Wikipedia page http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/International_Student/Young_Pugwash

Suggested wording with citations: ...a forum for discussion of the relationships between science, ethics, and public policy.

In the fourth sentence, it states that Thomas received a doctorate degree. This is incorrect. Thomas earned a Ph.D. in Political Science as stated on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology website http://library.mit.edu/item/000403752 Note that the current citation for the MIT website link is broken and should be updated with the link provided here.

His fields of study were “international relations, defense and arms control policy, and conflict theory” as stated in his official biography: https://homerdixon.com/biography/

Suggested wording with citations: He completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989.. His fields of study were international relations, defense and arms control policy, and conflict theory.

Biography - Academic career

Logic and grammatical error in the first sentence. The sentence starts with “teaching career” and then talks about Thomas’ research. Suggested wording could be to change "teaching career" to "academic career" and "to lead" to "where he led."

The fifth sentence contains outdated information and should be deleted. Thomas is no longer at the Balsillie School. His current information should be added. In 2019, Homer-Dixon was appointed a University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. See the University of Waterloo website https://uwaterloo.ca/provost/university-research-chairs. In 2020, Homer-Dixon became the Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. See the Royal Roads University website https://www.royalroads.ca/people/thomas-homer-dixon and the Cascade Institute website https://cascadeinstitute.org/team/

Suggested wording: Since 2019, Homer-Dixon has held a University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. In 2020, he became the Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University. Note that these are repeat citations.

Change the sixth sentence to past tense. Thomas is no longer the founding director for the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation at the University of Waterloo. See https://uwaterloo.ca/complexity-innovation/people/core-members/core-members-university-waterloo Thomas founded WICI in 2011. This information should be moved above his current appointments and positions.

Bibliography

Thomas published a new book in 2020. This book should be added to the bibliography. The book title is: Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril. Toronto: Knopf Canada. 2020. ISBN 978-0-307-36316-9 See publisher website for details: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/221940/commanding-hope-by-thomas-homer-dixon/9780307363169

References

Reference 1 needs to be updated to https://homerdixon.com/biography/

Reference 11 link is broken. Update to: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/advantage-waterloo/article1390305/

• Why it should be changed:

I am requesting these changes to bring this biography article up to date and correct misinformation. I did my best to follow the Wikipedia:Sample edit requests page, and I provided suggested wording as a result. I am very open to discussion on all change requests provided herein.

Please note that this is a COI edit request. See my user profile for details.

SeaGrass91 (talk) 00:19, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

References

 Partly done: Mostly done, omitted parts for brevity. Some citation issues marked in the article. 15 (talk) 19:19, 23 August 2021 (UTC)

I have submitted an additional COI Edit Request with more updates and corrections that addresses the outstanding citation issues. SeaGrass91 (talk) 22:52, 25 April 2022 (UTC)

COI Edit Request - Updates and Corrections part 2

• Specific text to be added or removed:

Opening paragraph

The opening paragraph is now outdated and should be revised to reflect Thomas Homer-Dixon’s current career situation. He no longer holds a Research Chair position at the University of Waterloo.

Suggested wording: Thomas Homer-Dixon (born 1956) is a Canadian political scientist and author who researches threats to global security. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia.[2][3] He is author of Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril, which explores how a new concept of hope could help humanity respond to critical challenges.

The text above is closely modeled on Sabine Hossenfelder’s Wikipedia entry: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Sabine_Hossenfelder

Mostly implemented as requested Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Early life and education

Citations provided for the sentence: He then established the Canadian Student Pugwash organization, a forum for discussion of the relationships between science, ethics, and public policy.

During some of the previous edits, text was removed after the last sentence that described Homer-Dixon’s Ph.D. research area. Additional text at the end of the final sentence would be appropriate to transition into the “Academic Career” section.

Suggested wording: He completed his Ph.D. in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989, specializing in international relations and conflict theory under the supervision of Hayward Alker.[6]

Mostly implemented as requested Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Academic career

Citation provided for the sentence: In 2020 he became the Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University.

Academic work (Suggested alternative title: “Research contributions”)

This section is outdated and missing relevant information regarding the extent of Homer-Dixon’s work. The first sentence in the first paragraph is missing important details and citations. The second sentence states the International Security is edited at Harvard and published by MIT press. Therefore, it is a Harvard not MIT journal and should be corrected. The first sentence of the second paragraph is repetitive and adds no new information. This sentence and its in-text citations can be removed (20 and 21). Reference to the Huffington Post article doesn’t provide new information and seems unnecessary to include. This sentence and citation can be removed. Considering these shortcomings, I have provided suggested revisions to existing text, a new organizational format plus additional text, and citations for this section.

Suggested new subsections and text:

Homer-Dixon’s research has led to publications and theoretical advances in four key areas.

Environmental stress and violent conflict (existing subsection)

In the early 1990s, at the University of Toronto, Homer-Dixon led a team of researchers that pioneered study of the links between environmental stress and violent conflict. Two of his articles in the Harvard journal International Security identified underlying mechanisms by which scarcities of natural resources like cropland and fresh water could contribute to insurgency, ethnic clashes, terrorism, and genocide in poor countries (citations 7, 16 and 17 in current Wiki article). This research culminated in his book Environment, Scarcity, and Violence, which won the Caldwell Prize of the American Political Science Association.

Social innovation and the ‘ingenuity gap’ (suggested new subsection and subsection title)

In the mid-1990s, Homer-Dixon worked on the determinants of successful social innovation in response to key threats and challenges like climate change. He coined the term “ingenuity gap,” and his work resulted in the book The Ingenuity Gap. The book was published in six countries and won the 2001 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction in Canada.

Societal breakdown and renewal (suggested new subsection and subsection title)

In the 2000s, Homer-Dixon studied the links between major crisis and societal renewal—a phenomenon he called “catagenesis.” Using the Roman Empire as a case study, he focused especially on the relationship between energy inputs, social complexity, and social crisis. This work led to the book The Upside of Down (book) which won the 2007 National Business Book Award. The book introduced the concept of “synchronous failure,” which was further developed in a co-authored 2015 article in Ecology and Society.

The role of hope (suggested new subsection and subsection title)

After 2010, Homer-Dixon’s work became more prescriptive, focusing on how humanity might address its crises, and in particular on the essential role of the emotion hope. These ideas were brought together in the book Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril.

Mostly implemented as requested Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Views

The second sentence contains a spelling error. Change Dixon to Homer-Dixon.

Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Criticism (recently removed)

A Criticism section previously existed but has since been deleted. While the removal of some biased language and an ad hominem attack within this section is appreciated, criticism of Homer-Dixon’s views and research contributions is beneficial.

If the editors think including criticism is appropriate given Wikipedia’s guidelines, suggested wording has been provided for this section. I respect the editor’s decision to remove this section entirely.

Suggested wording with new citations:

Homer-Dixon has attracted criticism for his work on environmental stress and violent conflict and for his critiques of the Canadian oil industry. In 2007, Homer-Dixon and his research team were critiqued by Alexandre S. Wilner in Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis for their methodological assumptions and analytical practices used in their work about environmental stress and violent conflict.

In Nov/Dec 2007, David Victor wrote an article in The National Interest arguing that the risk of conflict arising from resource scarcities was overblown. In January 2009, Homer-Dixon responded and disputed Victor’s conclusion; Victor in turn called Homer-Dixon’s critique “unabashedly misleading and wrong.”

In 2013, Jen Gerson argued in the National Post that referring to Canada as a "petro state" was erroneous since oil and natural gas provide only about 5 percent of Canada's total GDP. Regarding Homer-Dixon's claim that "equates resource extraction with low innovation", Gerson argued that Canada's current oilsands industry "required most a century of research, development and high-risk capital investment” (citation 25 in Wiki article).

The dispute between Homer-Dixon and Victor has been summarized here: https://homerdixon.com/straw-man-in-the-wind/

This section not inserted. Place another "request edit" and it will be looked at on its own. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Bibliography

A previous comment from an editor suggested there was an issue with the ISBN provided. I have doubled checked the number and it’s correct. Thomas published a new book in 2020 and it should be added to the bibliography. The book title is: Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril. Toronto: Knopf Canada. 2020. ISBN: 9780307363169

See publisher website for details: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/221940/commanding-hope-by-thomas-homer-dixon/9780307363169

Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Photo

Homer-Dixon’s article photo is outdated. A newer photo is available on the Penguin Random House website for his new book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/221940/commanding-hope-by-thomas-homer-dixon/9780307363169

The file must be uploaded to Wikimedia by the copyright holder. Post an edit request after ding so. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

• Why it should be changed:

I am requesting these changes to address missing citations, provide corrections for outdated information, and expand incomplete information. I did my best to follow the Wikipedia:Sample edit requests page, and I provided suggested wording as a result. I am very open to discussion on all change requests provided herein.

Please note that this is a COI edit request. See my user profile for details.

SeaGrass91 (talk) 22:33, 25 April 2022 (UTC)

@SeaGrass91 Phew, that was a big job. Please see notes inserted above below each section. Cheers from a British Columbian. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:51, 10 December 2022 (UTC).

Thank you so much! Your time and efforts are very appreciated. SeaGrass91 (talk) 02:10, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

References

Deletion of extra words and 1 reference revision

• What I think should be changed:

Under the heading Academic Work, the phrase "(suggested new subsection and subsection title)" is repeated three times beside three different subheadings. This phrase needs to be deleted, please.

Under the subheading Environmental stress and violent conflict, the following sentence is referenced incorrectly: Two of his articles in the Harvard journal International Security identified underlying mechanisms by which scarcities of natural resources like cropland and fresh water could contribute to insurgency, ethnic clashes, terrorism, and genocide in poor countries (citations 7, 16 and 17 in current Wiki article). References 6 and 9 are more appropriate for this sentence and need to be formatted correctly, please.

• Why it should be changed:

This phrase is from a previous edit request and doesn't need to be included in the Article.

The reference error is the outcome of a previous edit request and is formatted incorrectly.

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

Not applicable. SeaGrass91 (talk) 02:30, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

References

 Done I've implemented this edit. In general, it's okay for COI editors to make minor edits directly, especially in a case like this where the only issues were formatting-related. The COI still needs to be declared in the edit summary, but the COI policy allows this kind of edit to be made by users with a COI, like you. On the other hand, it's important to err on the side of caution in cases of a conflict of interest, so don't worry too much about it :) Actualcpscm (talk) 14:13, 24 April 2023 (UTC)