Mark Lewis Mendick Roeder (born 28 May 1957) is an Australian-British author and cultural commentator. He has written '' The Big Mo (book): Why Momentum Rules The World'' (2011), and '' Unnatural Selection: Why The Geeks Will Inherit The Earth'' (2013). Roeder's books and articles explore social phenomena and the impact of technology on human behaviour.

Background and education

Roeder was born in London, England. His father, Reuben Mendick, was a medical doctor and

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George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland. Roeder's maternal great, great grandfather is the author Frank Fowler, who played a significant role in Australia's early literary history. Roeder holds a master's degree in Business and Technology (MBT) from the

University of NSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

Career

Before becoming a writer, Roeder worked as a corporate executive, and held senior roles at UBS Banking Group,

Zurich Insurance Group Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ran ...

and

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, ...

and lived in London, New York, Sydney and Zurich. He currently works as a consultant with David Hale (economist) Global Economics, and is a Delphi Fellow contributor to

Big Think Big Think is a multimedia web portal founded in 2007 by Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins. The website is a collection of interviews, presentations, and round table discussions with experts from a wide range of fields. Victoria Brown is the acting ...

Works

Roeder's book, ''The Big Mo'' (2011), explores the role that large-scale momentum played in the global financial crisis. It was described by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' as 'A compelling book that journeys seamlessly from finances to the Iraq war, from oil prices and climate change to religion and pop culture in an effort to explain how we behave and why we are so easily led.' Roeder explained that, The

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broadcaster and critic

Phillip Adams Phillip Adams, Philip Adams, or Phil Adams may refer to: Sports * Phillip Adams (American football) (1988–2021), American football cornerback * Phillip Adams (sport shooter) (born 1945), Australian pistol shooter * Phil Adams (cricketer) (born 1 ...

described ''The Big Mo'' as 'a revelation. In our personal, political and economic lives we seem to be swept along by circumstances. Our attempts to change direction are doomed. The Big Mo explains why.' ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 's

Steven Poole Steven Poole (born 1972) is a British author and journalist. He particularly concerns himself with the abuse of language and has written two books on the subject: ''Unspeak'' (2006) and ''Who Touched Base In My Thought Shower?'' (2013). Biograph ...

, criticised the book for 'overstretching the Newtonian-physics analogy'. Roeder's book, ''Unnatural Selection: Why the Geeks will Inherit the Earth'' (2013), analyses the impact of technology on human evolution and the rise of the ‘geek’ class. It suggests that the Man-made environment of the

Anthropocene The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. , neither the International Commissio ...

is selecting for more non-neurotypical traits in humans, compared to previous generations, which is fostering a cognitive revolution in the human species.

Bibliography

* ''What We Do Next Really Matters''. (2022). Australian Scholarly Publishing & Arden International. *'' Unnatural Selection: Why the Geeks Will Inherit the Earth''. (2013). HarperCollins. , (2014) Arcade Publishing (USA & Europe) *'' The Big Mo: Why Momentum Rules the World''. (2011). HarperCollins (Australasia) , Random House (Europe and Global) , Xinhua Publishing House (China). *"What’s Next (The Diminishing Returns of the Information Age – section)" (2012). David & Lyric Hale. Yale University Press. , * ''Space Invaders''. Co-authored as Mark Mendick with Julian Wolanski. Consolidated Press.

References

External links

Big ThinkMark Roeder official websiteSpeakers BureauBig Mo websiteDiserta BureauDavid Hale Global Economics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roeder, Mark 1957 births Living people British writers Australian writers Writers from London British expatriates in Australia