Tag Archive | "evolution"
A presentation with audio and another about bioenergy
Two presentations follow. The first focuses on the twin sides of the fossil fuel coin and what we can do about it, as presented in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this week. It’s similar to many presentations I’ve given recently and it includes an audio file, so you can follow along with the slides. The second was [...]
Continue reading...Typical presentation
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The pages below are excerpted from the presentation I delivered to the Sixth Annual Gila River Festival in Silver City, New Mexico on Friday, 17 September. Click on one of the seven pages to view it. With apologies for the awkward format, click again to make it large enough to read. As always, questions and [...]
Continue reading...Media alert
Friday, September 10, 2010
This Sunday, 12 September 2010, I will be interviewed live on Conscious Discussions. The radio show will air at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. That’s 10:00 a.m. on the left coast. Guests can call in during the broadcast: 646.478.4758. Further details here. Update: Interview is archived here. During the afternoon of Friday, 17 [...]
Continue reading...Warning shots
Thursday, April 29, 2010
How many do you need? I still keep hearing, “If things get bad, I’ll move to ….” And then fill in the blank with your favorite fantasy or nightmare, including these and many more: “my sister-in-law’s property in Kansas” “Mexico” “the wilderness” “a central America country” “southern Europe” “the coast” First, let’s consider how “bad” [...]
Continue reading...If it suddenly ended tomorrow, could you somehow adjust to the fall?
Monday, January 18, 2010
We’ve all played the “what if” game, and specifically the one with a timeline. What if I had six months to live? Would I live differently? Would I see somebody, or some place? How would I “make my peace” with the world and those I love? Let’s kick it up a notch. It’s not one [...]
Continue reading...Leadership in the post-carbon era
Friday, January 1, 2010
I’m getting cranky, judging from several comments on this blog and on Facebook (where my latest entries have been posted and then re-posted by contacts there). Not to pick nits, but I’m getting crankier. But, like all rationalizing animals, I have a good excuse. As my awareness grows, hopefully along with the awareness of other [...]
Continue reading...Resources and anthropocentrism
Monday, October 12, 2009
Evolution demands short-term thinking focused on individual survival. Most attempts to overcome our evolutionarily hardwired absorption with self are selected against. The Overman is dead, killed by a high-fat diet and unwillingness to exercise. Reflexively, we follow him into the grave.
Continue reading...Linking the past with the present: resources, land use, and the collapse of civilizations
Monday, October 5, 2009
We have ripped minerals from the Earth, often bringing down mountains in the process; we have harvested nearly all the old-growth timber on the continent, replacing thousand-year-old trees with neatly ordered plantations of small trees; we have hunted species to the point of extinction; we have driven livestock across every almost acre of the continent, baring hillsides and facilitating massive erosion; we have plowed large landscapes, transforming fertile soil into sterile, lifeless dirt; we have burned ecosystems and, perhaps more importantly, we have extinguished naturally occurring fires; we have paved thousands of acres to facilitate our movement and, in the process, have disrupted the movements of thousands of species; we have spewed pollution and dumped garbage, thereby dirtying our air, fouling our water, and contributing greatly to the warming of the planet. We have, to the maximum possible extent allowed by our intellect and never-ending desire, consumed the planet.
Continue reading...Humanity at a crossroads
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The evidence is gaining increasing clarity: We've reached a crossroads unlike any other in human history. One path leads to despair for Homo industrialis. The other leads to extinction, for Homo sapiens and the millions of species we are taking with us into the abyss. I'll take door number one.
Continue reading...Saving the world: a transcript for your review
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Civilization represents a grave threat to the existence of myriad cultures and species, including our own species. And we can do better.
Continue reading...
Friday, October 1, 2010
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