As a nod to human supremacy, any time we hear the word “population,” it generally goes without saying that we mean human population, of course. Other such words include health, lifetime, prosperity, intelligence, wisdom, murder, pro-life, culture. To many in modernity, it makes no sense to discuss the murder of an animal, the wisdom in mushrooms, or a culture among crows. Such self-centered arrogance!| Do the Math
Surfing YouTube, I came across an interview of Ezra Klein by Stephen Colbert. He was promoting a new book called Abundance, basically arguing that scarcity is politically-manufactured by “both sides,” and that if we get our political act together, everybody can have more. Planetary limits need not apply. I’ve often been impressed by Klein’s sharp insights on politics, yet can’t reconcile how someone so smart misses the big-picture perspectives that grab my attention.| Do the Math
Think about it first..| Do the Math
Image by Daniel Borker from Pixabay| Do the Math
Nothing lasts forever.| Do the Math
Image by naturfreund_pics from Pixabay| Do the Math
Image by günter from Pixabay| Do the Math
What success might look like? Image by Emma Farley from Pixabay.| Do the Math
Image by Edar from Pixabay| Do the Math
Courtesy Pixabay (PhotoMIX-Company)| Do the Math
Economists believe the equivalent of the sun going around the Earth, with far worse consequences| indi.ca
This may come as a surprise, but people are capable of holding unsupported notions…unexamined beliefs and expectations. A common default assumption—often quite reasonable—is that conditions will continue in a fashion that is recognizably similar to the way they have been during one’s lifetime. Suggestions to the contrary tend to be met with suspicion—or even hostility in the case that the suggested outcome is less than rosy.| Do the Math
[Note: This post inspired a podcast interview that traces a similar path.]| Do the Math
From Pixabay (Kranic17/535 images)| Do the Math
From Pixabay (Ramdlon)| Do the Math
This is the eleventh of 18 installments in the Metastatic Modernity video series (see launch announcement), putting the meta-crisis in perspective as a cancerous disease afflicting humanity and the greater community of life on Earth. This episode looks at various reasons why renewable energy and recycling are not our way out of the predicament modernity has set out for us. It’s just a doubling-down that can’t really work anyway.| Do the Math
Exponential growth on a finite planet does not end well, whatever form it takes| indi.ca
As we look toward the uncertain future, it may occur to some among us that we’ll need energy on Mars. How are we going to get it? Presumably Mars has no fossil fuels—although on the plus side its atmosphere is already 95% CO2, compared to Earth’s 0.04%, so they’re likely to be less uptight about carbon emissions on the red planet.| Do the Math
AI-generated stranger; I’m not so young/attractive| Do the Math