Yes, I too fear we are most in danger of the global system losing back pressure and collapsing in on itself. Two steps forward, one hell of a step back!
The genius combo of deploying particles in the upper atmosphere, limiting nitrogen fertilizer usage, imposing widespread energy scarcity, and disrupting global supply/shipping could wind up being more like falling down the whole staircase.
Yes, the swarm’s ennui in this late age is earnestly seeking some new frontier expanse. Meta utilizing VR tech sees potential in providing this “space” for us digitally in the short term.
I must admit I see your article as paralleling Elon Musk’s same optimism to colonize Mars. They both conjure hope in a Genesis 2.0 story, serving as a unifying meta narrative for the 21st century. You know, the sci-fi adaptation where Noah’s distant sons build a space ark to survive a coming prophetic cataclysm and then journey to inhabit a new promised land? Perhaps it will be like GK Chesterton’s story in Orthodoxy of the man who (re)discovered England and bring us all the way back to our beginnings?
Back on solid ground, I remain overwhelmed by the task of even envisioning the supply/build logistics needed for a single space colony at city scale. The first iterations would be quite harsh environments with numerous critical points of failure. Space being a most unforgiving, frozen hell that is constantly trying to kill us (and our integrated circuits) in comparison to life beneath the cozy atmosphere/magnetosphere of Earth.
I remain most immediately concerned by those who admit to varying degrees of their desire to be like “gods” today. Thinking directly of the weird little guy speaking at the WEF lately. Anyway, I genuinely believe we have a much longer timeline than the one that the doomsayers are insisting upon right now.
Can we please delay turning over our critical decisions to the Hal9000? The same goes for the impulsive beta-fiddling with our genetic code and the open-sourcing of bio weapons capabilities?
I do join you in the resolute optimism that humanity can and will break out of our current dissipative system again. It is indeed what separates us from the insects! Enough of us will no doubt figure out how to “network swarm” for good? Ha!
I find myself persuaded superficially, but I have so thoroughly bonded myself to the furtherance of symbiosis, that I am likely to keep it as a primary personal focus. I am clearly integrated with civilization to which I have found no desirable alternative. For over thirty years I have been wrestling with the reality that civilization is headed for collapse. The distress our inability live as people with a place on this earth is a tremendous source of personal distress. I feel like it is almost too good to be true that we can reconcile the limits of a finite planet containing a civilization dependent on growth by growing beyond the limits of the planet. It would be such a relief to focus on being a frugal and conscientious ancestor to future generations by reducing waste, maximizing symbiosis, and also providing a better life for the world that is to come. I don’t think this resolves the declining rate of return to complexity. What could do is increase our access to energy to offset our entropic inefficiencies. I want us to have a future, as sustainable as possible. It’s time to transcend our solar limits, seeking integrity with the earth we hold sacred.
The key is to make protection of the earth's ecosystem a local problem rather than the entire problem. The first is achievable while allowing civilization a forward vector. The second isn't without either collapse (- billions) or fundamentally changing humanity for the worse.
Wouldn't the wholesale adoption of nuclear power extend the timeline that our system could continue to absorb energy and expel entropy even without space expansion?
Yes, I too fear we are most in danger of the global system losing back pressure and collapsing in on itself. Two steps forward, one hell of a step back!
The genius combo of deploying particles in the upper atmosphere, limiting nitrogen fertilizer usage, imposing widespread energy scarcity, and disrupting global supply/shipping could wind up being more like falling down the whole staircase.
Yes, the swarm’s ennui in this late age is earnestly seeking some new frontier expanse. Meta utilizing VR tech sees potential in providing this “space” for us digitally in the short term.
I must admit I see your article as paralleling Elon Musk’s same optimism to colonize Mars. They both conjure hope in a Genesis 2.0 story, serving as a unifying meta narrative for the 21st century. You know, the sci-fi adaptation where Noah’s distant sons build a space ark to survive a coming prophetic cataclysm and then journey to inhabit a new promised land? Perhaps it will be like GK Chesterton’s story in Orthodoxy of the man who (re)discovered England and bring us all the way back to our beginnings?
Back on solid ground, I remain overwhelmed by the task of even envisioning the supply/build logistics needed for a single space colony at city scale. The first iterations would be quite harsh environments with numerous critical points of failure. Space being a most unforgiving, frozen hell that is constantly trying to kill us (and our integrated circuits) in comparison to life beneath the cozy atmosphere/magnetosphere of Earth.
I remain most immediately concerned by those who admit to varying degrees of their desire to be like “gods” today. Thinking directly of the weird little guy speaking at the WEF lately. Anyway, I genuinely believe we have a much longer timeline than the one that the doomsayers are insisting upon right now.
Can we please delay turning over our critical decisions to the Hal9000? The same goes for the impulsive beta-fiddling with our genetic code and the open-sourcing of bio weapons capabilities?
I do join you in the resolute optimism that humanity can and will break out of our current dissipative system again. It is indeed what separates us from the insects! Enough of us will no doubt figure out how to “network swarm” for good? Ha!
I find myself persuaded superficially, but I have so thoroughly bonded myself to the furtherance of symbiosis, that I am likely to keep it as a primary personal focus. I am clearly integrated with civilization to which I have found no desirable alternative. For over thirty years I have been wrestling with the reality that civilization is headed for collapse. The distress our inability live as people with a place on this earth is a tremendous source of personal distress. I feel like it is almost too good to be true that we can reconcile the limits of a finite planet containing a civilization dependent on growth by growing beyond the limits of the planet. It would be such a relief to focus on being a frugal and conscientious ancestor to future generations by reducing waste, maximizing symbiosis, and also providing a better life for the world that is to come. I don’t think this resolves the declining rate of return to complexity. What could do is increase our access to energy to offset our entropic inefficiencies. I want us to have a future, as sustainable as possible. It’s time to transcend our solar limits, seeking integrity with the earth we hold sacred.
The key is to make protection of the earth's ecosystem a local problem rather than the entire problem. The first is achievable while allowing civilization a forward vector. The second isn't without either collapse (- billions) or fundamentally changing humanity for the worse.
Wouldn't the wholesale adoption of nuclear power extend the timeline that our system could continue to absorb energy and expel entropy even without space expansion?