What I have in mind is accepting reality. We live on a finite planet. The only sustainable source of energy is our Sun. We are burning through the ancient fossilized biomass created by solar energy - oil and coal. Once that is gone, we will be left with the same sources of energy our ancestors had, mostly biomass and animal power.
Nuclear, photovoltaics, wind, hydropower and all the rest are only possible because we have diesel and coal to mine the minerals and make the steel and other materials to construct these alternative energy devices. When you start looking at EROI - Energy Returned on Energy Invested - you see how limited we are.
I am hopeful that in 100 years from now, we may be able to have the best of the 19th century technology with some enhancements from electricity where it can still be provided through micro-grids running on renewable biomass, with some solar PV and wind. Maybe the thorium reactors will work out, but they won't be widespread. I don't expect the Internet to be around. Radio could be though.
We would be in a lot better shape now if we had listened to those who urged us to conserve and consume less, but thanks to the greedy and the technocrats, we have created a culture of more, more, more. I suppose the tech-singularity people think that we have to have this massive energy blowout to support the technology development they want to achieve their ends. Like Evel Knievel they have poured on the gas to try to jump the Grand Canyon. They will fail and techno society will lie in a heap at the bottom, while the rest of us figure out how to move on.
Personally, I look to indigenous ways and groups like the Amish for guidance. We will need a lot more horses! Dr. Malone, take note!
The good news is that religion will thrive in this environment and humanity will not be oppressed by the technocrats. I appreciate this discussion and the meta-religion idea, not because I think it is right, but because religious discussion and inquiry will help many of us who are disconnected to come back to a more spiritual life.
I'm a fan of Spiral Dynamics, in that I see the progression of humanity as an upward spiral. We don't move upward in a straight line, we dip "backward" to include what works. We can learn from the Amish, indeed. All that said, we're in extremely perilous times and we may need miracles to have healthy progression.
What do you have in mind?
What I have in mind is accepting reality. We live on a finite planet. The only sustainable source of energy is our Sun. We are burning through the ancient fossilized biomass created by solar energy - oil and coal. Once that is gone, we will be left with the same sources of energy our ancestors had, mostly biomass and animal power.
Nuclear, photovoltaics, wind, hydropower and all the rest are only possible because we have diesel and coal to mine the minerals and make the steel and other materials to construct these alternative energy devices. When you start looking at EROI - Energy Returned on Energy Invested - you see how limited we are.
I am hopeful that in 100 years from now, we may be able to have the best of the 19th century technology with some enhancements from electricity where it can still be provided through micro-grids running on renewable biomass, with some solar PV and wind. Maybe the thorium reactors will work out, but they won't be widespread. I don't expect the Internet to be around. Radio could be though.
We would be in a lot better shape now if we had listened to those who urged us to conserve and consume less, but thanks to the greedy and the technocrats, we have created a culture of more, more, more. I suppose the tech-singularity people think that we have to have this massive energy blowout to support the technology development they want to achieve their ends. Like Evel Knievel they have poured on the gas to try to jump the Grand Canyon. They will fail and techno society will lie in a heap at the bottom, while the rest of us figure out how to move on.
Personally, I look to indigenous ways and groups like the Amish for guidance. We will need a lot more horses! Dr. Malone, take note!
The good news is that religion will thrive in this environment and humanity will not be oppressed by the technocrats. I appreciate this discussion and the meta-religion idea, not because I think it is right, but because religious discussion and inquiry will help many of us who are disconnected to come back to a more spiritual life.
I'm a fan of Spiral Dynamics, in that I see the progression of humanity as an upward spiral. We don't move upward in a straight line, we dip "backward" to include what works. We can learn from the Amish, indeed. All that said, we're in extremely perilous times and we may need miracles to have healthy progression.