More Bargaining and Hopium

Trail at Beartree Recreation Area in Virginia

This is a great video except for the part where Peter starts talking about nuclear energy, carbon capture, and other technological hopium. The one true thing about technology use is that it always increases overshoot by reducing or removing negative feedback(s) and increasing energy and resource throughput. So, more technology can ONLY have a negative impact on the future given the extreme overshoot condition we're already in. Peter is an expert in how ocean circulation, ocean anoxia, and hydrogen sulfide work in extinction events and his witness to the ongoing collapse in America AND Australia combined with his knowledge about how people who live near the equator exist bring a wealth of information to the forefront.

I originally featured Peter Ward in my article here back in 2021. Back then, I still had some idealistic thoughts on raising awareness of the predicaments we face and set out to feature a radical diversity of topics similar to the podcasts that Nate Hagens subsequently began to feature. At the time, I hadn't yet quite mastered our lack of agency but was getting closer and closer to not only seeing it but beginning to accept it. 

Why is this important? Well, primarily because there are so many people who are using the wrong hemisphere of their brain to think with. There are millions out there who use reductionist thinking and think that "political solutions" or "sustainable solutions" or "renewable solutions" or "green solutions" will somehow mitigate the predicaments we face. I listened to this interview with Johan Rockström that Nate did and was really depressed by the constant stream of hopium. He believes in technological solutions and sadly demonstrates the incorrect thinking that a large part of society incorporates into their own thinking patterns. Of course, he is in denial that what we face is a predicament with an outcome rather than a problem with a solution. His denial of the facts, however, does not change those facts, and making recommendations that will lead society in the wrong direction is precisely what Nate has repeatedly talked about with other scientists. I'm disappointed that Nate didn't call him out on the spot, although he did brush Johan off about carbon capture technology. 

The fact that so many scientists think uncritically about industry marketing and don't appear to realize that technology cannot solve predicaments leads me to realize just how uncritical most of society is, regardless of what one's day job is. Being that civilization itself is unsustainable so that trying to maintain it is both impossible and accomplishes nothing just adds to the humor of the podcast. Talk of energy transitions or other transitions is also ridiculous. 

I can appreciate the message that Johan brings to the table without embracing his "solutions" which amount to complete garbage. Recently, I have been reading and listening to Tom Murphy's articles and videos regarding modernity and they point out most of Johan's concerns without going into bargaining. This article and video and this article and video are both excellent at pointing all of this out without the constant bargaining crap to go with it. If Tom Murphy can figure this all out and look at the predicaments we face with a critical assessment of where we are, how we got here, and where we're headed, then why are so many other scientists, professors, and people in general out to lunch? Much of the answer has to do with personality types and interest in the subject, or lack thereof. Tom actually had a post which went into detail on this quite some time back which I wrote about myself, including his article in mine. My stumbling onto his article while looking for something else was rather depressing and made me realize that much of what I previously had thought was possible, in actuality, wasn't. I was beginning to see back then that we suffered from a serious lack of agency in all of this and that the control we often think we have is, in fact, an illusion that we have chosen to believe in. 

So, it is with interest that I watched Johan express his anxiety and desperation. His approach sounds reasonable - until one does the research on all the technology he discusses and discovers that none of it can do what he thinks it can. He's simply bargaining to maintain civilization. Much of this type of nonsense will cease to be an issue as society begins understanding that conditions cannot go backwards to a grander, nicer time in history. I can say that a less complex society might be possible where people actually do enjoy it more than what we have today, but the ongoing collapse that surrounds us will keep most from being able to appreciate it for any length of time. I think that things will never be better than they are right now.

Since I think that things will never be better than they are right now and that we are to embark on a nasty slide down the Seneca Cliff, I have focused my overall message on the Live and Love Now ethos. As a result, I am now focusing more time on enjoying what we have today and less time on describing overshoot, how we got here, and where we're headed. While there are definitely things that people can do to mitigate our circumstances somewhat, the idea of "saving the planet" or "reversing climate change" are misguided ideas based on either ignorance or denial of reality. As long as the goal is to continue civilization rather than search for a more sustainable existence (what I think most of society is motivated to do), we will continue sliding down the ecological collapse ramp. Here is my latest TT entry; enjoy!