Problems, Predicaments, and Technology

Rough Ridge Trail in North Carolina I am currently on a trip as I start this article and enjoying the cool weather. It has been unseasonably cool for this time of year but I can't complain because I'd rather have the cool weather over the other extreme of too warm, which is increasingly looking likely for the remainder of this year.  The first part of this trip is taking in the Blue Ridge Parkway, although it is still not fully open yet. Worse still, most of the attractions along the route are also not open. Something unusual that I have never witnessed before; all the picnic grounds/areas that we have passed so far are closed off. The only ones open were located near the start of the parkway in Virginia. I don't know if this is because of government shutdowns, the elimination of so many park jobs, or what the issue is. I'm used to various attractions like restaurants and campgrounds being closed for the winter, but in previous years, picnic areas were open even when it...

  Linn Cove Viaduct, Blue Ridge Parkway, as seen from above the Rough Ridge Lookout on the Tanawha Trail

  People enjoying the Rough Ridge Lookout at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina

  Beacon Heights Overlook, North Carolina

  Beacon Heights Overlook, North Carolina

  Beacon Heights Overlook Trail in North Carolina

  Picnic Pavilion near Balsam, North Carolina

  Picnic Area at Lake Powhatan, North Carolina

  Fog on the reservoir at R.B. Winter State Park in Pennsylvania

  Middle Fork Falls, Joyner, Tennessee

  Port Kent Beach, New York

  Ausable Chasm, New York

  Montgomery St. Waterfront Park, Rouses Point, New York

  Whiteface Mountain, New York

  At the top of Whiteface Mountain in New York

  Looking down the trail at Whiteface Mountain, New York

  It is with quite regular cadence that Steve publishes what are spectacular refutations to the constant stream of so-called "solutions" to the "problems" that society is suffering from. Unfortunately, if one actually does any real research, one will discover that none of these "problems" are being "solved" - they are all getting worse instead. Why is this?   One of the primary issues here is that none of the reductionist ideas proposed to "solve" said "problems" work holistically, meaning that only one or two qualities of each issue that is actually comprised of a multitude of parameters are targeted, leaving the rest of them untouched. Practically all of these "problems" are actually made worse through these so-called solutions, as Steve points out, through ecological destruction caused by the extraction of energy and resources in order to procure what is needed to build these "solutions."   Needless to s...

  People enjoying the fantastic view atop Whiteface Mountain in New York

  Lexie enjoying the view from Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks of New York

  Lexie was one of several dogs climbing to the top of Whiteface Mountain with us