The Illusion of Control
Dale Hollow Reservoir, Tennessee
Posts
Psychological Mechanisms to Deny Reality and Employ Optimism Bias
Backbone Rock in northern Tennessee
Qualities of Predicaments To Keep In Mind
Fog on the reservoir at R.B. Winter State Park in Pennsylvania
What's a Hyperobject and Why Can't We Control Them?
Playhouse (for the landowners' grandchildren) in Jonesboro, Illinois Four of my articles over the past couple of years are part of a four-part series titled, " So, What Should We Do? " The first three articles were written, one after the other, back in 2021 after I discovered our lack of free will which condemns us to make choices based upon our biological (see the Maximum Power Principle ) and cultural conditioning (see this article ). This led me to realize that we truly lack agency to be able to control hyperobjects such as nature, climate change, ecological overshoot , the biosphere, etc. Not only is the predicament of overshoot too difficult for most people to grasp, many people unfortunately place it in the category of problems (with answers or solutions) rather than predicaments (with outcomes). Attempting to reduce issues seen as problems tends to turn those issues into bigger problems and/or predicaments. Often this is due to those working on these issues ...
So, What Should We Do? Part Two
"Civilization is the child of the Neolithic Revolution, of the widespread adoption of agriculture as a mode of production, and agriculture necessarily causes leaching and loss of topsoil, as well as many other environmental consequences, including climate change. Nor does any city live by bread alone. It needs water, so it must build dams and aqueducts. It needs wood for fuel and timber, so it must chop down forests. It needs metal for coins, swords, and ploughshares, so it must dig mines. It needs stone to erect palaces, courts, temples, and walls, so it must quarry away mountains. And it must build roads and ports needed to transport all the necessities of urban life. In short, a city lives by both consuming and damaging a wide array of ecological resources." ~ William Ophuls - Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail See more here. "The illusion of control or agency and the attachment to it creates much suffering." ...
The Grand Illusion
Whiteface Mountain Special note: In reality, this series could have been titled, " So, what can be done? " to eliminate the "we" issue and the judgment issue ("should"). This is Part 3 of So, What Should We Do? One of the things that is so pervasive in today's society is the constant flow of hype, advertising, marketing, and propaganda, and many people fail to see through it. Steve Bull came out with this article explaining the same scenario. They are led to believe that everything is a problem and that technology or some product produced from technology can solve it all. The truth is that technology and its use is actually the root source of these issues; and they are predicaments, not problems. Furthermore, more or new technology can do nothing but cause yet more damage. Technology is what supports civilization, as I pointed out in my last article (see the top picture) . Agriculture is technology . Since civilization is unsustainable , we ca...
Anthropocentric Narratives and Bargaining
The walkway down to Otsego Lake at Fairy Springs Park outside of Cooperstown, New York
Are We Running Out of Road? Part Two
The rocky route up to the top of Whiteface Mountain in New York
A Plea to Scientists, Teachers, Influencers, and Politicians Everywhere
Clover Hollow Covered Bridge, Virginia
