Problems, Predicaments, and Technology

  Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Morehead City, North Carolina I have a list of posts coming which I am working on finishing, but I decided to insert one post dedicated to something I find highly frustrating and add some enlightening information about these topics, centered once again around so-called "solutions" which often don't really add up. So many people and organizations are offering educational "journeys" (also known as "manifestation mindsets" in some circles) into many different themes and in different ways in an effort to help people who are suffering with the grief, confusion, anxiety, or other troubles caused by the predicaments we face. While I applaud such efforts, the one thing that is annoying is how little attention is paid to "free" information, such as the information I provide here. How hard can it be for folks to give helpful advice without demanding money or payment of some sort (click the "like" button and s

    First picture: The massive slag pile at the former Anaconda Copper Company Smelter Second picture: The slag pile behind the old guard shack at the smelter entrance More info about this company Man-made disasters abound almost everywhere, but most of us cannot "see" them because we are "blind" to this destruction. Without a sense of reality regarding ecological overshoot, many people turn a blind eye to the destruction taking place daily in cities and towns (and plenty of rural or remote places as well) throughout the world. Joni Mitchell's famous song Big Yellow Taxi comes to mind. But seriously, how often does one happen to be driving somewhere and see what once were fields and forests being leveled for some new housing addition or shopping center or roads or other infrastructure?  It's also interesting as I began thinking about writing this article what disasters in particular came to mind. There are literally countless small towns which were once inh

  Bell Smith Springs Recreational Area

  Trail at Bell Smith Springs in Southern Illinois

  Inspiration Point is at the top of this cliff in southern Illinois

People enjoying the swimming hole at Bell Smith Springs Recreational Area

  Trail at Bell Smith Springs in Southern Illinois

C.R. "Doodle" White Overlook, Hampton, Tennessee

Martin Marietta Park, New Bern, North Carolina

Recently, I have received several really awesome comments recently across the different media platforms I use, the subject of one of which is the topic for this article. However, I also wish to thank my readers for the encouragement you give for me to continue writing. That in and of itself is what actually keeps me going. Knowing that I am not wasting my time writing these articles and that others enjoy my musings keeps me active and researching.  I also appreciate the opportunity to (try) to explain the science as I understand it. My understanding is constantly being reshaped and clarified by the science as new science becomes available. Part of the reason I tend to focus on psychology is because of how my own beliefs have changed over the past decade or two. Much of how society operates is based upon our psychology and how our behaviors affect the interactions between ourselves and the rest of the planet. Here is a rather poignant quote in this instance, from Albert Einstein: "

  Lake Murphysboro State Park, Illinois

  A Wish For You by Neil Gaiman I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whate

Once upon a time in a faraway land lived a man who published the darkest truths about the happy clappy narratives that so many people appear to want to hear. OK, that is just sarcasm, but who can blame them honestly? Actually, I used to enjoy hearing stories about how mankind is providing all kinds of solutions to the problems which befuddle us. Of course, this was before I realized that technology is an evolutionary cul-de-sac - a big, fat dead-end .  Since then, I have embarked on a journey of sorts, to discover why so many people drink the Kool-Aid  provided by industry and those who promote it. Partly a phenomenon of denial of reality and optimism bias , most people simply cannot handle the truth. That truth is contained in a quote from William Catton Jr.'s book Overshoot : " Homo sapiens has exploited too much. Human "success" entailed enclosure of an unprecedentedly large fraction of the total environment within the expanding boundaries of proliferating man-t