Eco Villages support an interesting solution to climate change, a massive scale down of our current lifestyle. Eco Villages take us back to our roots in the land and create smaller scale societies where environmental efficacy is paramount. As Professor Litfin delved into her studies of eco villages I was struck by the still vast differences in the villages consumption… Read more »
A few weeks ago, I brought up the topic of computing and Artificial Intelligence but it seemed somewhat unrelated to the Anthropocene as a whole. After seeing “Journey of the Universe,” I believe I can make the connection now. Brianne Swimme made a point similar to my favorite quotes from Carl Sagan that humans are a manifestation of the universe’s… Read more »
If you have forty minutes to spare, I highly recommend you watch the following video: Elon Musk gives me reason to be hopeful in the Anthropocene. For him, no idea is too big or far-fetched, and I am astounded by his unfettered ambition. He thinks of the future he wants to see, and he brings the minds together to make… Read more »
Suspended in the midst of seemingly desolate stardust, the Earth twinkles with life. Nestled on this phenomenal orb, we human beings are able to experience and grapple with the privilege of existence. Yet somehow, despite having only flourished for an infinitesimal portion of the Earth’s history, we may be initiating the onset of our own demise. How can it be… Read more »
The constant across all cultures is the factor of the human brain—a three-pound, equally introspective and innovative organ that has the capacity to interrogate its own existence. However, the rate of development across the world has been highly dependent on the geographic limitations of the region each society settles in—at it’s most basic, the growth of the polis is a… Read more »
Director Josh Fox’ film, How to Let Go of the World and Love All The Things Climate Can’t Change, is truly eye-opening. The part filmed in Beijing was most horrifying to me. Fox says when he first arrived in Beijing, he thought it was foggy, but in fact he was seeing pollutants suspended in the air. This pollution kills millions… Read more »
Rifkin, in his piece Empathic Civilization, dissects what has been seen as a fundamental dichotomy of the interpretation of the direction of humanity in regards to its social and ecological implications. Rifkin asserts that the laws of thermodynamics apply not only to the base elements composing our Earth- that individual elements and units of energy cannot be created nor destroyed,… Read more »
In an era of global citizenship, our president is putting “America First”. This simple slogan would be harmless if our actions did not have consequences that the rest of the world must bear. In reality, the United States is the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide. We are such a great contributor to the underlying causes of climate change that we… Read more »
While reading the assigned parts of Jeremy Rifkin’s Emphatic Civilization, I was struck by how his idea of humanity’s use of a “theatrical self” is applicable to the divide within America’s stance on climate change. Rifkin describes the theatrical self as a set of skills each person uses to adapt to a social situation. Each of us also possess a… Read more »
Reflecting back on my past conceptions of science, I cannot help but be overcome by a strong sense of guilt. Through my various science courses, I often championed the discipline as one that I could rely on solely because of its inherent objectivity. Science gave me truth, observable phenomena, and concrete answers. Reflecting back on my past conceptions of nature,… Read more »