Jared Diamond writes in his book The World until Yesterday about how indigenous peoples lived for most of human existence in tribal societies. He doesn’t paint a utopia, yet explains why the tribal system worked overall. Relatively recently in human history we moved from hunter-gatherer tribal systems into farming communities Read more…
It is estimated that 90% of people intensely dislike the working week, which is a product of efficiency for the industrial revolution and machine system of living. So, 10% of people have a living that is ideal for them. They could work 15 hours a day and still love what Read more…
If we are to move towards a sustainable world, we most certainly will have to find ways to live more harmoniously with each other. We will not have to become saints to live together, but we will have to find respect for all our differences, and compassion will have to Read more…
Time to talk a little about spirituality and its place in a sustainable world. Let me be clear at the outset in this post, spirituality is NOT the same as religiosity. While spirituality has been generally associated with religions, it is erroneous to connect them directly. I have met many Read more…
Business, just like money, is a tool that can be helpful or otherwise. The reason it holds so much power over us is because it gives us luxuries and comforts that most of us find desirable. The level to which these desires have become addictive, however, is a product of Read more…
As an older person, I have seen technology come from the analog radio, television, and corded land-line telephone to the digital wonders we have today. One of the most intriguing for me is the loss of printed word to the internet revolution. We now all have at our fingertips nearly Read more…
I have just returned from Ouray, Colorado, as spectacular a mountain setting as can be found in many places around the world. The men of European descent who first came here in the late 1800s didn’t come to appreciate the mountains. To them the mountains were just a resource to Read more…
So how is the business world moving forward with all of this sustainability stuff. To read the mainstream news and publications would suggest it is well on its way. The reality? The main driving force seems to be the business worlds perception of how the customers view sustainability. It is Read more…
I’m busy ice-climbing this week enjoying the beauty of the mountains of Colorado! More regular posts once I get back from playing. I live comfortably in a house much to big for my needs, although it is one of the more modest ones in my neighborhood subject to Home Owners Read more…
At this point I may have some divergence from many of my colleagues on what constitutes education for a sustainable world. We train teachers to set up specific curricula with specific goals and objectives – lesson plans. While I don’t disagree with this, I did it myself for many years, Read more…
Is there a model system we can explore that can show us how a Steady State System works successfully over long periods of time? Yes, and it is called the Natural world. The currency of this system is energy and it can show us a lot about how economies ought Read more…
Some Left brain stuff today. The late Professor Al Bartlett at University of Colorado-Boulder spent many years doing public talks about the concept of growth and sustainability in connection with modern economic business thinking and planning. A lot hinges on the terms growth and sustainability. Is there such a thing Read more…
In the late 1970s I recall watching a BBC science show that showed at least four main different hydrogen fuel options. The researchers were all from the big engineering universities like MIT, CALTECH, and Oxford, so we’re not talking garage inventors. The different options were clearly discussed and demonstrated on Read more…
“Remember, everything is right until it’s wrong. You’ll know when it’s wrong” Ernest Hemingway. In the film ‘The Matrix’ The hero Neo takes the red pill and awakens from his illusion of the consumer lifestyle to find himself in a dystopian ruined world run by artificial intelligence. He is the Read more…
“People will listen when they’re ready to listen and not before. Don’t waste time with people who want to argue. They’ll keep you immobilized forever. Look for people who are already open to something new.” Daniel Quinn. What we experience is our perception. What we perceive is our experience. We Read more…
I have briefly stated it in previous posts, and I have a whole chapter in my SL text about Happiness. In economic posts I mention that what we really value and want is not what we measure. In a class I had a colleague snigger when I told the class Read more…
I don’t pretend to be a top philosopher, but I listen (and read articles and blogs) to people who claim to be skeptics, but then I look at what they are really saying. What most are saying is that they do not believe something that contradicts what they believe – Read more…
As I have been trying to emphasize, healthy food makes healthy humans. Michael Pollan says that when you walk into a modern store, you should avoid the center isles that carry all the processed and dangerous crap (I use that C-word purposefully) and head to the fringes of the store Read more…
As an introduction to what we can do to ensure clean and healthy food (in next post), I would like to ask a simple question: How long does it take for a food crisis to occur? While I have had colleagues argue this with me, I say 3-4 days! My Read more…
I saw a great quote yesterday – “The elite create myths in order to debunk myths they don’t like” – could have been something straight out of writer Eco Umberto’s ‘Foucaults Pendulum.’ An anecdote I have seen attributed to several people is, “When did putting poisons on our food seems Read more…
Before we begin, a personal email from a friend (would be great if readers could leave comments on the blog for all to see), says that I am beginning to sound a lot like a conspiracy theorist. Interesting. Remember that old humor maxim, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they Read more…
Obviously before modern medicine, people were still dying in droves of relatively minor things like infections and undefined ailments. The point I am making is that medicine and pharmaceutics insist that there is only ONE WAY to treat medical problems. While on the edges of the field many highly qualified Read more…
I wasn’t able to deal with healthcare as much in my SL text, so now seems a good time. We ALL want to be healthy, and with our modern medicine you would think that we should have no health issues of consequence, especially when compared to previous times in human Read more…
At age 16, when I questioned an ordained cleric on religious doctrines I was told that I should simply accept the beliefs without question. But I could not reconcile what they expected me to believe from the Bible with what I was actually reading. That began a lifelong review of Read more…
Knowledge is a process, not an answer. When you know HOW to think, you are empowered beyond those who only know WHAT to think (Neil DeGrasse Tyson). A mind that takes in every scrap of garbage tossed at it is like an open mouth takes in flies, mosquitoes, and other Read more…
Apparently to leave a comment you first need to register your name and email – this prevents much spam and bots accessing the site. If I could do a Vulcan mind-meld and drop all the information into your minds, I could get on with more discussion of things that need Read more…
John commented: “SL is a very difficult but essential challenge and means lots of different things to folk and organisations. It is amazing how many corporates use the word ‘sustainable’ in their mission statements and this often forms part of their marketing message without any substance. Then there is sustainable Read more…
Let’s begin today’s blog with some definitions to make a long, complicated story simple. WEALTH – a large amount of something good Cambridge Dictionary ‘Wealth’ comes from the old English ‘weal’, which means ‘wealth, welfare, and wellbeing’. Weal is in turn related from common word roots to the older word Read more…
Bill gives a great comment to start. My SL definition doesn’t give an answer to how to get there. True – it’s more of a vision statement. One huge assumption of my definition is that we will actually choose this kind of future. And why might we do that? As Read more…
As my first blog post, I will present my simple definition of sustainability as: Living within the limits of nature’s ecosystem services. And to live together in communities that are equitable, regenerative, resilient and adaptive. That opens up a lot of questions before we start and I intend to get there as the Read more…