Category: (Certified 100% Denial-Free™)

By Gail Zawacki: Perspective and Inspiration by Albert Camus

A video on the philosopher Albert Camus found and introduced by Gail Zawacki that provides some excellent perspective and inspiration.

“I find solace in learning more about Camus because for me his ideas ring true not only to what is known in the sciences – from evolution to geology and climate – but his conjectures also fit perfectly with all I have personally learned in my sixty years revolving around the sun.

His observations – such that humans are “irredeemably corrupt and violent” – still leave room for great joy and love, even within the spectre of inevitable death, and the meaningless indifference of the universe to our demise.  His work firmly places puny human concerns into context of the fanatic demands of organized religions (both ancient and modern), and even, more recently, desperate woowoo dogma, with the same craven desires for spirit, divinity, soul and consciousness.  As the narrater in the video says, “Once you properly realize that life is absurd you’re on the verge of despair perhaps…but also compelled to live life more intensely”.”

http://witsendnj.blogspot.ca/2015/05/he-refuses-to-lie.html

By Gail Zawacki: The Silent War on Trees

Here is an excellent musical meditation on the impact of ozone on trees by Gail Zawacki.

“Ozone is invisible but highly toxic air pollution. As the background level increases, trees that absorb it are poisoned and become more susceptible to insects, disease and fungus. Epidemic attacks are causing forests to decline around the world. More info at WarOnTrees.blogspot.com”

“I am old enough to remember learning about plate tectonics in college, when students were still cautioned that it was a controversial proposition.  I was incredulous that something so brilliantly, obviously true could still be considered unproven.  However, there have been many theories that were treated as heretical when first unveiled – gravity, evolution, the origin of ulcers, and the dangers of tobacco smoking all come to mind.  It is my hope that someday soon, the notion – that spewing poisons known to be toxic to vegetation into the atmosphere at ever increasing rates must and has achieved a threshold that is intolerable to trees – will become crystal clear as well.  It is in that spirit that I made the film.  Please follow the links, and leave any questions in the comments, or email me at witsendnj@yahoo.com.”

By Steve Keen: Production, Entropy and Monetary Macroeconomics (economy and thermodynamics)

Here is Steve Keen, the world’s best economist, linking the economy with thermodynamics.

98% of the economists in the world are too stupid to understand this stuff.

As a consequence all of the economic models that our world leaders use to make decisions ignore the most important variables: energy, waste, and debt.

And we blindly race towards the cliff…

By Gail Zawacki: A Fine Frenzy (trees and ozone)

I just finished reading this superb essay by Gail Zawacki.

Ground level ozone, and its impact on trees, may be the most important ecological problem no one has heard of, myself included. It is particularly worrisome because planting trees, in addition to shrinking our lifestyles, may be the only effective means of making climate change less bad.

http://witsendnj.blogspot.ca/2014/07/a-fine-frenzy-universal-dance-of.html

Gail has also written a book on the demise of trees that you can download for free here:

http://witsendnj.blogspot.ca/p/pillage-plunder-pollute-llc.html

 

By Dave Cohen: Adventures in Flatland

This three part series titled “Adventures in Flatland” by Dave Cohen is a must read for anyone seeking to understand our predicament.

http://www.declineoftheempire.com/…/adventures-in-flatland.…

http://www.declineoftheempire.com/…/adventures-in-flatland-…

http://www.declineoftheempire.com/…/adventures-in-flatland-…

By Tim Garrett: Thermodynamics of the Economy (interviews and papers)

Tim Garrett

Tim Garrett is the most important and least recognized physicist on the planet because he discovered a theory that explains and quantifies the relationship between wealth and energy consumption.

Here is Garrett’s home page with links to his papers:

http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~tgarrett/Economics/Economics.html

Here is a wikipedia page that explains his theory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_relation

Here is a new interview with Tim Garrett:

http://www.ecoshock.org/2015/05/fires-raise-chernobyl-radiation-again.html

I’ve listened to Garrett’s previous interviews many times and never tire of them because there are so many difficult and important concepts to absorb.

http://www.ecoshock.org/2014/07/the-big-picture-like-it-or-not.html

http://www.ecoshock.org/2010/11/atmosphere-of-crisis.html

https://archive.org/details/IsClimateChangeUnstoppable

Here is a list of Garrett’s work compiled by Frank White:

https://citizenactionmonitor.wordpress.com/civilization-economic-collapse-links-to-all-posts-by-or-about-dr-tim-garretts-research/

Here is an August 2020 paper co-authored with Steve Keen:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237672

By Dana Meadows: On Sustainable Systems

I recently re-watched this old lecture by Donella (Dana) Meadows. It is really good.

The date of the lecture is uncertain but I suspect about 2000 since she passed away in 2001.

We need more system thinkers like Dana Meadows.

Part 1 of 4

Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4