Ditching Dualism #6: Maybe Monism?
The idea that we are stardust, and made of the same stuff that all the plants, animals, and Earth itself contain is a very unifying truth. Everybody plays by the same rules.
Behavioral Thermodynamics Part 1: Beyond the 4th Law?
In this week’s Frankly, Nate takes thermodynamics out of the physics classroom, utilizing its principles to explain the invisible forces behind growth, competition, and complexity in our world.
Managing Water Differently: Algeria Facing Hydrological Extremes
What if, in Algeria, water were no longer seen solely as a scarce resource to exploit or a threat to control, but as an ecological and economic capital to preserve and develop?
The tyranny of beer
Even among those that seem to agree that this growth-addicted system is doomed to fail and collapse, there seems to be quite different perspectives on how fast that will happen. Equally important is of course how deep the collapse will be and what will collapse.
The end of 2025 must be the end of the inane rule of climate ‘optimism’
We should admit that widely-mandated climate optimism has been actively harmful to the needful acknowledgement of reality – and to the active collective self-protection that we now desperately need to get serious about making happen.
Ditching Dualism #5: Revolutions
Let us humbly receive the minimal (experimentally validated) foundation that can plausibly account for everything we experience, even if we can’t ourselves connect all the dots. Trust the universe, not our brains.
Mutual aid in motion: One participant’s story
Mutual Aid 101 taught me that success is not marked by a group’s size, nor its productivity; those are the vestiges of capitalism. It’s about community, collective decision-making, and taking care of each other, no matter how small the circle.
Winter Solstice 2025
I have seen many people, usually those under the influence of a belief in modern exceptionalism, claim that our ancestors were frightened of this time of darkness, that sacrifices were offered to sky gods so that the sun would rise again after the longest night of the year. To that I say: Nonsense!
The Future of Humanity’s Past: U.S. Archaeology Confronts a Research Hinge Point
Archaeology’s singular contribution to understanding people and their interactions with each other and the natural environment has always been its worldwide documentation of past lifeways over long time spans.
The challenge of food ecomodernism: a puzzle outlined
Ah well, the urgency of staving off as best I can the disaster capitalism that Philip Loring mentions keeps me going, even if it feels like a dispiriting and unequal battle sometimes. Cheers!
Humanity’s Six Foundational Technologies
Consider the staggering impact that the invention of cordage and textiles has had on human development. Hank Green has added them to his list of the ‘foundational’ technologies of our species. (Plus a note on the use of AI.)
The fusion future that may never arrive
Fusion is periodically touted as the next big thing in energy. Even if it proves commercially feasible someday, that day is far off.
