Show Description/Notes
The most vomit-inducing document of 2023 has to be the “Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” written (oh so obviously) by a billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Join Jason, Rob, and Asher if you feel like sharing in some outrage and learning about a WAY better manifesto that just so happens to focus on the world’s smallest monkeys.
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
References:
Asher became the Executive Director of Post Carbon Institute in October 2008, after having served as the manager of our former Relocalization Network program. He’s worked in the nonprofit sector since 1996 in various capacities. Prior to joining Post Carbon Institute, Asher founded Climate Changers, an organization that inspires people to reduce their impact on the climate by focusing on simple and achievable actions anyone can take.
Related Articles
'SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.ID
FROM wp_posts LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships ON (wp_posts.ID = wp_term_relationships.object_id)
WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.ID NOT IN (3499297) AND (
wp_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (3,5,46432,47210,47212,47214,47441,47503,47544)
) AND wp_posts.post_type = \'post\' AND ((wp_posts.post_status = \'publish\'))
GROUP BY wp_posts.ID
ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC
LIMIT 0, 3'
By Dave Rollo, CASSE
Marinette County could well become a model of sustainability. However, sprawling development may impede its progress as the next iteration of an economic threat to ecosystems.
September 28, 2026
By David Andersson, Pressenza
Unlike previous technological revolutions, AI has the potential to reshape economies, education, science, healthcare, communication, and political decision-making.
September 28, 2026
By Chris Rhodes, Energy Balance
Although rewilding is often thought of as keeping humans “away”, people must be integrated into much of the rewilding process, living alongside and allowing space for wildness.
September 28, 2026
Comments
We changed commenting systems on September 10, 2026 as part of a site-wide functionality and security upgrade. Your past comments have not disappeared, and you can still log in with your old Disqus account credentials if you wish. Contact us with any questions.
Even “Bright Green” Transitionisa’s like myself think the Techno-Optimist manifesto isn’t just revolting in its smug dismissal of any sane environmental policy – but outright ridiculous in its insistence that an unfettered free market industrial system can meet infinite human wants. Reading it made me wince. I mean – what about those of us who actually want to visit something called “Nature” now and then!?
But if this is the Techno-Optimist – where does that leave my tribe? What am I called? (Be polite! Winks.) Why are renewables sceptics so quick to label me a Techno-Optimist, just because I actually agree with the peer-reviewed science about the energy transition? It’s not accurate nor is it fair. So far I’ve heard the vague term “Bright Green”. Also, Transitionisa. But somehow even that strikes me as a bit pretentious – a bit fancy for someone who just accepts that now renewables are so cheap we can Overbuild them across a huge geographic area to reduce storage and meet our energy needs. Basically – where I once thought peak oil meant peak energy, I know see that the energy transition means we can electrify everything and industry have plans for and are even starting to do this. In other words – peak energy is no longer a thing.
But nor does that mean I believe in infinite growth. I’m playing with the term “Demographic Decoupling” but that’s also awkward. Any ideas?
https://eclipsenow.wordpress.com/infinite-growth/
Everybody wants to be a talking head nowadays – well, that’s the modern Internet for you – – – but the researcher himself… that’s another story… The whole business of what “free will” is, or might be is crazy abstract – who wants to even spend the mental energy to think long enough and deeply enough to approach the subject? Of course, it’s possible, even likely, I’m just unintelligent – so, thankfully, he summarizes the literature…
_______________
https://youtu.be/pGJD0P2r8YQ
https://youtu.be/61tChpN3lhY
…and, of course, you can take the hours and hours of classes of his at Stanford…
_______________
https://youtu.be/NNnIGh9g6fA?list=PL848F2368C90DDC3D
Related: I’ve come up against Calvary Chapel recently. I know many more troubling things about humans now; and Sapolsky’s lecture on Religiosity seems extremely helpful to one’s thought.
________________________
I’ve already read–and thoroughly enjoyed–the manifesto. But I wanted to answer the question at the end of the podcast, about whether listeners also feel alone in recognizing the extent of the problems in the transitionista or ecomodernist, much less techno-optimist fantasies.
Feeling alone is my biggest problem, because I live a very low-tech, low-energy and materials lifestyle but it feels like the next step is creating a community, and I don’t feel adequate to even try in the sociopolitical climate I live in (rural WV) or given my lack of people skills. But on the other hand–having a few people who “get it” who I can talk to about these things–yes I do have that. There are two people who live in Ohio and who I communicate with primary on the Net, another about 20 minutes away in my own county,–and then there is my husband, in my own house, with whom I talk about these and other issues (e.g Gaza) every day. This makes a huge different. I wish I could grant every person in the world a lover, a mate, a life partner like mine–what a huge difference it makes, to have one person you can talk to about every little thing, and every big thing, and they care.
“I was able to manifest a manifesto.”
LOL!
I was beginning to fall asleep, but that woke me up with laughter.