New Technology = New Stress

I talk a lot on technology in my Environmental Ethics class. Why? Because the human relationship with technology has a lot of bearing on the natural world. And I mean all technology--from a rock chip to nanotechnology to the technological singularity.

At any rate, I think about technology a lot. And I use it a lot. And I'm concerned about what I'm seeing.

A news report this morning addressed precautions people should take to protect their smartphones and the data stored on them. Several of the people expressed their angst at losing it or having it stolen. One person said that "If I lost my phone, my life would be over." And he was stone-faced serious.

While smartphone technology is amazing and useful, think of the extra layer of stress it and other mobile devices have added to our lives. I stress enough over my old, cheap cell phone. I also stress over losing my cracked flashdrive, my old laptop and the list goes on. As we've become more wired (or wireless) and integrated, our genetic "fight or flight" reactions have found new outlets.

I agree with Edward O. Wilson and a number of others in that though we have become very technologically advanced as a species, our brains are still wired pretty much the same as they were when we were hunter-gathers. Instead of "Oh, crap! A lion!," now it's "Oh, crap, I can't find my phone!" Or someone has hacked by Facebook account, my bank account--the list goes on. The bad thing for our bodies is that the stress response, which increases your heart rate, muscle tension and releases cortisol into your bloodstream, is good for running away from a lion, but not so good for your when you are frantically looking in the couch cushions at Starbucks for you new smartphone when you've got a webinar to conduct in 5 minutes.

I'm not a Luddite by any means. Humans are a technological species, and technology in and of itself is morally exempt (at least for now). As a matter of fact, it's my hypothesis that it can be viewed as a force of nature in its own right. But I think we need to live as "intentional species." We are not morally exempt. We need to make conscious choices as to how we utilize technology and not forget our connections to the carbon-based world. I'm finding myself increasingly a student of Kevin Kelly. I think we can all learn a lot from this quote--I know I have.

Kevin makes some great insights into the role of technology in our lives, its role in nature and how it can hopefully lead to a better future for all life in this great talk on TED. It's worth a watch. Isn't technology great?

Kevin Kelly quote and image is from a Lifehacker  article by the same name (and it is excellent).

Just because you told me not to...rebelling against environmental ethics

Insightful post from Treehugger by Sami Grover, from Carborro, NC.

What worries me more, however, is the deliberate attempts by vested interests to frame the environmental debate in terms of freedom versus responsibility, or authoritarianism versus liberty.

The Anthropocene: A New Earth Epoch?

National Geographic has a good piece on the concept of the "Anthropocene," the idea that human influence has pushed the earth from the Holocene period into a new epoch marked by modification of the planet through the by-products of our technology.

Here's is a quote from part of it:


The word "Anthropocene" was coined by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen about a decade ago. One day Crutzen, who shared a Nobel Prize for discovering the effects of ozone-depleting compounds, was sitting at a scientific conference. The conference chairman kept referring to the Holocene, the epoch that began at the end of the last ice age, 11,500 years ago, and that—officially, at least—continues to this day.

"'Let's stop it,'" Crutzen recalls blurting out. "'We are no longer in the Holocene. We are in the Anthropocene.'

An example of "religious cornucopianism"?

Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) is pushing for more new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota, but the Shakopee Republican is undeterred by reports about the effects of carbon-emitting energy production on global warming. His reason: He believes God will prevent the planet from running out of fossil fuels while also eliminating the harms associated with climate change.

Read more here...

Can the party of Reagan accept the science of climate change?

Here is a thoughtful piece by Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican who represented New York's 24th District in Congress from 1983 to 2007. Boehlert notes: I can understand arguments over proposed policy approaches to climate change. I served in Congress for 24 years. I know these are legitimate areas for debate. What I find incomprehensible is the dogged determination by some to discredit distinguished scientists and their findings.

Worth a read for sure.

These guys put the "extreme" in "extremophile"

Whoa. Oregon state researchers have discovered a bacterial ecosystem in the Earth's deepest crust layer. And they think there may be some deeper still. Organisms, like these, that live in extreme environments once thought to be devoid of life are called "extremophiles."

Life is found in the deepest layer of the Earth's crust (New Scientist)

Image from Geological Survey of Ireland. "Imagine a Scotch egg...

Is any part of Earth untouched by humans?

Last week we discussed the idea (brought up by Wilson in Future of Life) that it could be argued that no place on Earth (at least the surface) is now truly "wilderness" or untouched by humans. In other words, it could be argued that the planet is now a human artifact and no longer natural.

This recent Economist article is reminiscent of that:

Time to call the sweep?

Soot gets everywhere. Even into the world’s highest mountains

THE Himalayas and the adjacent Tibetan plateau are sometimes referred to as the Earth’s third pole, because of the amount of ice they host. They are also known as Asia’s water tower. Their glaciers feed the continent’s largest rivers—and those, in turn, sustain some 1.5 billion people. Many studies suggest, though, that the Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking over the past few decades. This has usually been attributed to rising air temperatures, but climate researchers have now come to realise that tiny airborne particles of soot and dust are also to blame. Being dark, they absorb sunlight. And that warms their surroundings...

photo and text from Economist Article

How to Wreck a Planet in 3,000 Years

This is an interesting, though bit depressing, series they are doing on the IO9 blog that shows how much impact humans are having on the planet. Even though the planet is tough and will probably be here a long, long time, these images show that we as a species can do a lot of damage in the mean time:

Terraforming Earth, Pt. 1: How to Wreck a Planet in 3,000 Years

Terraforming Earth, Pt. 2: The Law of Unintended Consequences

Terraforming Earth, Pt. 3: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Good Perspective on the Role of Technology in Human Life

Kevin Kelly (co-founder of Wired Magazine) has a great take on technology and its role in human society. It's reminicent of Susan Blackmore's ideas on technological memes, or "temes" from an earlier post. I think we are in trouble when our technology moves beyond its role as a tool and we allow it to manipulate us. Note especially his nine bullet points mentioned in his short NYT article, Achieving Techno-Literacy.

Image from Lifehacker.

Competitive Enterprise Institute's Take on "World Car-Free Day"

A good example of a "free market environmentalist" or market utilitarian viewpoint. E.O. Wilson calls it a "cornucopian economist" view.

Protest World Car-Free Day -- Take a Drive!

There's a Tragedy of the Commons in North Raleigh!

Well, assuming you consider an aquifer a commons, and I don't see why it wouldn't be. What a mess.

North Raleigh Residents Left High and Dry

Russians Talking Tough on need for more Environmental Education, Ecotourism and Conservation

Interesting article from Russia Now. Recent heatwaves have seemed to have pushed Russian leaders into serious conversations about the importance of ecological goods and services to the Russian economy and people. photo from RT Story

Russia's Brutal Summer Inspires Green Awakening

Finance Site Lists 10 Most Expensive Invasive Species

...and NCSU environmental ethics instructor is pleased with the juicy possibilities of discussion and critique. (Hmmm...examining this article would make a great case study.)

10 Invasive Species That Cost the U.S. a Bundle (DailyFinance)

Huh?

Seems there's this well known guy that loves the outdoors and mountain biking, is a big advocate of windpower, has stated that we are a nation that is addicted to oil, thinks plug-in hybrid vehicles are the wave of the future, and owns a home with a geothermal heat and air system, rainwater cisterns and many other sustainable features. His name is George W. Bush.

Colbert on Peek-A-Boo-ology and Recent Snowstorms

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
We're Off to See the Blizzard
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Skate Expectations

There are '6 Americas' when it comes to global warming

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies has produced a facinating report called "Global Warming's Six Americas." The study offers that the U.S. has six basic types of viewpoints on climate change. I can see parallels to this with general beliefs on the environment.

MNN has a nice synopis of the study. And Yale has a good video with the study's principal,Dr. Anthony Lieserowitz.

RepRap, Answer to Future Problems or End of Humanity?

When a student emailed me this (thanks Brad), at first I thought it was some kind of internet hoax, but it is not. There are efforts to create a device which can self-replicate itself. It could have great possiblities, such as emailing specs to remote locations, and equipment could be assembled on site. However, there are some obvious fears that it could be a step towards a rather unhappy technological singularity. This article in SEED addresses this.

The unveiling of a 3-D printer that was built to build itself is hailed as a step toward "Darwinian Marxism."

Let There Be (Incandescent) Light

David Henderson, who teaches Environmental Ethics at Western Carolina, has an interesting take on government programs that mandate energy efficiency, namely, bans on incandescent bulbs.

"Congress should regulate matters that require the force of law, such as banning mountaintop removal in coal mining and new coal-burning power plants. Leave people to change their own light bulbs. "

The whole piece is in the Washington Post.

image by thomasbrightbill

ENVIRONMENTALISM IS RECYCLED COMMUNISM AND NAZISM

Ouch.

Objectivist George Reisman's view of environmentalism:

"Environmentalism: The pursuit of individual self-interest causes global warming, acid rain, and ozone depletion. It must be replaced by self-sacrifice for the good of other species—our "fellow biota"—and for the good of the planet, under the auspices of international treaties and a nascent Global Socialist State: the UN. Most of the human race must be exterminated for the benefit of exploited species and the planet. "

Check out the whole blog post to get the full context.

Can we push the Earth too far?

Gaia Hypothesis (at least in my interpretation) seems to imply that the Earth is a resilient system and will maintain its homeostasis --though life might be uncomfortable for humans in the mean time, the planet will go on.

However, a recent article in Nature makes one think.

Earth is outside of Safe Operating Space.

"We are on the verge of pushing nature into a state of instability like nothing humanity has seen before, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

The study, which attempted for the first time to come up with real numbers for a set of conditions beyond which Earth may not be able to recover, found that we may have already crossed several tipping points."

Image from NASA Visible Earth