dagblog - Comments for "Living on Earth"

Nah. All it would take is

EmmaZahn — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:48:56 +0000

In reply to The video makes the problem

Nah.

All it would take is for Hollywood / Bollywood / Vancouver to get on board and start making movies about the future that are somewhere between Avatar and Terminator. More inspirational and can do than frightening like An Inconvenient Truth. Why are documentaries about the problems so depressing?

The video makes the problem

A Guy Called LULU — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:29:37 +0000

In reply to The thing in the video about

The video makes the problem evident and then offers the idea that everything could work for seven billion people on earth if we just achieve 'balance".

I might bet that seven billion intelligent beings with the smarts to recognize the problems, and the courage to deal with the problems, and who had a nature that allowed them to work as a cooperative team on a planetary scale to solve the problems, could exist on this planet and have a reasonably comfortable life. Unfortunately, human beings show no signs of having that mix of characteristics.

The thing in the video about

EmmaZahn — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:13:00 +0000

In reply to I doubt that the earth can

The thing in the video about 7 billion only taking up the space of LA makes me think the earth could sustain 12 billion --- just not in the style to which we are accustomed :) I don't think that would necessarily mean some sort of Hobbesian dystopia although that is where almost all signs presently point. And that may well be what we deserve if we do not take advantage of the tremendous opportunities to learn about ourselves as humans and from each other that current and evolving technologies offer.

I get discouraged when I think about the lost opportunity of gathering medically-useful biological information from this giant pool of humanity because someone might not be able to make a profit or maintain market share. More discouraged again when I think of the sparks of creativity dampened by intellectual property laws.

I doubt that the earth can

A Guy Called LULU — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:39:21 +0000

In reply to I was shocked a few days ago

I doubt that the earth can sustain six billion people for the long term so if population reaches twelve billion the adjustment downward will be extremely harsh. All kinds of ugly politics will be part of the way things play out. For me, the details would be all guesswork. But scary? Yes.

I was shocked a few days ago

EmmaZahn — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:43:05 +0000

In reply to Living on Earth

I was shocked a few days ago to learn that 82% of the US population now live in metropolitan areas. Bye, bye Jefferson's yeoman farmers.... Hello, megacities' hives.

What are the political implications?

Scary?

Interesting. I have seen

emerson — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:11:06 +0000

In reply to Living on Earth

Interesting. I have seen another version of this clip before. Makes me think of what I can do to reduce the amount of resources I use. I have been working hard on not using as much water. Anyway, thanks for posting this.