Reflections on the Life of James Lovelock
In this essay, I offer seven vignettes of how my life has been enriched and challenged by Lovelock’s own life and work. Each vignette flows from the other but could be read separately. I conclude with thoughts on matters of optimism and pessimism and “Gaian perspectives” that may hold the key for our society’s ability to address the gathering storm clouds of our age.
read moreA 5-step Program for What Ails Us – Fifth Installment
Quickly empower youth to help create a new economy, not replicate the present one. If we keep replicating our present economy, even with some improvements, we won’t be able to fix what ails us as a society. And, almost all of us will suffer individually, as families and communities. We’re in the midst of a collision course with the living systems that enable our lives. On the flip side, the hopeful side, if we are able to quickly create a new, “green,” economy in balance with Earth’s living systems, we can avert much of the suffering...
read moreEnvironmental Literacy and ALL Careers
Take a few seconds to imagine the world several decades in the future. No matter what your background or values are, it’s very likely that the future you just pictured is quite different than our world today. Things change . . . and these days, faster than ever before! Now, hone in on what people are doing in your envisioned world. In almost any but the most bleak future you see, people will be “doing business” in some way, shape or form. Business – the trade and commerce of ideas, goods, and services –...
read moreA 5-step Program for What Ails us. Fourth Installment (of 5 – almost there!)
Step 4 – Help envision and create an economy based on human well-being directly, not on growth for its own sake as a proxy for well-being. At various times, healthy living systems and individual organisms physically grow, but at other times they don’t. In fact, physical growth in most indviduals usually slows down dramatically or comes to a complete stop after some time and total growth within an ecosystem does the same. The great exception to this is cancer and disease organisms that ultimately destroy their host. When we insist on growth...
read moreAnother Option for Education during the COVID Pandemic: Thinking outside the (school) box
As the parent of two middle school students in the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) in Boulder County, Colorado, I have more than just passing interest in the debates, discussions and news about how or if kids can go back to school this fall. It’s a big deal. The options in every discussion and website I’ve seen so far seem limited to the following: 1) “Go back to school as normal” option – school starts up with normal, pre-COVID, schedules and classes; 2) “On-line option” – all schooling is done on line as was the case in Spring,...
read moreOutside the Box; Contemplating Nested Challenges
At the beginning of March,2020, while riding the Corona chairlift at Eldora Ski area, I caught the bug. No, not “that” bug (some joking on the lift notwithstanding). I was re-infected with the love of wild winds, deep snow and the greens, whites, blues and greys of the Rockies. The slopes were almost deserted, affording me a lot of solitary time to contemplate. But the remarkable, thrilling day also energized me to think hard about matters that put us all in great peril and also to see some lights at the ends of those...
read moreA 5-step Program for What Ails us. Third Installment
Photograph by Matthew Kowal – Step 3 – Spend more time outside, mostly nearby, including more physical exertion and labor. This is the third installment in a series of 5 musings under the theme of “A 5-step Program for What Ails Us.” The first installment introduced the theme an explored Step 1: “Yes, No or Maybe “Slow down and simplify overall.” The titles of the remaining 2 installments are found at the end of this musing. There is a large and growing body of evidence that shows that as people spend more time inside...
read moreA 5-step Program for What Ails us. Second Installment
Step 2 – Slow down and simplify overall. This is the second installment in a series of 5 musings under the theme of “A 5-step Program for What Ails Us.” The first installment introduced the theme an explored Step 1: “Yes, No or Maybe – be proactively honest, clear and respectful with ourselves and each other.” The titles of the remaining 3 installments are found at the end of this musing. We are hurried; driven by and to distractions. We live in an increasingly impersonal world where face-to-face human interaction is being replaced with...
read moreA 5-step Program for What Ails Us – First Installment
Many people acknowledge a range of modern afflictions that ail us and challenges that face us. Malaise, lack of meaning and dysfunction at the personal, family, community and national level. Topsoil loss, habitat loss, even climate change. Economic challenges. Social injustices of all sorts. I, personally, think most of these are real and dangerous conditions and trends. Many already affect people all over the world and, even in the well-insulated and prosperous U.S., we are starting to feel the pain associated with ecological...
read moreRecapitalizing earth
The word, “Earth,” when referring to our planet, should be capitalized. It’s the official/correct way to write it – see Dictionary.com or any other source. Thus, it’s long intrigued me, that while names of other planets are always capitalized, our own planet, Earth, is very commonly written as earth. Don’t take my word for it; check it out – you’ll never see “mars” or “jupiter” but “earth” is liberally sprinkled throughout the written word! Dictionary.com also states that “It is acceptable [my emphasis] to leave earth lowercase and use...
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