Patrick didn’t wake much in the night that I remember but he woke this morning before 5:30 and wouldn’t go back to sleep and didn’t want us to sleep either, but we tired to. He crawled around and finally at 5:30 I got up and took him into the living room. We played and read some books for a while and then I got his breakfast ready. At 6:15 Harumi was still asleep so I gave her a call and she got up and took over breakfast so I could get mine and then get ready for work.
Left at 7:00 and got to Carrefour at 8:00. Sakurada came in and announced that today he was the only student. I groaned inside but smiled outside. Sakurada, I now realize because if the 2 hour we spent only talking to each other, has fucking awful listening and grammar. His listening skills were making me lose my patience with him; he sometimes couldn’t understand a simple, straightforward question or word!
Left just before 10:00 and was home just before 11:00. On the train I finished the Bill Bryson book (A Short History of Nearly Everything) , and what an excellent book it was, I can see a re-read of it a year from now, if not before. The final chapter was about the rise of humans and the destruction and increasing number of extinctions we have caused. It was a depressing thought to finish on.
I am becoming increasingly interested in ecology and life on the planet, diversity and the threats to it. I wonder where I should go with it? I’d like to do something to try and stop the destruction of parts of the planet’s eco-systems, but what can I do? I think if more ordinary people knew of the wonders of this planet, knew the miracle that is life and our own existence, the oneness of all life on this planet and knew what we were doing to the planet, then things would happen.
Knowledge is power.
The 19th and early 20th centuries (and before) were times of amazing ignorance and bizarre attitudes to the planet and the other living things we share it with. It’s only in the last 50 years or less that people have begun to understand about life on Earth, a lot of that due to TV and people like David Attenborough and the great nature documentaries that have been made. In fact he has probably done more in the cause of changing attitudes towards the environment than anyone else, at least in the UK. But the same has been happening in the USA.
I wasn’t quite sure what to write when I used the word "environment", because sometimes we make it sound like there are two parts of the planet: our part and the part where everything else lives. We treat it as our planet (obviously) and often refuse to share it with the creatures and the plants that where here millions of years before we were even down from the trees, or even before we decided to go up the trees in the first place. Because we can’t think in terms of the vast stretches of time the Earth works to, we tend to regard things in terms of human time, and so 3,000 years is seen as a very long time, when in reality it’s not. We kind of think we have been here for a long time, but we haven’t. Also we think that all the history and the Earth and evolution was building up to us and we are the pinnacle of the process and the end. Another big mistake that create the dangerous attitude that we own the place and everything on it.
I wonder if nature has something in store for us? A little balancing things out. We are just the fleas on the Earth’s back and one day the earth will scratch or jump into a river and we will be gone. All species eventually become extinct – the average length is about 4 millions I think. Something like a pandemic, a climate breakdown, a nonotech grey goo, something...
What’s annoying though is our fucking ignorance and arrogance, a terrible combination. I think in a way we are undermining our very existence by the things we do. We perhaps shouldn’t worry about the impending extinction of other species rather we should look to our own extinction, caused by our own stupidity, greed and lack of perception.
Anyway, good book and I want to continue learning more about the things he wrote about; about how the Earth works and how life works.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
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2 comments:
I am reminded of an article I read recently on the world's oil supply. There was a mathematician who calculated that the world's oil supply would reach a point where the amount of "finds" would eventlualy top out and then "new" finds would begin to deminish. Now this man...who's name I don't recall... was a laughing stock in his field. He wrote the paper in and around the late 1920's as I recall. but in the late 50's his work was looked at again and found out to be true.... in fact his works are still used today and it is thought that we had reached the "top end" sometime in the 1980's. Now the big oil companies are noticing how difficult it has become to make a new find. Canada, with it's huge OIL SANDS project about 10 hours north of my hometown has a supply of oil almost as large as Saudi Arabia. The problem has always been that the "cleaning" of the oil and sand has always been cost intsenive. $40 dollars a barrel oil has been the ONLY way to make this project feasable and these days, that is exactly where we are at. I heard the other day that we, Canadians, have developed new technology to separate the oil and that this field may soon be the answer to the U.S. oil crunch that it has been expeiriencing over the last 30 or so years. What will that mean for Canada though.... is anyone's guess.What that will mean for the middle east is easy to see. Poverty... most likely... and those countries have refused to diversify their economoies... it is inevitable that at some point there GDP's will diminish and if the infrastructure to make those countries self sufficent isn't put in place soon... Millions will starve in the future.
However that aside it is the enviornment that is going to suffer the most.... but one thing is clear.... The Earth will run out of oil soon.... perhaps in less than 100 years.... What then? Our society is an OIL BASED society. What happens to our society when the oil runs out? It's a scary thought and it makes one wonder why it is... that only NOW... are newer technologies [like Hydorgen hybrid engines] are popping up. In today's CTV national news there was a story of Mitsubishi Corp. joining a British Columbian University to develop Hydrogen fuel. Candian technology is in the forefront of this technology .... to make it easy to make because Hydrogen factories cannot, currently, supply enough fuel for the population. Getting factories up and running would be too costly and take too long to set up... around 30 or so years are the estimates that I've read. The U of BC has apparently set up an experimental and now functional and working centrefuge, to split off the hydrogen and oxygen in water and in an extremely simple and fast way. This is the project Mitsubishi is getting involved with. So it seems that Japan... may in fact be looking at alternative fuel sorces already. What will happen to the Mulitinationals when Hydrogen becomes so easy to make that people can make it themselves at home? Because this is what the project will eventually lead to. At home fuel kits.... drive around all you like for free. You make your own Hydrogen.
which reminds me of another new transportation source.... Zepplins.... they may not be new but the way they are contructed ... well that's new.
It looks like they may come back with Explosion proof gases and polymers that can lift 500 times more than planes can today.... and the size of 4 or 5 football stadiums.... these HUGE collosal airships of the future may be what transports supplies from one country to another.... in a clean efficient way......A full warehouse moved from one end of the world to another in a few days, the costs would be very low....but people are going to be put out of work. I think that world- wide .... unrest will widen simply because technology will ultimately be something that makes lives simpler... but what people like the SALARYMEN of Japan will do..... is a scary thought. People are so focused on their careers that they forget to live. Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine" portrays the terrible injustices of an industry that would inevitably become more efficient as technology advanced. Moore focused on the working poor.... but he didn't focus on those people who DID move away and were sucessful at their new home or job. He only focused on those who sat in thier homes .... never thinking of the future until it was too late .... and then Moore blamed the Autoplants for ruining the lives of thier workers.
I don't know what to say to that.
I think that the enviornment and social structure and burgening technology all go hand in hand. Those enviornmentalists who preach that we have to SAVE the earth are simply not thinking of the kinds of social upheavals that will take place. And those of us who have watched the countless nature shows and even participated in enviornmental rallies.... often have SUV's parked in their driveway and are making 75 thousand a year and could really care less because they'll be dead before any of this really begins to affect them anyway. The apathy of the North American continent and the focus of the wealthier side of trying to "save" the planet is noble... but misguided. I feel like it is kind of the "women's Lib" issue of this new century in that when Women's lib first started out it was quite militant but slowly it worked it's way into society changing it through awareness and MOST importantly it became a POLITICAL issue. THIS is the KEY towards change... politics. If a government changes anything it is because the electorate will do that kind of change. But then it all becomes Politics and that in itself becomes charged with it's own good and bad points. The ENVIORNMENT is an issue that I think will be around us for some time..... it will take POLITICAL will to change things.
Sorry if I ran on .... this rant charged me up.
take care
Emil
I am reminded of an article I read recently on the world's oil supply. There was a mathematician who calculated that the world's oil supply would reach a point where the amount of "finds" would eventlualy top out and then "new" finds would begin to deminish. Now this man...who's name I don't recall... was a laughing stock in his field. He wrote the paper in and around the late 1920's as I recall. but in the late 50's his work was looked at again and found out to be true.... in fact his works are still used today and it is thought that we had reached the "top end" sometime in the 1980's. Now the big oil companies are noticing how difficult it has become to make a new find. Canada, with it's huge OIL SANDS project about 10 hours north of my hometown has a supply of oil almost as large as Saudi Arabia. The problem has always been that the "cleaning" of the oil and sand has always been cost intsenive. $40 dollars a barrel oil has been the ONLY way to make this project feasable and these days, that is exactly where we are at. I heard the other day that we, Canadians, have developed new technology to separate the oil and that this field may soon be the answer to the U.S. oil crunch that it has been expeiriencing over the last 30 or so years. What will that mean for Canada though.... is anyone's guess.What that will mean for the middle east is easy to see. Poverty... most likely... and those countries have refused to diversify their economoies... it is inevitable that at some point there GDP's will diminish and if the infrastructure to make those countries self sufficent isn't put in place soon... Millions will starve in the future.
However that aside it is the enviornment that is going to suffer the most.... but one thing is clear.... The Earth will run out of oil soon.... perhaps in less than 100 years.... What then? Our society is an OIL BASED society. What happens to our society when the oil runs out? It's a scary thought and it makes one wonder why it is... that only NOW... are newer technologies [like Hydorgen hybrid engines] are popping up. In today's CTV national news there was a story of Mitsubishi Corp. joining a British Columbian University to develop Hydrogen fuel. Candian technology is in the forefront of this technology .... to make it easy to make because Hydrogen factories cannot, currently, supply enough fuel for the population. Getting factories up and running would be too costly and take too long to set up... around 30 or so years are the estimates that I've read. The U of BC has apparently set up an experimental and now functional and working centrefuge, to split off the hydrogen and oxygen in water and in an extremely simple and fast way. This is the project Mitsubishi is getting involved with. So it seems that Japan... may in fact be looking at alternative fuel sorces already. What will happen to the Mulitinationals when Hydrogen becomes so easy to make that people can make it themselves at home? Because this is what the project will eventually lead to. At home fuel kits.... drive around all you like for free. You make your own Hydrogen.
which reminds me of another new transportation source.... Zepplins.... they may not be new but the way they are contructed ... well that's new.
It looks like they may come back with Explosion proof gases and polymers that can lift 500 times more than planes can today.... and the size of 4 or 5 football stadiums.... these HUGE collosal airships of the future may be what transports supplies from one country to another.... in a clean efficient way......A full warehouse moved from one end of the world to another in a few days, the costs would be very low....but people are going to be put out of work. I think that world- wide .... unrest will widen simply because technology will ultimately be something that makes lives simpler... but what people like the SALARYMEN of Japan will do..... is a scary thought. People are so focused on their careers that they forget to live. Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine" portrays the terrible injustices of an industry that would inevitably become more efficient as technology advanced. Moore focused on the working poor.... but he didn't focus on those people who DID move away and were sucessful at their new home or job. He only focused on those who sat in thier homes .... never thinking of the future until it was too late .... and then Moore blamed the Autoplants for ruining the lives of thier workers.
I don't know what to say to that.
I think that the enviornment and social structure and burgening technology all go hand in hand. Those enviornmentalists who preach that we have to SAVE the earth are simply not thinking of the kinds of social upheavals that will take place. And those of us who have watched the countless nature shows and even participated in enviornmental rallies.... often have SUV's parked in their driveway and are making 75 thousand a year and could really care less because they'll be dead before any of this really begins to affect them anyway. The apathy of the North American continent and the focus of the wealthier side of trying to "save" the planet is noble... but misguided. I feel like it is kind of the "women's Lib" issue of this new century in that when Women's lib first started out it was quite militant but slowly it worked it's way into society changing it through awareness and MOST importantly it became a POLITICAL issue. THIS is the KEY towards change... politics. If a government changes anything it is because the electorate will do that kind of change. But then it all becomes Politics and that in itself becomes charged with it's own good and bad points. The ENVIORNMENT is an issue that I think will be around us for some time..... it will take POLITICAL will to change things.
Sorry if I ran on .... this rant charged me up.
take care
Emil
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