Perpetual Technologic Creationism

 http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/nov/16/idea-time-come/
 http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/peter_diamandis_abundance_is_our_future.html

The comments below are from listening/watching the above programs.

I agree with the idea of ideas perpetuating themselves and somewhat queuing humanity when the timing is right.  I have always thought it to be a peculiar thing how major, original events happen nearly simultaneously all over the world.  It's not just ideas either.  It also happens chemically.  More interconnectedness.  It makes sense that it is the preliminary creations that are the catalysts for the new ideas.  It's like how we think we know the smallest things in existence until we get a stronger microscope.

The optimistic approach to technology concerns me.  It is a double edged sword.  It seems the mentality of relying on technology to save us from the challenges we face does not consider a threshold or carrying capacity of people on the Earth.  I'm sure we can do more, lots more, through technology to dominate the environment around us.  I would much rather figure out a way to live in more harmony with the environment and limitations it places upon us.

When these two ideas are combined it seems inevitable that we would continue to evolve technology and that technology is beginning to evolve us.  We are growing together and it may be us that is becoming more dependent on technology than technology is us.  As usual, there is a paradox involved in the evaluation of the merits of technology.  On one hand it's the best stuff ever.  On the other it will be our downfall.

Diversity in Awareness

Why do people actively sort and screen information the way they do? How does one determine what to let in and what to let bounce off, what to reckon with and what to ignore or disparage? How is it that, exposed to the same information, different people absorb different messages? (from pg 169 of Thinking in Systems).

Since we are aware of only a very small portion of what our senses pick up on it is no wonder we seem to "miss" a lot of information.  Never-the-less, our brains somehow choose what information will make it to our conscious, active awareness and what will be "ignored."

I believe it is mosttly our paradigms and our past experiences which depict what information our brains will key in on and why different people tend to become aware of different information or interpret the same information in a different way.  It is the feedback loops, both reinforcing and balancing, that shape our minds one way or another.  Systems traps and opportunities like success to the successful, tragedy of the commons, rule beating, goals, etc. are all examples of how the experiences we have had can shape people differently.

If two people are observing an event and one of them has a positive outlook and one of them has a negative outlook on life then they will glean much different information from the event.  They will "see" different things based on how they "feel" life to be.  Our emotions play a strong role in our views and paradigms and our emotions are molded by our personalities and our experiences.  Success to the successful is one of the best examples of how this can influence someone's outlook.  If the more you succeed in something the more you are rewarded then that feedback and support will create a very positive outlook for that person towards the event and instill confidence in their ability to succeed again.  This will greatly influence the information you get from the successful versus the unsuccessful person regarding the event and life in general.  The emotions the successful person will develop toward that event will be more positive and generally associated with happy experiences.  The unsuccessful person will be more rooted in defeat and unsupported effort creating a more negative or doubtful attitude toward the event.

Intentions are another good reason.  Our intentions and beliefs are so powerful and really create a path before us that is biased and manipulated by us.  Quantum physics supports this idea and is documented.  In experiments when scientists shoot electrons at a blank screen, the experiment is influenced by the expectations of the people present.  The scientists had to leave the room to get to the uninfluenced outcome of the experiment which yielded that the electrons move in waves and are subject to an infinite amount of outcomes sans the influence of an observer.  This was explained in the documentary "Down the Rabbit Hole" and is fascinating to me.  I think quantum theory concepts like entanglement will reveal a more and more complex yet sensible matrix of interconnectedness and influential, predictable set of energetic transfers that resemble rules or truths vulnerable to subjectivity and influence.


Individuality is the basis of all of this and is the source of the diversity of ideas and information we create and discover.  Although it can be perplexing and daunting to deal with such messy information flows when dealing with many people at once on a subject that needs to be aligned and congealed, it is this diversity that makes it possible for the advancement of understanding and the growth of awareness.

Hydrologic Delays

NASA ASTER image of an approx. 557 mi² area of fields (1443 km²) in Kansas which are watered from the Ogallala aquifer with center pivot irrigation systems. Wikipedia

Having grown up in Florida my views on water and water "rights" has changed since moving to Colorado.  In Florida, water was more plentiful and dependable than in Colorado.  In Florida, water was all around, if not in a swamp or a creek or a river, it was all around you in the form of groundwater.  In Florida, you didn't have to have the "right" to take water from the river you could just take it or you could dig a well and access the water wherever you owned land.  I frequently swam in many of the naturally fed crystal clear springs in North Florida and that was one of my favorite things about the area.  Suwannee Farms is just down the road from where I grew up.  It operates around 43 irrigation systems over about 5200 acres.  I thought there still seems to be plenty of water in Florida but things are changing.  My parents tell me hardly any of the springs are flowing any more.  Parts of the Suwannee River are so dried up you can walk across.  Committees are forming to begin to manage a disappearing resource.  South Florida has been trying to take water from North Florida for years now because of overpopulation.  Northeastern Florida is having a deficit in water deposits for so long they are anticipating shortages for many years to come.

I was mostly unaware of large scale water shortages in my youth in Florida because it fell from the sky so often and replenished the water we took for ourselves.  It's the subsurface water table I am becoming much more aware of which is changing my water paradigm- the way I see water and the role we play in its use.  Ubiquitous delays are manifesting themselves in all parts of our national environmental systems.  A huge concern of mine is the Ogallala Aquifer.  It is being pumped at a rate of more than 1.5 billion gallons per day.  There is a recharge deficit of more than twice the amount being removed.  The aquifer was mostly glacial water and if it is depleted, it could take more than 6,000 years to be replenished.  Wow!  Talk about a delay.

After moving to Colorado, I became aware of water rights and the concept of what a severe drought can create.  This area was beginning a seven year drought when I moved here in 1998.  There is speculation that S.A.D. (Sudden Aspen Decline) is a result of that drought.  Dusty roads and no campfires were the most relevant detriment I could see at the time.  There are so many immediate and delayed ramifications of drought.  I never knew there was such a problem with reservoirs until I moved out west, either.  Delays are ubiquitous, indeed, when dealing with hydrology.

It is the existence of delays and the sometimes incredibly slow pace in which they appear that concerns me the most in regard to the Aspen Castle Creek Hydropower project.  If we tap the Castle and Maroon Creeks for hydropower, it may be years before the evidence of its damage will be evident.  The Western Rivers Institute Blog  http://westernriversinstitute.org/?page_id=175 compares the entire riparian area to a sponge.  The gravel deposits that are the bed of the creeks are an integral part of the area surrounding the creeks and act as a sponge that will be depleted of water with the prolonged reduced water flows.  This "sponge" delivers water to the rest of the riparian area beyond the creek bed.  The higher the flow the more water is "pushed" into the sponge.  Riparian zones are responsible for the majority of the biodiversity of our biome and the planet.  It will be too late to truly investigate the threats to the environment when the damage begins to reveal itself in dying cottonwoods, willows and alders.  These riparian plant species and more provide habitat for many animals and insects creating a very valuable source of diversity which will be replaced by more drought tolerant species resulting in less diversity.

This project is already fraught with problems like over budget costs, abandoned water rights, low return of investment, inadequate environmental impact assessment, etc.  It seems that geothermal might be a better source of energy than the fragile ecosystems surrounding the streams of Aspen and elsewhere.  Maybe we should at least wait and see what the test wells discover about the possible use of geothermal energy in Aspen.  I have no doubt that diminishing the natural cycles of high to low water flow throughout the year in these streams will bring a detrimental effect to habitat in and around the streams.  How could it not?  It will just be delayed to the point of difficulty in making the connection.  The question is is it worth it?  Not to me.