A consequence of the decline of religion is a parallel decline in the idea that the natural world imposes any limits on human will.
That guy’s talking out of both sides of his mouth.
More fuel for climate change deniers. Another strategy to maintain the actual “God” - fossil fuels. He argues that we cannot stop oil use because that will destroy the economies of Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia. But his alternative is his own god-like prescription that we stop traditional farming and make synthetic food instead, while moving populations into mega cities. How disruptive would that be compared to some countries needing to reorient their economies from being primarily petroleum based? The main denier aspect, however, is the claim that the effects of climate change are going to happen even if we meet goals to stop the cause. He uses this to say that we shouldn’t try to meet those goals. How convenient for the fossil fuel crowd. The damage can continue to get worse, while we give up on trying to stop it from getting worse. And according to this guy, we will be focusing instead on retreating and adapting by pretending that we are going to do the far out things he says we must do. Meanwhile the fossil fuel crowd gets to continue to exploit and damage the world further. In which case, with his strategy, we would need to retreat and adapt, further and further.
Yair, we have The Greens here too. Not usually all that pompous, but they have their moments. Here, a lot of 'em seem to be affluent members of the bourgeoisie. Capable of abstract thought , they have concluded neither of two major parties offer any real hope.
These folks are “Soft Socialists”. IE they think it’s a splendid idea that the have nots all over the world should have more. They often have a World Vision child they sponsor. This behaviour will continue until such time as they think they personally will have less.
While I’m on about politically correct wankers, I also have no time for Greenpeace. Took me a long time to wake up to them, but I did eventually.
Read something today that strikes at the heart of at article. I’ve been too negative lately so I’ll not get into any knit-picking on the guy tooting out of both sides.
Izen, you are correct. But you seem to miss one important point.Our survival as a species depends on an array of conditions emerging from natural systems. These conditions – services – emege over variable scales of space and time as a result of a stupendous array of interactions among individuals, species and communities.
As we continue to simplify the planet biologically, we push ourselves closer to extinction.
Indeed, nothing whatsoever guarantees our long-term survival. No species depends on or utilizes more of nature than we do. It takes remarkable hubris to suggest that we alone are impervious to the threat of extinction. Au contraire.
…and as an addendum it is folly to suggest for an instant that we possess the knowledge and technology to genetically engineer entire ecosystems.
For heaven’s sake, we barely understand how ecosystems evolve, assemble and function, and you are talking about creating a ‘new ecology’ through genetic engineering that will help us to control the biosphere?
I am sorry but this is utter nonsense. You won’t find a single qualified ecologist who would make such a flippant claim, and I am one of them. The primary objective should be to conserve what we have, and not blindly believe that we can play God with complex adaptive systems.
at = that
https://confrontingsciencecontrarians.blogspot.com/2019/06/mike-hulme-lost-in-mindscape.htmlI don’t know Hulme. I do know his article did nothing to recommend him. It was a contrived piece of…, of…, I don’t know, manipulative nothing. A waste of time if constructive learning was one’s goal.
However, it offers a great case study in getting lost within one’s own Mindscape and forgetting all about the Physical Reality ‘out there’. That’s why I’ve decided to dissect it and add it to my collection. …