we have the technology
Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man.
Better than he was before.
Better, stronger, faster.
Engineer Poet's recent proposal for more efficient use of our energy endowment (can be read as conservation) and reliance on closed systems where possible reminds us of an essential fact.
The tools to solve our problems exist. The barriers are not technology. We have the techology. In my country, the USA, we have a pluralistic society where ideas are meant compete and vie for dominance in the marketplace, although this is not what happens.
There is no "marketplace". Our western economy is as artificial and materialistic as the modern mega-farm, where genetically addled corn springs forth from puddles of carbon fuel. The barriers to solving our big problems are the shimmering dreams of vested interests, written into the grooves of our monkey brains.
There is no propaganda on TV to say,
"Hey, we need five million americans to learn how to farm organically, and distribute their product locally. Grants, education and housing will be provided for those undertaking this vital service. Meanwhile, we are cutting off all welfare to Archer Daniels Midland."
or,
"Please turn in your car for a brown bicycle. Smart cars will become available after we have recycled your hummer, but speed limits will 20 miles an hour for the majority of roads which will be dual use for human powered transport."
or
"Your local Walmart has been flattened. Your exurbs are slated to be turned into farmland. Relocation assistance will be provided."
Funny stuff. Rather than being exposed to such like outrageous and fascist ideas, degrading vanities are drilled into the sleepwalking populace - -
- zap -
- - Christmas is coming, so we must do our part to keep the economy afloat by charging up a choad boat of gifts on our credit cards, while praying for peace on Earth.
posted by JMS @ 1:48 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Mr. Monkeygrinder,
I'm sorry that you felt antagonized by my remarks over at RI. I intended no offense, really; I think what happened was that you identified with the Peakers whose meme-schemes I was hatcheting. I really wasn't addressing anything that you and owlindaylight wrote at all, and I think that if you read that thread back you'll see both my motivations, in reaction to those elements of P.O. thought which I find so objectionable, and the trajectory of my project, such as it is. When I read your rant here about changing the hard- and wrong-headed consciousness of your neighbors, I was immediately reminded Sten Nadolny's The Discovery of Slowness and of a little photo essay from your neck of the woods, more or less, which is connected to one of "my guys," Brian O’Leary.
I'm not sure what your familiarity with O’Leary is, but I'm guessing that you and I have very similar political outlooks that are only separated by our differing enthusiasms. You know about my objections to the Peak and I bet you are at least a little suspicious of the New Energy crowd (which you should be--skepticism is a healthy commodity in short supply). But just as there are dubious Peakers and N.E.'ers, there are also (obviously) good souls in both camps as well.
I wrote this to apologize for the bad vibe you got from me, but I'd also like to extend an invitation over to my side--there are some cool things happening that you might appreciate. Very briefly, here's a sample. First you have O' Leary's New Energy Movement, which has some very nice roadmaps, such as the Hidden Debate piece, all of which are quick, sane reads. Brian does lament the murder of his friend, Dr. Eugene Mallove, which is understandable enough, and whom he eulogizes in Galileo of our Time, In Memory of Dr. Eugene Mallove. An excerpt:
"No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it."-- Albert Einstein
We are heading towards almost certain global ecological disaster through unsustainable energy practices. Our addiction to oil, coal, natural gas and uranium has killed hundreds of millions of us and untold species from foul air, water and earth and accelerating global climate change. It has created wars, obscene profits and false economies that could do us all in.
For all their promise, solar, wind, hydrogen, bio fuels and other conventional renewables have limited potential to replace the fossil fuel economy. They can consume a lot of land, materials and capital. Moreover, wind and solar power cannot operate under all weather conditions.
The tragedy of all this is that elegant solutions may soon exist with further research and development: vacuum (aka. space or zero-point) energy, cold fusion and advanced hydrogen chemistry. Since the time of Tesla, the powers-that-be have so effectively suppressed the research of hundreds of unsung inventors whose technologies promise a quantum leap that could catapult our economy and environment into a clean, safe and sustainable 21st Century.
Nobody knew and expressed this potential better than Dr. Eugene Mallove--scientist, journalist, educator, visionary, humanitarian, friend. On May 14, he was mysteriously murdered during an apparent robbery in the home of his parents. He was in the prime of his career at age 56...
Then there's this from the man himself An Open Letter from Dr. Eugene Mallove:
"I have had fifty years of experience in nuclear physics and I know what's possible and what's not!...I will not look at any more evidence! It's all junk!" -MIT Prof. Herman Feshbach, May 1991, on the telephone to Dr. Mallove
I hope you recognize that the late Professor Feshbach's most unfortunate and ill-considered reaction was fundamentally unscientific. It reminds me of the Church leaders at the time of Galileo, who refused to look through Galileo's telescope at the Moon or at Jupiter, because they "knew" that nothing new could be seen! Yes, many modern scientists are filled with catastrophic hubris; they have become in many ways mere "technicians of science," and guardians of what amounts to a pernicious "Holy Writ." Don't bother me with the experimental evidence, my theory can tell me what is possible and what is not!
If by chance you are one of those who believe that "all is well in the house of science" and that "official science" can be counted on to behave itself and always seek the truth-even in matters of central, overarching importance to the well-being of humankind-you are sorely mistaken, and I could prove that to you with compendious documentation...
Now, I realize that the "free energy field" is full of charlatans, disinfo, and hype, but people are dying and disappearing. While this veers into the more sensational aspects of F.E., the fact that science is more than a little "influenced" by corporate interests is both widely documented and indicative of something larger than just suppression of technology.
The last one to whom I want to introduce you is Bibhas De, renegade scientist, poet, very respectable...and yet very deep and strange cat. In his highly entertaining critique of quantum theory, THE CAT AND THE EEL, he gives an insider's tour to the shaky foundations of modern physics. Mind you, this guy is no Tom Bearden or any other such flake--he worked for both academe and industry (icky places like Chevron, even). He is both totally legit and completely disparaging of the celebrity cult of science. (Even more disdainful, and possibly enlightening, is his THE-FOUNDATION-IS-THE-FRONTIER SERIES.)
I've got lots more, but I don't mean to prosyletize--I just wanted to show you my stream, so you understood why I do believe that there are scientific answers to the peak of fossil fuels, not all of which are F.E. or in any way the typical "sexy" internet cloak and dagger variety. So, peace, dude--sorry again for giving offense.
Thanks for your insightful post. I am not opposed to (relatively) free energy research. The wind is free. Sunshine is free. It will end down some day, but no bills will come due.
Something I mentioned before at R.I. is that some of these ideas are orthogonal to what I do here.
Peak oil is complicated enough, and misunderstood enough, that I choose to stick to the measurables, the known, the things I can assert without getting trapped in a hall of mirrors debate.
I enjoy puncturing liars lies, I do it with humor sometimes, preaching (unfortunately -- a nasty habit I need to break) and of course the staple of any blog, intemperate rants.
I understand your frustration with the tyranny of the majority when it comes to alternatives to the accepted models. Somebody needs to explain comets to me, speaking slowly and using small words. Water vapor my ass.
These might help:
http://peake.blogspot.com/2005/02/ideas-dont-cut-wheat.html
http://peake.blogspot.com/2005/04/pique-oil-prognostication-whimsy.html
I'll check out your links. Thanks for stopping by.
Post a Comment
<< Home