There is so much polarisation in our world these days. It seems impossible to sort fact from “fake new”. So much of main stream media is failing to provide objective information that would actually benefit society. What can we expect when their overriding obligation is to make money for their shareholders? When massive disruption in media due to the internet puts massive strain on the bottom line of conventional outlets, where many have folded, do we expect them not to use our responses to sensationalism, fear and click-bait to keep their investors and themselves payed?
We do have existential risks, coming at us from all angles, that we need to face as a global community. Regardless of whether you believe man made carbon dioxide is causing a green house effect or not, there are so many other ecological tipping points that we are about to pass if not already passed. (Planetary boundaries for a blue planet image from Nature Ecology & Evolution) (the EcoTipping Points Project) And then there is the simple matter of quality of life. Do we want to be poisoned by exhaust fumes, have our asthma triggered by poor air quality, ingest heavy metals or micro plastic in our food and water or have our health negatively affected and our lives shortened by some combination of what has to be hundreds of thousands of man made environmental toxins? And yet we wonder why diseases like cancer have become so much more prevalent in the modern age. With all the superficial fear and sensationalism in the mainstream media, quality, useful explanations of these issues are few and far between, let alone reports on what solutions are proving to be effective.
There are actually so many solutions out there but we rarely hear about them. To me this promotes a helplessness and complacency as people begin to believe that either the scientists are just scare mongering and nothing needs to be done or for those that do believe the science, that nothing can be done. Even if it was the case that we are not actually reaching any tipping points it is still worthwhile as a society to try to keep improving our methods of living harmoniously with both our environment and each other. This blog is my attempt to take a look at what the big problems are and try to find the potential solutions that are out there. A place to start a journey of exploration of what the internet has to offer.
I plan to share links to interviews with philosophers and scientists and various online communities with a range of views, stretching us to think in varied if not new ways that can allow us to better understand the world we live in, what it’s challenges are and what some of the solutions might be so we can start to overcome the massive inertia of our current socioeconomic systems.
As a global society we tell ourselves a story around why we have to have the systems and structures in place that govern our society. These stories have changed over time and there is a case to argue that the current story isn’t working. George Monbiot discusses this point in his TED Talk. I’m not sure I am fully on board with his quite loosely defined solution but I definitely think his premise is worth pondering. What exactly is wrong with our current story, what do we need to consider when developing a new story and what should society’s new story be? I recently came across this interview of Daniel Schmachtenberger, “Humanity’s Phase Shift” on Rebel Wisdom that seemed to set the scene quite well for understanding how to think about these questions. Searching out more of Daniel’s interviews, I came across the Future Thinkers Podcast on YouTube that also has some great stuff. Plenty to keep any “wanna be” visionary busy for ages.
For those desperate for some hope and good news I will begin to post some links here to stories, interviews and articles, etc that I have enjoyed. Through my YouTube wanderings I came across this video Sustainable City by Fully Charged. I also like to watch the guys from the Now You Know Channel. They present in a light-hearted manner on often serious subjects and sometimes can get a little ranty but some of their interviews are great and even though they are focused on electric cars, specifically Teslas, They try to include, at least some of the time, positive and hopeful content around environmental issues on their weekly news shows including new hopeful tech that is being developed to changes in political legislation and many things in between. They are also in the process of creating a new online community to help people make positive change in their local communities called Now We Act.
More interesting videos:
Inside Biosphere 2: The World’s Largest Earth Science Experiment
A story of destruction to restoration, Restoring the ancient Caledonian Forest Alan Watson Featherstone TEDxFindhorn
Quite liked a lot of the stories in this particular episode of Now You Know’s news program.
The transformation from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. What political will can achieve in Denmark and China is a lesson to the world and in this video a lesson to Germany.