Engineering the Planet What Compels us to do so?

Consumption: Pros and Cons  This depends on how you want to index consumption – personal consumption/affluence is different than production/consumption that indirectly leads to better society infrastructure and services.  What matters is the rate of consumption relative to the resource base. Main problem is that short term market growth, which we value, wants high rates.  Sustainability demands lower rates  this is the clash of values.

Two Important Questions  Is the highest form of enlightenment really consumerism on a global scale?  Is the steady increase in global inequity worth the price of global consumption?

Key Historical Moments  We are special (different than other animals)  We are uniquely positioned at the center of the Universe (reflects our “specialness”)  The Universe is ordered, logical and rational  With the application of Reason, humankind is unbounded  The Newtonian world shows us the machine and it is precise

Continued  Life is a struggle; competition is natural; gradual change occurs (Darwin)  Science now certifies  Survival of the fittest and the engineering of society to protect that outcome (Spencer)  The notion of uncertainty, as a valid and integral scientific concept, arises too late in this process  we already have truth pathways established

The Science/Culture Interface: The Nature of Truth  Science: a testable prediction is made which then adds to the soup of knowledge. Either the theory is completely wrong, or its partially correct and we move on.  The Theory is never completely correct or provides a complete explanation. This is the essential difference between Science and Belief; Belief systems supply a complete (and certain) explanation

Truth Continued  The key to understanding the interaction between science and culture is to recognize and appreciate the vital role of measurements in constructing a knowledge pathway. That makes it different from a belief system, which requires no data or measurements to substantiate it.  Knowledge based on measurement means that knowledge is both uncertain and subject to change when new and better measurements are made – there is no room for absolute truth in this methodology

e/E: a Vexing Problem  E: in principle, very much is a reasonable and moral set of values designed to produce a more “fair” society  e  however, the principles of E are usually put into the hands of the self-appointed elite to already know the best end state.  At some point E needs to squash e

Choice Pathways  Which world does humanity want to live in?  One that is based on a belief system that is then projected on to the natural world to support that belief (this is the BIAS)  One where scientific methodology and thinking is used to enable, on a planet wide scale, the enlightenment motto that all men are created equal

NATURE GOD HUMANS TREES ROCKS Connectivity Of Atoms Disconnected States HUMANS TREES ROCKS Super Nova Everything Is Connected to Everything Certainty Entitlement Aarogance Wisdom Enlightenment Humility