Are we a sane civilization or not, asks Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson in a WIRED interview about his new ecological trilogy.
I'm hoping the scientific community continues to go off like a fire alarm in a hotel, just as they have for the last five years, and that that will do the trick. If they do, the democracies, the political leadership and even big business will all recognize that this is a real threat. And we're seeing enough of the effects, even without catastrophic weather. Take glaciers, for example, which are melting so fast, and it turns out they are the source of water for one-third of the world's population.Even India and China therefore have compelling reasons to get serious. Their own populations will be hammered by the loss of the Himalayan glaciers. So many effects are combining. I don't think we need the kind of minus-50-degree winter I described in the books.
Humanity is sane, and can make use of its intelligence. We have to act as if this is true. That's the whole story of the 21st century: Are we a sane civilization or not?
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Over the weekend, I chilled out a bit, at least as far as the blog was concerned. I won't make too much of a secret of it, but thanks to the new policy of the new owners I have a decision to make.
Shamelessly stolen from Brian at Eli's (this is about plagiarism, after al
By way of Shakes, this display made its way into the House debate on S-CHIP:
Erich Fromm asked that very question back in the 50s... His answer was a fairly unequivocal "no", and things haven't improved any since then.