12 Comments

Hi Sarah,

After listening and reading, the question which came up for me was: why? Why do these scientists who are steaming ahead with these technological 'advancements', seem to take things too far? How can anyone think chucking even more chemicals into the sky to 'force' a cloud to rain is not dangerous? How can anyone think that spending billions on getting us to a lifeless planet, instead of taking care of the abundant, beautiful home we already have and needs our care is a good idea?

These humans who do the above - what do they have in common? Is it the innate human desire to learn and grow and innovate going too far and in the wrong direction and is corrupted by the impulse to be the first and make money? Is it the same reason everyone wants the new iPhone - because it's new and shiny?

I agree with you that it doesn't feel like anyone is stopping to turn our attention both inwards to our souls and to each other to ask: Is this what we want? I feel if I asked the average person on the street, would you like to grow your baby in an external womb? Most people would say um, no that doesn't sound right.

I don't understand the mindset of the people who are doing this research, giving out the funding etc. They may be scientists and engineers but they are people and some must sense that it's going too far? It reminds me of the stories about the Silicon Valley people who develop the iPhones / social media to be addictive but then won't let their kids use them.

Mostly, I can't help but think that the average person does not have the bandwidth for this moral discussion, despite how crucial it is. They work, sit in front of the TV, pay the bills, repeat. They don't give a shit about using a reusable coffee mug, let alone the stupidity of clouds being raped. So many times I've been told that I shouldn't care so much about the environment and the future of humanity, to just focus on myself, which is the opposite view of longtermisim.

So thank you for your post and podcast because it makes me feel less alone as I wrangle with all this and gives me hope that if enough of us can do get involved, we can scrape by :)

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Totally - we don't have the intellectual nor moral bandwidth to grapple with all these "hyperobjects". I'm looking to interview experts in coming months who are finding ways through it all

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Agree with a lot of fuck-up-eries but is it a case of ‘we didn’t know any better?’ Or was it economic growth that forced us to turn a blind eye?

But on a side note, there are a lot of science positives too this week:

- a company has learned how to spawn coral that could save the Great Barrier Reef. And yes they are learning to do it in tanks before they take it to the reef!

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-14/coral-spawning-event-land-based-farm/101300684

- Do we want to rescue the reef by means of man made intervention? When it is man made intervention that’s killing it in the first place?

- Reintroducing grasshoppers that have been locally extinct - https://beat.com.au/hundreds-of-grasshoppers-are-being-released-into-melbournes-royal-park/

Again a man made intervention fixing a man made created problem.

Harks to my dads favourite saying ‘if you broke it, you fix it’.

These stories put my trust back in science that we are trying to save the planet and fix our broken parts, one small action at a time.

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per your question...yes we want to do what we can to fix what we ruined...but while being VERY careful we don't throw out the new equilibrium (and wipe out some other species up or down the food chain).Nature evolved slowly with even stakes...we come in with an unfair advantage and impatience and get it all wrong.

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Maybe we need to focus on art and devotion (or I'm still contemplating this beautiful essay from Charles Eisenstein that gives hope) https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/the-solution-to-the-energy-crisis

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August 18, 2022Edited
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He's a bright guy.

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Hmnnn, I think our (the collective) one act of effort was to boot Morrison out, not so much put Labor into Canberra, that was the consequence. This is a two term possibly three term Federal government so let’s pull the strings together, all of us collectively and pray (in your own way) we can make this decade count… or is it too late?

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There is no benefit to thinking it's too late, so we believe it's not

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"On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” What a beautiful depiction of our fragile, almost insignificant home. This highlights the need for an urgent discussion about planet Earth. Well done Sarah 💐

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I don't even know what a mote is, but it emotes just right.

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I haven't got the re motest idea 😉

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August 17, 2022Edited
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I started reading your comment and immediately thought of Scomo. It's amazing the people who don't know think they do and those who do ...keep quiet.

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