Today was an especially beautiful day with the birds on the beach ...
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In three parts:
Independence Day
Redington Beach
Baby Pelicans
Needless to say, today's sequence was well supplied with baby birds, active birds, adorable birds, beautiful birds, flying birds, and I even spent a little bit of time observing humankind's work on the beach.
I spent some time this morning reading Technology Review magazine because there was an article about the eternal pipe dream, fusion power:
There are still huge challenges to be met before fusion can be harnessed to generate electricity. But achieving controlled fusion burn "will be an incredible event," says Edward Moses, a principal associate director at Livermore who's in charge of NIF. "We think we're coming to a new era."
http://www.technologyreview.com/...
Which is really, really sad. Any civilization which needs fusion power to survive is really only one step removed from total and eternal collapse. Fusion power is about as likely as the Rapture ... actually, fusion power is sort of like the Rapture for the technology obsessed.
For those who are seeking a perpetual motion machine, I've got bad news indeed:
Humankind's problems are bigger than electricity.
Which is to say: Even if fusion power or a perpetual motion machine were to miraculously appear in the near future it wouldn't solve humankind's problems. Civilization would still collapse and cease to exist.
Why is this the case? Because:
Life is more than electricity.
Our technology needs electricity to survive but humankind needs much more. On a world with 9 billion people, a significant percentage of which are perpetually impoverished and deprived there is no hope whatsoever of civilization surviving.
On a world which is quickly depleting and exhausting its resources there is no hope whatsoever of civilization surviving.
On a world suffering from rising sea levels and radical climate change there is no hope whatsoever of ciivlization surviving.
If humankind needs either electricity or civilization in order to survive our species won't survive.
Nature is ancient and beautiful and the ultimate survivor but Nature is also harsh and merciless and unsentimental.
Humankind took a big gamble against Nature and our species lost.
Don't entertain any hopes otherwise.
The future of humankind certainly is bleak, much more bleak than anyone imagines. Probably even more bleak than I imagine.
So wave your flags and watch your fireworks and say terrible things about Sarah Palin (a remarkably easy thing to do and also very soothing to the soul) ... but once all of these things have ended you'll still face an impoverished and deprived and technology-less future in the decades ahead.
Enjoy the good days while they last. Spend your time on the beach and enjoy the sunshine.
David Mathews
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