
Saved by Sarah Owen
Interview: Kim Stanley Robinson - Farsight
Saved by Sarah Owen
The human psyche naturally rebels against the idea of its end. Likewise, civilizations have throughout history marched blindly toward disaster, because humans are wired to believe that tomorrow will be much like today. . . . Yet the reality of global climate change is going to keep intruding on our fantasies of perpetual growth, permanent innovatio
... See moreThe climate crisis and the Anthropocene have made it clear that our old stories – often fixated on human heroes conquering nature or extracting resources – are inadequate. We need narratives that foreground entanglement: the interdependence of humans, non-human creatures, and the Earth itself.
Whatever changes await us in the future, they are likely to involve a fraternal struggle within a single civilization rather than a clash between alien civilizations. The big challenges of the twenty-first century will be global in nature. What will happen when climate change triggers ecological catastrophes? What will happen when computers outperf
... See more“As a geologist, I think about timescales,” he went on. “The timescale of the climate system is centuries to tens of thousands of years. If we stop CO2 emissions tomorrow, which, of course, is impossible, it’s still going to warm at least for centuries, because the ocean hasn’t equilibrated. That’s just basic physics. We’re not sure how much additi
... See more“As climactic change begins to affect long-range strategic planning for human survival, as the Earth's stocks of pelagic food fish plummet, as dry-land aquifers are drained, we can easily believe we've been shortsighted in a loss of intimacy with place, in largely ignoring the impact geography has on our daily lives.” Barry Lopez from embrace fearl
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