we don't need to change how we do conservation, we need to change why we do it

FELLOW INTELLIGENCE: if Sexual Selection is the Language of Nature

…“Believe me,” said Horton. “I tell you sincerely, my eyes are quite open and I see him quite clearly. I know there’s a person who’s out there beyond us, and a person’s a person, no matter how humongous.  — apologies to Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who.   Excerpts from Darwin, Dogen, and the Extremophile Choice. …

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Please Understand!

Please understand: The power of Greta has nothing to do with who she is or even with what she says — “Listen to the scientists, not me”. The POWER of Greta is in what she represents: The raw cries of our children’s children from out of the silence of a depleted future world! PLEASE UNDERSTAND! …

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What Constrains the Ecocidal Nature of Human Technology? A Deep Time View of the Climate Crisis

Frans de Waal: “…  the survival of chimpanzees is quite dependent on tools … [and the great apes in general appear to use] a representational mental strategy, which allows solutions before action … but I consider us the only linguistic species.” — Chapter: Redefining Man. In an age of post truth media, finding something we …

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Three Directions for Climate Activism.

A once and future self: “… some readers might understandably demur when I say nothing at all about burning issues like climate change. I can only respond that, as you will see, it is not my purpose, in what I hope will become a dispassionate Man and Nature conversation, to distract our minds with reflexive …

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What Will You Say to Your Grandchildren? — a Guest Post by Jeremy Lent

This is a wonderful answer to those who feel it’s too late to mitigate climate change. I’ve got to tell you that I’m getting far more vehemently negative responses to the petition in the previous post (An Elders Appeal for Immediate Action on Climate Change) than I am getting positive responses.  I prefer to think …

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An Elders Appeal for Immediate Action on Climate Change

The following is my attempt at a fairly comprehensive synopsis of various exchanges with Frank Thompson, Merry Bridges, and Stephen Héder in Parry Sound Ont. (The formal petition with abridged wording is available for signing at the bottom) The petition, and this longer blog post, are meant to support both the Student Climate Campaign and …

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About Pipelines, Again: The Video

Terry and Ken “interview” number 4. Terry gets to speak this time. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS CONVERSATION TOOK PLACE BEFORE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS ANNOUNCED WE ONLY HAD 12 YEARS TO BRING CARBON EMISSIONS DOWN TO A SAFE LEVEL. An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his …

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Indigi-Futurism, the Video

“[McLuhan’s maelstrom story] is a marvelous metaphor for the way to keep one’s head above water in a changing world. Rather than be sucked into a yawning, gaping mess, be nimble and analyze the broader scope of what’s going on. Don’t hang on to something that’s going to drag you down. You may not like …

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Science, Philosophy, and the Media: Why the Extremophile Choice is such a hard sell

“A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.”  — Marshal McLuhan  “Almost all new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced” — Alfred North Whitehead  God, I love to talk about ‘Natural Philosophy’! Terry hardly gets a word in edgewise. But you’ll be …

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Terry and I Discuss Rewilding for a small (500 acre) property bordered on three sides by crown land

The end of this clip has been cut off (Camera timed out). But you can assume that, following the very last comment, “SO MY ONLY PROPOSAL IS THAT WE LIMIT THOSE THINGS [referring to humanized ecosystems]” I finished the sentence by saying: “AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY AND AS FAR AS PRESENT TECHNOLOGIES ALLOW”. Or you can …

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