3 ms·
> I'm exhausted of this consumer society that quashes all appreciation for the dynamic, the non-linear, the relationships of the micro to the macro, of the indi
by busyant 8y ago
> I'm exhausted of this consumer society that quashes all appreciation for the dynamic, the non-linear, the relationships of the micro to the macro, of the individual to the mass, of ecologies.
I used to work as a microbiologist / geneticist. One of the standard exercises that beginning microbiology students perform is to
* take a small number of bacteria
* inoculate the bacteria into a sterile container of liquid "food"
* measure bacterial growth in the container versus time
Once the bacteria get going, there's an exponential explosion in their growth. "Exponential" growth continues until they begin to exhaust their resources (food). I used to think about that a lot ("How dumb the bacteria are. They can't plan for the future. They're unaware of how they fit into the larger picture and they just 'race' w/ each other until they deplete their own resources.").
Collectively, I'm not sure we are much different.
- rleigh 8y agoI did the same experiment, and often have the same thought. We might be intelligent, but collectively we do seem to act in the same manner.
- rhacker 8y agoreminds me of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w
- gambler 8y agoThere is an old lecture that draws this exact parallel: "Arithmetic, Population and Energy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O133ppiVnWY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O133ppiVnWY
- Brockenstein 8y ago>Collectively, I'm not sure we are much different. I'm sure we're not. Individually we can recognize the a problem. However the problem is there's a lot of people and they all have different ideas about what the problem is, how serious the problem is, how immediate or drastic any action needs to be taken etc. Not to mention those who deny there's even a problem at all. Or people believe we don't need to do anything because the big brains will magic the problem away with some science if we throw enough money at the problem. Try to get anything meaningful done with that mish mosh of characters running the show.
- monetus 8y agoI've always seen GDP used as the measure of that speed.