

Pandora's Seed: The Costs of Civilization - roqetman
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/pandoras_seed/

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tjmaxal
Society is changing too Fast! We're all doomed! Technology = Bad , but book
sales = Very good!

This kind of intellectual conservatism is tantamount to asking the whole world
to stick their fingers in their ears and pretend that we would be better off
as tribal hunter gathers.

It's a bunch of unsupportable nonsense designed to sell this guy's book.

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ovi256
I don't think that's a fair review of the article. He seems very well on the
side of accepting progress, he is a scientist after all. He is simply saying:
"Well, there are these problems we should do something about, and it looks to
me they were caused by sedentarization and invention of agriculture". Hardly
reactionary.

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clistctrl
That was a really great article!

A thought that has been swirling around my mind for a while that i'm reminded
of again as I was reading. Technological innovation seems to be on an
exponential curve, as well as consumption (and I believe population) the earth
being what it is these rates by any sane persons measures cannot continue
indefinitely. How does nature find a balance?

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MichaelSalib
_innovation seems to be on an exponential curve, as well as consumption (and I
believe population) the earth being what it is_

In technologically advanced societies, the birth rate tends to decline, often
below the replacement rate. Check out birth rates for most of western Europe
for example. Having many many children is not actually pleasant for most
people and when they have modern medicine that reduces child mortality, they
typically choose to have a small number of children. Cultures don't change
instantaneously, so sometimes these changes take a generation or two, but they
do seem to happen.

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0ffworlder
If technology continues to increase at the current rate will global warming
(if it is even caused by humans) and diseases caused by a westernized culture
be an issue? Think about the ~1.5 degrees possible surface temperature change
on the earth versus the possibility for space travel and colonization.

