Comments on: IVF and global warming…

By: ricardo

ricardo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:20:08 +0000

I didn’t say that rapid change was not a factor – rather I said that I didn’t think it was the critical one here… I do agree with you that we are not good at adapting quickly – well, when I say that, it does seem to me that we’re brilliant at adapting to changes in the ‘virtual world’ that is our culture – consider how quickly we have adapted to computers, to mobile phones…

and what I mean by ‘virtualization’ is the gap between the cultural, human world we live in and the underlying reality of nature that lies underneath… This ‘virtualization’ is an ongoing process (that is accelerating all the time)… To make this clear… if you consider water. Initially, all of us had to live beside a source of water… it determined the location of our settlements. Then we build acqueducts to carry it over distance. By the time that it is coming out of a tap (faucet?) in our home – the business of getting the water we need to live has become ‘virtualized’… With respect to water we are no longer aligned to its availability in lakes and rivers. As long as our reservoirs remain full, water can be considered to be an abstract utility indistinguishable from the news that appears on our televisions, of the electricity that is magically there in our plugs… There is no need to have any notion where these things come from, personally… so that there are children nowadays that don’t realize that milk come from cows, or eggs from chickens… or even that chicken is a meat from an animal of that name…

By: joy

joy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:58:12 +0000

I disagree in that rapid change is not a factor. I believe humans (or society) handle rapid adaptation poorly. I read an article recently where it was found that snakes are given a higher priority by the human brain than global warning. The scientists in the article theorize that that animal part of the brain is still “driving the ship”.

I’m more curious about this concept of “virtualization”. Can you give me your definition of this phenomenon? Do you refer to supplantation of many aspects of life with internet use (like us talking here *smile* )? Or, do you refer to an aspect of consumerism, where people purchase items that subscribes them to a process whose nature they do not comprehend? Or, perhaps you refer to the tendency toward specialization where any individual is dependent upon society because one cannot even change the oil in the their car if need be?

How is “virtualization” linked to the exploitation of resources?

More information…please.

By: ricardo

ricardo — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:56:14 +0000

It does seem to me that change is occurring more rapidly than before – but I don’t think that that is the critical factor – as much as is the direction in which change is taking us. Specifically, I believe that what we’re experiencing is an ever increasing ‘virtualization’ of our lives – that is, an ever widening gap between the lives we lead and underlying reality… and that what is powering the widening of this gap is the exploitation of natural resources – fossil fuels, wood, water, soil, the oceans… That we privilege youth – a necessary consequence of this virtualization – then becomes a cause of further virtualization (through the action of the natural irresponsibility of youth) – locking us into a (potentially fatal) positive feedback loop…

By: joy

joy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:37:24 +0000

Ha, you have defected to join the celebration of the youth.

I digress: change has always been a part of society; therefore, it must be that change is occuring more rapidly than every before. Youth is now a factor in being better equipped for this new world. As a result, it is more highly regarded, as it produces a superior adaptation.

Then, what is it that you decry? Join the party, and stop mourning.

By: ricardo

ricardo — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:47:17 +0000

I believe there is a critical factor that underlies both the marginalization of the elderly and our obsession with youth: namely, change – the constant, relentless changing of our world. Capitalism coupled with technological development drives a constant transformation of the way life is lived, of the infrastructure of where we live. Furthermore, even our societies are in constant transformation – the relationship between the sexes, between age groups, between people of different cultures. This means that, though the elderly may have accumulated a great store of wisdom, it is, primarily and increasingly, wisdom about the past – in some cases it actually could even be catergorized as prejudice. The young, who naturally specialize in learning and adaptation, are in contrast, by this constant change, put in a position of privilege… and it is they who possess real ‘wisdom’ – if we see that as constituting a knowledge of how the world works… today!

The potential of the internet is, of course, vast. But it seems to me that the real value of information is in the digesting of it. If I may recast your analogy, I would suggest that the problem is not learning how to fish, but rather that the fish are constantly leaping onto our plates in such overwhelming numbers that it is hard to find the time or space in which to cook one… never mind finding a quiet place to eat it… *grin*