9/1/06
Eric & all,
It’s good to feel one’s way along, with new things particularly.   The modern world sort of requires that you get rid of that old fashioned idea though…   People end up acting in bigger and bigger ways, not looking at the effects.  One of the things that I like most about Eric’s observations is that conservation isn’t important if it’s clearing a wider path for the problem, mindless growth.  Â
It’s good to feel one’s way along, with new things particularly.   The modern world sort of requires that you get rid of that old fashioned idea though…   People end up acting in bigger and bigger ways, not looking at the effects.  One of the things that I like most about Eric’s observations is that conservation isn’t important if it’s clearing a wider path for the problem, mindless growth.  Â
Some see it as particularly deflating to find fault with what feels best to us, but then don’t learn the basic principle, it’s not the feelings, it’s the whole effect.  To me, finding unusually big reasons to be sharply and deeply pessimistic about our world, is also a great reason for optimism.  Most signs point to mankind being at an intellectual dead end, having conquered nature without a clue as to what to do with it.   So, we must be missing something.  Finding surprising ways in which our best intentions are consistently backwards might be a start.
Phil Henshaw                      ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸