Maybe the real question is not how optimistic we should be, but rather how pessimistic we should be.
It is clear to most of us that today’s out of control hyper-modern global society is unsustainable and headed for collapse due to overconfidence, overconsumption, and ecological overshoot.
But how bad will it get — very bad, or very VERY bad? How pessimistic should we be?
That’s the issue tackled in this fascinating discussion between a science fiction writer and an evolutionary biologist...
@breadandcircuses The one thing I take away from this is: we are spinning out of control and, while I will continue to try to fight it, I don’t expect we are going to stop it. How bad will it get? Probably very VERY bad. This releases me from fretting over the indications that things are only going to get worse. It’s a Dr Strangelove moment. And I prefer that to 1984 myself. Better back to the Stone Age than Brave New World, if I may just mix it all up.
"Peter Watts: And we already live in a world where staging sit-down protests in favor of Native land rights or taking pictures of a factory farm is enough to get you legally defined as a terrorist.
Daniel Brooks: That’s right. Yeah.
Peter Watts: So, how are we not looking at a violent revolution here?
Daniel Brooks: That’s a really good point. I mean, that’s a really critical point."
@breadandcircuses methinks we need to do some scenario planning, considering various ways the population may collapse and how to handle the side effects!