This is a place for the free and honest exchange of ideas about many of the ecological and environmental issues that we face on regular basis. You are encouraged to contribute and share your thoughts with your colleagues in a frank but respectful style. The commentary is NOT moderated so please act responsibly. Let us prove Hardin wrong, at least in this space, cooperation is the way out of the tragedy of the commons!!!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Video Clip
Watch the following video clip and post your comments remarks. I had difficulty in uploading the video and so you have to copy the link into your browser.
I’m not sure if anyone else had a problem with the link and its’ continuous buffering, but I have attached a better copy from YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2-bDb7n_wc
I completely agree with Sanders, innovation can be a great thing, but for the most part innovation over the years has been concentrated on increasing the GDP. Innovation has been used to drive the market and not completely used to sustain the future. We have to educate society as a whole and make them understand that change will not occur for the greater of Earth if we don’t change the way we think and live. Yes, we can all talk about change and wanting change, but we first have to start with the change of our everyday living. Innovation must be driven away from the buying and selling goods and geared more towards a more sustainable way of living. We can work and pour money into new gadgets and other goods, but what good is it if there will no longer be life. More so, I think progressive innovation is initiated when a meeting of the minds occurs and not just people interested in the Environmental field. For true innovation people from all different types of backgrounds and fields of study have to come together. When in a certain field people tend to start to think the same and may only look at a problem from one angle. If you have a diverse group of people the problem can be attacked and viewed upon differently.
I agree with Sanders very much. I feel that if everyone thought like Sanders we would not run into these environmental problems that we are having today. Everyone in society is constantly focused on growing our economy and creating bigger and better objects that will help man kind but in reality it is hurting everyone greatly. We need to begin a new paradigm shift in which we begin to think backwards and slowly move backwards in time so that we will not be affected greatly by the changes but at the same time bring our earth and environment back to a steady setting.
I believe that Sanders has an excellent point when he says that sustainability is about changing mindsets and how it is about people beginning to think differently about everything they do in their lives. This is because if everyone begins to think about sustainability and goes about their lives being more aware and cautionary, not using as much electricity or recycling, it will slowly make a difference. We need to be more aware of what it is we are doing to the planet and how everything we take and do not put back is depleting and soon there will be nothing left. People need to start looking at what they can do to put back to the Earth rather than what they can take out of it. Everything has become about industrialization and maximization of profits and we never stop to think about the consequences, and so people need to move away from those ideologies and onto ones of ensuring that there will be resources available to the future generations, and that we have not stolen all the beauty in the world for what we call “innovation”.
The primary motive of innovation should be to enhance our way of living, and by that I do not mean comfort-ability, I mean quality. If our species was as intelligent as we claim to be, we would not innovate and/or deplete for meaningless purposes. Currently the majority if not all innovations are based on making life easier. Today we can access information using one of our various technological devices, we can get from point A to point B faster, we can obtain food, water and shelter more efficiently. Every year there are even more additions to what what we have already and it's unfortunate that our intelligence is not being used to benefit our species as a whole. Instead our innovations and intelligent minds are focused on products and services that will enhance only certain niches of our planet (developed countries). Even when it comes to innovative ideas contributing to energy and fixing environmental problems, we do the bare minimum in order to maximize monetary value. I always say this, probably because it is true, that money is the motive, therefore our innovations will not be used to their full potential because cost will prevent the most beneficial ideas from launching. For example, our nation has invented extensive amounts of machinery to perform hydro-fracking in order to withdraw the CHEAPEST source of energy possible. Not only will this method destroy our environment but it will not last, so really what is the point? Instead we could use our intelligence to come up with outstanding methods of energy using Wind, water, Sun etc. these sources are inexhaustible and will never run out. Currently wind turbines and solar panels are the primary method, which is expensive, leaving a good enough reason for people to not invest time and money into them. Unfortunately, the result of using our intelligence for meaningless and selfish purposes will only leave our species doomed because nature does not need us, we need nature and soon enough we will be booted off this planet for trying to destroy it.
Dr. Sander Van der Leeuw and I share the same perspective in regards to the 'precautionary principle'. This perspective suggests the need for a paradigm shift in our general way of thinking. Society tends to function and advance based on short-term desires and growth, and because of this, we face the current ecological crisis. The 'precautionary principle' must be applied in order to correct this way of thinking and this way of life, specifically in areas of technological advancement and innovation. We must steer away from the focus on profit and GDP, and instead demand a shift from this current capitalistic paradigm toward a more sustainable and ecologically conscious way of life. This is 100% necessary if we are to correct detrimental consequences on ecosystems (such as rapidly occurring climate change) and if we are to preserve the interests of future generations.
I believe Dr. Sander's take on environmental issues is spot on. We have to educate the public on how severe these issues are before it is irreversible. There are too many people with a "it wont happen in my lifetime so why should I care about it" type of attitude. It will already take a long time to reverse the damage that is done and every day that we don't do something it gets worse. People have to know that buying "green" friendly products could cause more harm then good. This is why Dr. Sander's speaks about innovation. Innovation is not a bad thing and in some cases can be very beneficial, but we as a society have to decide whether or not we need certain innovations. Making a good product better is not necessary and only hurts the environment. If Apple decided to make the Iphone 5 more efficient instead of worrying about what the Iphone 6 will do we would be a lot better of. Until companies realize this we will keep heading down the wrong path and eventually we will run out of resources to make the things we really need work.
I agree with Sander's views on sustainability as a point of view. Sustainability pushes for consideration of the health of future generations and the environment. Unfortunately, this is no longer a 'natural instinct' for many people who have lost their touch with the natural world.
I would have to agree with Dr. Sander 100%. There are environmental problems and people choose to disregard these problems. In 1962 it was announced that there are environmental harm that was taking place and if we didn't change our way of living then the Earth will suffer. I do see the business side to this whole problem. The more they produce the more money they will make. They choose not to stop their production or to change the way that they produce because in many cases it's cheaper to produce products in a non-eco-friendly way but this is the kind of mind set that we must change. We must make that change regardless if the change is profitable or not. Dr. Sanders emphasized the fact that people did know that the world was in trouble but they chose nothing to do about it but if changes were made back then to help the environment then we human kind would not be in such a pit that we are in now. We need to move along with the trend as Dr. Sanders stated. We should not wait until the scientist tell us what we already know; that we are in environmental trouble. We should not focus on raising the GDP of countries but instead focus on the environment.
Sanders brings up some very good points concerning our rate of growth and how it may present problems for us in the future. I agree and feel that current issues involving not only the environment, but other aspects of life such as the economy as well, would benefit more from a change in how they are handled as opposed to an attempt to increase their growth through production rates and employment. While this may mask any hidden underlying issues, they will not solve anything, but will probably just make matters worse in the years to come.
I agree with Sanders in that we need to take the precautionary approach until we have definitive answers from science regarding environmental issues. I think it's silly of human beings to continue to grow and expand without knowing how it will affect us in the long run. I think it's important to shift our attention from innovation of new toys and gadgets and start focusing on building a sustainable life for ourselves. I am also inspired by Sanders' attitude towards his Champion of the Earth Award. He is treating it so that it does not reward him for the work he's done but it propels him to work harder and continue to spread the knowledge.
Sanders contends that moving between sciences and different cultures creates new ideas and innovations. The case studies he brought up provided strong evidence that since society did not heed the warning signs for environmental problems to come, now we have a big problem on our hands. He encourages people to work with the trend and think ahead. Most innovation is driven by demand. innovation goes faster and faster so we can grow and grow. However, this adds to the problem. We need to learn how the process of innvoation works and use innovation approaches to lay foundation for sustainability. i agree that sustainability is all about changing life styles and cultures and groups can make a huge difference by doing this.
I agree with Sander's ideas on how we need to "work with the trend" in order to make real changes in today's society and reverse the harmful effects that we have caused upon our atmosphere. We need to create a sustainable environment, which will only come from those who put their entire mindset into it. People have taken advantage of nature, and need to recognize the true causes of why our earth's environment is being destroyed. The more that people become involved in changing their own way of life, the more natural it will be for all human beings, and will ultimately contribute in restoring the earth's environment in a natural and sustainable way.
Society has lost its in-site on the natural world leaving us infatuated with money, value and social classes. We as a society should be infatuated with the earth, the green world that needs attention and taking care off. Greed to have the biggest and the best affects us more than we realize because the green we see in our eyes is money. What we fail to realize is that we are have to change our way of thinking, our ways of lives to see the change in full effect. I agree with Dr.Sanders thoughts because everything his ideas are the way things should be. if only it was that easy for to change.
I believe that Saunders has a great mindset on how we as humans should think about our economies and lives. Continuous growth is not an option for any country in a world with limited resources, and the earth is a closed system. People need to come together and realize that more growth and technology is not the answer. We need to focus on sustainable lifestyles if we want to prolong our time here on eath. "sustainability is all about changing mindsets" I think what Saunders means by this is that sustainability is not just a fad, but a way to live. We must follow the precausionary principle with every action we take, even if it means losing out on new technology. Being more cautious and aware about how our lifestyles affect the world is the only way to make sure we have a long future
14 comments:
I’m not sure if anyone else had a problem with the link and its’ continuous buffering, but I have attached a better copy from YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2-bDb7n_wc
I completely agree with Sanders, innovation can be a great thing, but for the most part innovation over the years has been concentrated on increasing the GDP. Innovation has been used to drive the market and not completely used to sustain the future. We have to educate society as a whole and make them understand that change will not occur for the greater of Earth if we don’t change the way we think and live. Yes, we can all talk about change and wanting change, but we first have to start with the change of our everyday living. Innovation must be driven away from the buying and selling goods and geared more towards a more sustainable way of living. We can work and pour money into new gadgets and other goods, but what good is it if there will no longer be life. More so, I think progressive innovation is initiated when a meeting of the minds occurs and not just people interested in the Environmental field. For true innovation people from all different types of backgrounds and fields of study have to come together. When in a certain field people tend to start to think the same and may only look at a problem from one angle. If you have a diverse group of people the problem can be attacked and viewed upon differently.
I agree with Sanders very much. I feel that if everyone thought like Sanders we would not run into these environmental problems that we are having today. Everyone in society is constantly focused on growing our economy and creating bigger and better objects that will help man kind but in reality it is hurting everyone greatly. We need to begin a new paradigm shift in which we begin to think backwards and slowly move backwards in time so that we will not be affected greatly by the changes but at the same time bring our earth and environment back to a steady setting.
I believe that Sanders has an excellent point when he says that sustainability is about changing mindsets and how it is about people beginning to think differently about everything they do in their lives. This is because if everyone begins to think about sustainability and goes about their lives being more aware and cautionary, not using as much electricity or recycling, it will slowly make a difference. We need to be more aware of what it is we are doing to the planet and how everything we take and do not put back is depleting and soon there will be nothing left. People need to start looking at what they can do to put back to the Earth rather than what they can take out of it. Everything has become about industrialization and maximization of profits and we never stop to think about the consequences, and so people need to move away from those ideologies and onto ones of ensuring that there will be resources available to the future generations, and that we have not stolen all the beauty in the world for what we call “innovation”.
The primary motive of innovation should be to enhance our way of living, and by that I do not mean comfort-ability, I mean quality. If our species was as intelligent as we claim to be, we would not innovate and/or deplete for meaningless purposes. Currently the majority if not all innovations are based on making life easier. Today we can access information using one of our various technological devices, we can get from point A to point B faster, we can obtain food, water and shelter more efficiently. Every year there are even more additions to what what we have already and it's unfortunate that our intelligence is not being used to benefit our species as a whole. Instead our innovations and intelligent minds are focused on products and services that will enhance only certain niches of our planet (developed countries). Even when it comes to innovative ideas contributing to energy and fixing environmental problems, we do the bare minimum in order to maximize monetary value. I always say this, probably because it is true, that money is the motive, therefore our innovations will not be used to their full potential because cost will prevent the most beneficial ideas from launching. For example, our nation has invented extensive amounts of machinery to perform hydro-fracking in order to withdraw the CHEAPEST source of energy possible. Not only will this method destroy our environment but it will not last, so really what is the point? Instead we could use our intelligence to come up with outstanding methods of energy using Wind, water, Sun etc. these sources are inexhaustible and will never run out. Currently wind turbines and solar panels are the primary method, which is expensive, leaving a good enough reason for people to not invest time and money into them. Unfortunately, the result of using our intelligence for meaningless and selfish purposes will only leave our species doomed because nature does not need us, we need nature and soon enough we will be booted off this planet for trying to destroy it.
Dr. Sander Van der Leeuw and I share the same perspective in regards to the 'precautionary principle'. This perspective suggests the need for a paradigm shift in our general way of thinking. Society tends to function and advance based on short-term desires and growth, and because of this, we face the current ecological crisis. The 'precautionary principle' must be applied in order to correct this way of thinking and this way of life, specifically in areas of technological advancement and innovation. We must steer away from the focus on profit and GDP, and instead demand a shift from this current capitalistic paradigm toward a more sustainable and ecologically conscious way of life. This is 100% necessary if we are to correct detrimental consequences on ecosystems (such as rapidly occurring climate change) and if we are to preserve the interests of future generations.
I believe Dr. Sander's take on environmental issues is spot on. We have to educate the public on how severe these issues are before it is irreversible. There are too many people with a "it wont happen in my lifetime so why should I care about it" type of attitude. It will already take a long time to reverse the damage that is done and every day that we don't do something it gets worse. People have to know that buying "green" friendly products could cause more harm then good. This is why Dr. Sander's speaks about innovation. Innovation is not a bad thing and in some cases can be very beneficial, but we as a society have to decide whether or not we need certain innovations. Making a good product better is not necessary and only hurts the environment. If Apple decided to make the Iphone 5 more efficient instead of worrying about what the Iphone 6 will do we would be a lot better of. Until companies realize this we will keep heading down the wrong path and eventually we will run out of resources to make the things we really need work.
I agree with Sander's views on sustainability as a point of view. Sustainability pushes for consideration of the health of future generations and the environment. Unfortunately, this is no longer a 'natural instinct' for many people who have lost their touch with the natural world.
I would have to agree with Dr. Sander 100%. There are environmental problems and people choose to disregard these problems. In 1962 it was announced that there are environmental harm that was taking place and if we didn't change our way of living then the Earth will suffer. I do see the business side to this whole problem. The more they produce the more money they will make. They choose not to stop their production or to change the way that they produce because in many cases it's cheaper to produce products in a non-eco-friendly way but this is the kind of mind set that we must change. We must make that change regardless if the change is profitable or not. Dr. Sanders emphasized the fact that people did know that the world was in trouble but they chose nothing to do about it but if changes were made back then to help the environment then we human kind would not be in such a pit that we are in now. We need to move along with the trend as Dr. Sanders stated. We should not wait until the scientist tell us what we already know; that we are in environmental trouble. We should not focus on raising the GDP of countries but instead focus on the environment.
Sanders brings up some very good points concerning our rate of growth and how it may present problems for us in the future. I agree and feel that current issues involving not only the environment, but other aspects of life such as the economy as well, would benefit more from a change in how they are handled as opposed to an attempt to increase their growth through production rates and employment. While this may mask any hidden underlying issues, they will not solve anything, but will probably just make matters worse in the years to come.
I agree with Sanders in that we need to take the precautionary approach until we have definitive answers from science regarding environmental issues. I think it's silly of human beings to continue to grow and expand without knowing how it will affect us in the long run. I think it's important to shift our attention from innovation of new toys and gadgets and start focusing on building a sustainable life for ourselves. I am also inspired by Sanders' attitude towards his Champion of the Earth Award. He is treating it so that it does not reward him for the work he's done but it propels him to work harder and continue to spread the knowledge.
Sanders contends that moving between sciences and different cultures creates new ideas and innovations. The case studies he brought up provided strong evidence that since society did not heed the warning signs for environmental problems to come, now we have a big problem on our hands. He encourages people to work with the trend and think ahead. Most innovation is driven by demand. innovation goes faster and faster so we can grow and grow. However, this adds to the problem. We need to learn how the process of innvoation works and use innovation approaches to lay foundation for sustainability. i agree that sustainability is all about changing life styles and cultures and groups can make a huge difference by doing this.
I agree with Sander's ideas on how we need to "work with the trend" in order to make real changes in today's society and reverse the harmful effects that we have caused upon our atmosphere. We need to create a sustainable environment, which will only come from those who put their entire mindset into it. People have taken advantage of nature, and need to recognize the true causes of why our earth's environment is being destroyed. The more that people become involved in changing their own way of life, the more natural it will be for all human beings, and will ultimately contribute in restoring the earth's environment in a natural and sustainable way.
Society has lost its in-site on the natural world leaving us infatuated with money, value and social classes. We as a society should be infatuated with the earth, the green world that needs attention and taking care off. Greed to have the biggest and the best affects us more than we realize because the green we see in our eyes is money. What we fail to realize is that we are have to change our way of thinking, our ways of lives to see the change in full effect. I agree with Dr.Sanders thoughts because everything his ideas are the way things should be. if only it was that easy for to change.
I believe that Saunders has a great mindset on how we as humans should think about our economies and lives. Continuous growth is not an option for any country in a world with limited resources, and the earth is a closed system. People need to come together and realize that more growth and technology is not the answer. We need to focus on sustainable lifestyles if we want to prolong our time here on eath. "sustainability is all about changing mindsets" I think what Saunders means by this is that sustainability is not just a fad, but a way to live. We must follow the precausionary principle with every action we take, even if it means losing out on new technology. Being more cautious and aware about how our lifestyles affect the world is the only way to make sure we have a long future
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