Random thoughts about the "end of the world"...

I think I've found the solution to all of our problems...

If you haven't felt it by now we have somewhat of a series of serious problems going on with how our planet affords the resources AND conditions necessary for life as we know it to push forward. The following are major issues every human should be aware of and they are (Rockström et al., 2009):

1. climate change
2. ocean acidification
3. chemical pollution
4. rate of biodiversity loss
5. land-system change
6. global freshwater-use
7. stratospheric ozone depletion
8. atmospheric aerosol loading
9. change in biogeochemical flows (such as carbon and nitrogen cycling)

The human-induced Anthropocene (Crutzen, 2002) is increasing in amplitude and how the planet continues to respond is a guess that even the most prominent probabilists are having trouble keeping up with (weather forecasting, for example). So what's our role in all of this?

An example of 500 mbar geopotential height and absolute vorticity prediction from a numerical weather prediction model.

Human beings have been blessed with a neocortex that has offered us the capability to survive through some rather treacherous times. This ability allows us to think, and reason.

We live in a world that is shaped by the aggregation of our collective works and actions. This idea could also lend itself to all other organisms who work alongside our own efforts in creating a system of chemical exchange that allows us to both breathe and build monuments of human proportion. 

Now how does this apply to the computer screen you're looking at? The screen in front of you came from extracted resources from all over the world. Not only did the extraction of those resources create chemical changes, but so too did the manufacture, distribution, and actual use of the very screen in front of you. Touch it. What you're feeling is the work of hundreds of other human beings passing things around just this screen could be in front of you. Pretty nifty, but what questions should we be asking in the process of our materialized and manufactured world?

It's pretty obvious that all of the materials we touch, use, and purchase came from somewhere and will go to somewhere else. Most of us do not think twice about this process let alone recognize if there is any actual sort of natural breakdown cycle to these products once they are produced. This is another aspect of our bigger problem. Many of us use resources in ways that only serve our microcosmic necessities and therefore it's difficult to see how everything ties together. I beg to ask the question, are we aware of the bigger global impact of our consumer needs, are we ignorant to these impacts, or are we unaware of the role we play? I believe in the collective efficacy of the human spirit and the ability we have to do great things (#optimism101). We must hold one another accountable if we're going to have a realistic shot at changing the direction we're going in (which really isn't that good right now).

Tough questions but questions we need to be asking ourselves if we're going to have any chance of avoiding a regression* of treacherous times.

*ORIGIN late Middle English (as a noun): from Latin regressus, from regredi ‘go back, return,’ from re- ‘back’ + gradi ‘walk.’

So how can we begin to change our behavior so that we lessen our negative impacts on the planet?


I would argue that the first step is to recognize how it is that we, ourselves, contribute. This is probably the most difficult part as this takes a level of metacognition and self-reflection that many of us have not be given the skill-set to accomplish. But this is an illusion. We do have an intrinsic sense to think about ourselves in the living world but unless we dedicate time toward practicing higher levels of awareness and compassion, it will never be fully realized. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we're actually doing it.

So....here we are looking at global problems with a touch of our own psychology. How can we begin to assess our own behavior to make changes? Do we feel we need to make a change?

Changing behavior, if needed, will require making tough decisions as the pattern of our lifestyle could change (this isn't always a bad thing, think of addicts who have successfully detached from their vices). I found the following to be an interesting approach to making wise and humanely decisions. Consider how Benjamin Franklin suggested the following advice to the British scientist Joseph Priestley about how to make a difficult choice:

My way is to divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then, during three or four days consideration, I put down under the different heads short hints of the different motives, that at different times occur to me, for or against each measure … I find at length where the balance lies; and if, after a day or two of further consideration, nothing new that is of importance occurs on either side, I come to a determination accordingly … When each [reason] is thus considered, separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I can judge better, and am less likely to make a rash step. (Wilson & Schooler, 1991; Goodman, 1945, p. 746).

Global problems do need our attention and the best way to get in the game is to see where you're positioned. Let's think for a second and make a list of the planetary problems listed earlier. Let's ask ourselves what do we know of these problems, what is our impact, and what can we do to make things better? Join me and give it a try. Can you think of what these problems mean and how they may affect you and your lifestyle? I'm going to pause and cogitate on my own role....

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Crutzen, P. J. (2002). Geology of mankind. Nature, 415(6867), 23–23.

Goodman, N. G. (Ed.), (1945). A Benjamin Franklin reader. New York. Crowell.

Rockström, J., Steffen, W. L., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin III, F. S., Lambin, E., ... & Foley, J. (2009). Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity.

Wilson, T. D., & Schooler, J. W. (1991). Thinking too much: introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(2), 181–192.