702 - The Temptation of The Technofix 2 (Have We Got Too Much Technology)

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Episode #702 - The Temptation of The Technofix 2 (Have We Got Too Much Technology?)

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⌚ Sat 13 December 2014  ☻John Michael Greer, Gar Smith, David Ehrenfeld, Mary Reynolds-Thompson, Jeanette Armstrong, Lisi Krall, Stephanie Mills

Download Hour1 Download Hour2We continue listening in on the October 2014 International Forum on Globalization conference "Techno-Utopianism & the Fate of the Earth". Seven speakers with contrasting styles and material manage to paint a pretty consistent picture of an economically justified technological development unhinged from our truly human values, one that is unsettling and depressing humans in ways beyond out conscious comprehension.

All our audio is drawn from the IFG conference we first heard in episode 701. We begin with a fairly straightforward and forthright piece by John Michael Greer on technology's history of broken promises. Next we hear Gar Smith from the Earth Island Institute, who notes that humanity is busy creating robots even as our technology is devastating real life. His talk on "Robots, Nature and the Singularity" gives a history of robots as well as looking at recent developments sponsored by the US military.

Next we hear Mary Reynolds-Thompson, author of Live Your Wild Soul Story. She argues that human technology has tamed us, and as we destroy life on earth, we destroy ourselves. Why? She rejects the idea that human destruction of the earth stems from delusions of superiority or from original sin, but instead suggests that it is an expression of the pain of our loss. We are wounded and disoriented, she says, by the ongoing destruction around us and we urgently need to awaken from our deluded and numbed state to save what we can of the planet's once so abundant life.

Reminding us of the grand (and apparently empty) promises made by the gene sequencers, and using as an example the passenger pigeon, David Ehrenfeld challenges the idea that "de-extinction" may be the solution to the earth's ecological problems. Next we hear Jeanette Armstrong who speaks on how the Okinawa way of relating to the natural world, which she summarizes as "being who we should be". The wisdom of indigenous knowledge emphasizes their acceptance of limits. Lisi Krall challenges anthropocentrism by exploring the "economic evolution of dominion".

Stephanie Mills concludes our show with her talk on "Everyday Life in the Modern World". She recommends seeking a healthy relationship to the land, encouraging a mindful approach to life in the modern world, resisting the draws of modern technology. Sidelining our electronic devices, she suggests will help us "live life with a capital 'L'".
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