In Search of Sustainable Energy and Culture

Greg S. Cassel
Jul 10, 2017 · 1 min read

Many people argue online about climate change and life in the distant future. I try not to speculate much personally, because I have more important (in fact urgent) creative goals.

However, I’d bet that by the end of this century, we’ll have either survived or NOT survived our immediate need for transitions to:

(1) sustainable energy systems

(2) automation of most predictable work

Note that (2) is more of a cultural than physical need. I.e.: it seems possible so people WILL pursue it, in both fair and unfair ways.

Each of those transitions is a huge social challenge, and also includes some technical uncertainties. For example: we may eventually switch to plentiful sustainable energy, but we may also face transitional energy shortages which disrupt desired lifestyles.

These speculations have two points:

(1) realizing both of those goals could mitigate most if not all of the long-term “doomsday” effects of climate change.

(2) However, I sincerely fear that we’ll never pursue those goals sufficiently if people keep arguing online about what life will be like in 80+ years, which has become a practically unimaginable span.

Speculations about 22nd century life tend more towards science fantasy than science fiction. (Never mind science per se — always rare in popular culture.)

I think that almost everyone could agree on the two goals I’ve identified, and I sure wish more people would focus on them with challenging dialogue, decisions and work.

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Greg S. Cassel

Written by

P2P networking design, consciousness-raising and practivism. Protocols>platforms, communication>control. https://github.com/gcassel

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