Neotropical Biology and Global Change
War, Waste, and Moneylenders: Factoring social and economic instability into ecological catastrophe and the decline of western civilization
"If war, waste, and moneylenders were abolished, you'd collapse. And while you people are over consuming the rest of the world sinks more and more deeply into chronic disaster… as prosperity goes down political ruthlessness and one-party rule, nationalism and bellicosity begin to rise."
-Aldous Huxley, Island
Civilization shifting: a new leaderless era
"...the Earth system cannot support an exponentially increasing human population adhering to the normative standards of industrial civilization. Systemic alteration is inevitable, and the recent success of self-organizing, leaderless revolutions as well as open-source collaborative movements reveal powerful alternatives. These developing trends may evolve into the framework for complex societies that are immune to many of the inherent shortcomings of ‘Business-as-Usual’ practices, and can adapt rapidly to modern global change conditions..."
Earth systems disruption: Does 2011 indicate the “new normal” of climate chaos and conflict?
"In the modern, globalized world the stability of individual nations and bioregions is intimately connected. The boundaries and delineations we accept in terms of geopolitics and cartography do not reflect the reality of the Earth System, nor its sensitivity and intense interconnectivity."
Ryan King: The Global Brain Storm – Interview with Robert Steele on Collective Intelligence & Global Change
"In humankind, collective intelligence encompasses the vast repository of thoughts, analytical knowledge, technical skills, ideas and ideals, as well as emotive responses that have withstood the pressures of cultural selection since the origins of symbolic communication. This assemblage of information and awareness molds and manipulates human social behavior, guiding the decisions and actions we take as singular individuals or massive, connected social groups..."