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user:tkresock:start [2020/01/05 00:02] tkresockuser:tkresock:start [2020/05/19 07:55] tkresock
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-Hello readerswelcome to my wiki!+\\ 
 +\\ 
 +Just Give me a home,\\ 
 +where UNIX is known.\\ 
 +where the Internet and\\ 
 +Computer run Free.\\ 
 +\\ 
 +Where seldom abode,\\  
 +any lack of pure code\\ 
 +and all the systems\\  
 +run GNU, every day!\\ 
 +\\ 
 +\\ 
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------\\ 
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------\\ 
 +URGENT MESSAGE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY\\ 
 +\\ 
 +The history of technology is a long and ever advancing series of innovations.  Each step along the journey has created many new products along with an elevated status of the human experience.  Many of these changes are very good and highly beneficial for us, but the cost of proceeding in this manner has become too great. As new products are made and demand increases, more and more resources are taken from the natural world to the point of catastrophy. As the strain upon the planet grows worse and worse, rapid innovations coupled with ever increasing use of fossil fuels accelerates the damage.  True progress is something that benefits society without destroying the planet.  What is needed today is a new process that redefines the status-quo, allowing humanity to continue without exterminating the life of the planet in the process.  
 + 
 +Conservation and large scale co-operation is essential in order to ensure the sustainability of society.  The motivation behind the present economy, namely profit, ought not come at the expense of our environment or future.  This means our entire system needs to change, as stated by Greta Thurnberg(1), Swedish child activist in 2018.  A new change is needed that is on the scale of the original industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. 
 + 
 +Another side effect that has been caused by the rapid changes in the technology of today is an ever growing landfill of old technology that is not being used to it’s full potential. Instead, it is being out-dated and thrown away too rapidly, an extensive topic beautifully and very scientifically illustrated by writer Paul Gilding in a talk given in 2012(2).  
 + 
 +Personal freedom and security are also at risk of exploitation in a system motivated by profit without barriers.  The makers’ motivations tempt them into controlling their consumers in order to ensure continued and increased business.  People are an important part of the process and resources are precious. GNU says the rights of technology users ought to be protected(3).  Neither should their technologies be obsoleted intentionally by the manufacturer.   
 + 
 +Neither should industry or transportation or agriculture pollute so much.  Pollution has reached epic levels and continues to rise.  Unless something is done immediately, the entire weather system on the planet will destabilize further. 
 +Without action now, it will only get worse.  In an interview with the new scientist last year(2019), Helen Sharman the first British citizen in space commented that as a scientist her biggest concern was climate change “above and beyond anything else”.(4) 
 + 
 +Doug Tompkins, co-founder of retail brands ‘the North Face’ and ‘Esprit’ shares his 
 +analysis and opinions in an interview with Jo Confino of ‘the Guardian’. He speaks of the modern “techno-industrial culture that is destroying the world”.  Deeply influenced by the environmental philosophy of Arnes Naess, who spoke of ‘deep ecology’ vs. shallow ecology. Tompkins argues systematic analysis and technology criticism are crucial to the conservation of natural resources.(5) 
 + 
 +Technology can be frightening as well as amazing.  Artificially Intelligent, autonomous technology would be amazing, but an artificial intelligence gone rogue seems like a larger danger.  If machines learn to program themselves, they begin making decisions on their own, without human intervention. Machines acting for themselves beyond humans control could be bad or good, but some like Steven Hawking have argued the risk is too great of a threat.(6)  Others like Garry Kasparov think that humans could benefit from working together with computers more closely.(7)  
 +After all, we need all the help we can get. 
 + 
 + 
 +The subject of the preservation of all life on planet earth is deeply serious and the situation in our global ecology is alarming.  If humanity, technology, and industry are all going to co-exist, without destroying the earth, drastic changes must be made now.  Unless the will of industry, government, and the public is strong enough to create a different way of doing business, nothing will change. 
 + 
 +Maybe part of the solution would be for humans to learn to use the technology they already have, better.  Before engineers build another technology that gets out of control, before we exhaust all the resources available to us, before politicians enact more laws, why don’t we become better stewards of what we already have?  As new changes to the climate hurt the economy controlled by the rich and powerful more and more, maybe they will act to stop burning fossil fuels when the danger hits their pocketbook, though it’s bound to bankrupt the rest of us far sooner.   
 + 
 +I doubt very much these changes will occur, but just because I do not have a solution and cannot see a way forward doesn’t mean there isn’t one.  All of the efficiency in the world won’t bring back one extinct species or another lost ecosystem, but we can do our part by sharing some of the urgency within our circle of influence and work together with other like minded people to bring more attention to the crisis.  We can complain about it.  We should each examine our own lives as well, and think about the environmental impacts of our purchases and habits have before we buy, which is one of the few powers we have.  If we care about the planet, if we care about our future and our children's future we need to act quickly before it's too late. 
 + 
 +Technology has led us to this point, and the need to use it effectively may be a critical part of the solution.  I urge you to follow my links and think about this message seriously.   
 +\\ 
 +\\ 
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 +\\ 
 +sources: 
 + 
 +
 +Greta Thunberg, "The disarming case to act right now on climate change" 
 +TEDxStockholm | November 2018 
 + 
 +
 +Paul Gilding, "The Earth is Full" 
 +TED2012 | February 2012 
 + 
 +
 +gnu.org, “Proprietary Software is often Malware” 
 +https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html | 2012/05/03 
 + 
 +
 +Adam Vaughan, "I am angered by the fact that we are destroying Earth"  
 +New Scientist.9/28/2019, Vol.243 Issue 3249, p42-43 
 + 
 +
 +Jo Confino, "How technology has stopped evolution and is destroying the world" theguardian.com | Interview with Doug Tompkins, Jul 11, 2013 
 + 
 +
 +Sydney Geib, Lehigh University "Is Technology Destroying the World?" theodysseyonline.com | Feb 29, 2016 
 + 
 +
 +Garry Kasparov, “Don’t fear intelligent Machines. Work with them” 
 +TED2017 | April 2017  
user/tkresock/start.txt · Last modified: 2020/05/19 08:17 by tkresock