Topic: Belief

Latest

[ Episode #37 // Techno-Fix ]

Mar 4 2012

Are you optimistic about technology? Let's talk about why. Could the majority of our proposed technological solutions be doing little more than kicking the can down the road towards ecological collapse? Politicians and economists speak of the ability for technological innovation to boost and grow economies, yet where does their techno optimism come from? Do technologies hold intrinsic values or are they neutral tools that are misused by a species with the wrong intentions?

In Extraenvironmentalist #37 we discuss technological optimism with Dr. Michael Huesemann. Michael explains his fifteen year study into environmental science and philosophies of technology as outlined in his recent book Techno-Fix, co-written with his wife Joyce Huesemann. Is there an inherent reason that the United States is the most technologically optimistic culture in the world? We ask if he has advice for students who are thinking about careers in advanced science and about the value systems embedded in technological systems.

Be sure to visit the Techno-Fix website and to pick up a copy of Techno-Fix if you want to learn more about the limitations of technology in addressing our global problems.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Dusty Springfield - Spooky via IndieShuffle
St. Lucia - We Got It Wrong via Consequence of Sound
CHLLNGR - Change via Soundcloud
Santigold - Disparate Youth via Skeetbeatz
Summer Camp - Losing My Mind via All Things Go Music

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[First Break]
Jason Silva - Techno-Optimism
Bush on Google
Ray Kurzweil Explains the Coming Singularity
Michio Kaku - Are We Ready for the Coming Age of Abundance
[Second Break]
MPR: America's Crumbling Infrastructure
Activists Publicly Pray For Lower Gas Prices
[End]
Alan Watts - A Conversation With Myself

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[ Episode #35 // Ecology + Alcohol ]

Feb 1 2012

Mini Episode

You can easily enjoy a beer without knowing about the thousands of years alcohol has modified the senses of our species. We'll go out to a bar to participate in a ritual to help us deal with the tasks of a work day, yet what if a tree does the same? Should alcohol be recognized for its ability change our consciousness in a sacred way? Are other species using the same substances we do in modifying their ability to perceive signals?

In Extraenvironmentalist #35 we speak with Stephen Harrod Buhner about his thoughts on the role of alcohol on humans and nature based around his book, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. We ask Stephen about the ecological role of humanity in the environment. Are Homo Sapiens like bees that serve a role much bigger than we'll ever understand? Our conversation covers the ways ancient people experienced the world and alternative approaches to brewing beer. Once your hear Stephen explain the chemistry of plants, you'll never think about that tree outside your window in the same way again.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Labyrinth Ear - Walk on the Moon (Arthur Russel Rework) via The Fader
Mansions on the Moon - Athens via Iceland Music Maffia
Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites viaConsequence of Sound
Polica - Lay Your Cards Out via Life+Times
Parov Stelar - Catgroove via IndieShuffle

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alan Watts - Roots of the Ecological Crisis
Bill Rees - The Dangerous Disconnection Between Economics and Ecology
The History of Alcohol
Terence McKenna: On Alcohol, Caffeine, Culture and Extraenvironmentalism

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[ Episode #32 // Apocalypse Never ]

Dec 24 2011

Mini Episode

Even though we live in an age of economic decline and collapse, do our expectations for the future act similarly to the thought patterns of religious faiths expecting the end of the world? For the last 3,000 years, our species has used the meme of apocalypse to create the expectation for a utopia that never arose. Beginning with the Zoroastrian religion, the monotheistic faiths have contained the notion of an end to the world. Our historical record contains many events where a date was set and nothing happened. How did it feel to be one of those that had sacrificed everything to be swept away by a deity that never arrived?

In Extraenvironmentalist #32 we speak with John Michael Greer about his latest book, Apocalypse Not: Everything You Know About 2012, Nostradamus and the Rapture are Wrong. We ask John about the historical context of monotheistic religions, where the apocalypse meme began and its implications in our expectations for the future. We ask if the world is going to end in 2012 and JMG explains how David Icke's evil space lizards are involved. Did Seth really see George W.Bush metamorph into a lizard? If he didn't, what happens when we reach the end of the current Mayan calendar long count?

// Music (in order of appearance)
Feist - How Come You Never Go There via Pretty Much Amazing
Jagwar Ma - Come and Save Me via Pigeons and Planes
G ruff Rhys - Post Apocalypse Christmas via Some Kind of Awesome
Nadastrom vs. Echo - Church via Chorus+Echo
Coldplay - The Scientist (Demitri Vangelis and Wyman need Howie's thin mint cookies remix) via Mufasas Revenge

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alex Jones: David Icke is the turd in a punchbowl
Austerity hits the Dead and Santa Alike
A Recession Christmas
Is China's Economy Collapsing?

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[ Episode #27 // Fringeology ]

Oct 28 2011

Mini Episode

Can challenging your belief system trigger a fight or flight response? Our species is often terrified by thoughts we can't wrap our heads around because of a basic biological response. This has separated a discussion of paranormal topics into camps of believers and skeptics that are every bit as entrenched as our political reality. Does this stratification stifle the ability to generate creative solutions? Is the scariest thing this Halloween our inability to consider new ideas?

In this special Halloween edition of Extraenvironmentalist #27 we speak with Steve Volk about his recent book Fringeology: How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable And Couldn't which explores the edge phenomena that has always been confounding our species yet making life more interesting. Steve tells us about flash mobs in Philadelphia and talks about what it is like to have our belief systems challenged. We discuss the overview effect of space travel and its ability to give us an expanded view of our existence. Seth and I ask if lucid dreaming could be used as a potential technology or by our politicians. Is questioning someone's belief in UFOs similar to challenging the mainstream economic narrative?

Thanks to Richard Heinberg, Gwendollyn Hallsmith, Bernard Leitaer, Conrad Schmidt and John Michael Greer for making guest appearances to tell us about our scary economic and ecological reality.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Figure - Beetlejuice via Digi10ve
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You (Splatinum Remix)
Figure - This is Halloween via The Music Ninja

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