Topic: Cognitive Systems

[ Episode #94 // Rocking the Google Bus ]

Companies like Twitter can make billions of dollars in revenue while providing a widely used service and still be considered a financial failure. Though today's digital technologies provide new innovations that reorganize daily life, can the digital economy expand forever? Will our most promising tech ever reach its potential in an economy pushing for growth at all costs?

In Extraenvironmentalist #94 we first speak with Douglas Rushkoff about his new book, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity. Douglas discusses drivers of recent tech businesses and how relentless financial incentives are undermining their possible value to society. Then we speak with Jennifer Hinton about the possibility of a not-for-profit model for business and technology described in her forthcoming book How On Earth: Flourishing in a Not-For-Profit World by 2050.

 

//Books

Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus by Douglas Rushkoff
How On Earth: Flourishing in a Not-For-Profit World by 2050 by Jennifer Hinton and Donnie Maclurcan

//Clips (in order of appearance)

How private tech industry buses became a symbol of the economic divide in San Francisco
Exponential Technology

// Music (in order of appearance)

Overjoy - Another via Soundcloud
Rufus Du Sol - Innerbloom (Lane 8 Remix) via We Got This Covered

// Production Credits and Notes

Our editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #94 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Ian in Australia
Kyle in Colorado
Ben in Colorado

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[ Autumn 2015 Interlude // Archaeoacoustics ]

[ Episode #66 // Changing Reactions ]

The catastrophe at Fukushima presents the opportunity to re-evaluate basic assumptions about energy and technology but the temptation to double down on business as usual becomes incredibly strong. Will our species obtain a paradigm shift in the face of an energy emergency? Could we create new models for business that regenerate ecological functions rather than destroy the planet?

In Extraenvironmentalist #66 we speak with Michael Stone and Ian MacKenzie about their new film Reactor which covers their recent trip to Japan. Is the social fallout from Fukushima a template for social change elsewhere? Then we speak with Willem Ferwerda of the Ecosystem Return Foundation about scaling up the ecosystem restoration techniques we discussed on XE #65 with John Liu. We talk about the potential for regenerating ecological functions through new models for business and investing. Can we develop a process for launching permaculture businesses around the world?

// Other Items Discussed

Centre of Gravity
Reactor - the Film
Natural Resilience Initiative
The Planet Fund - Crowdfunding Ecosystem Restoration
(though we didn't talk about this in the show it is definitely related)

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 35m

Alan Watts on the Limits of Language
Terence McKenna from the Psychedelic Salon

[End]

Louis CK on Smartphones

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Juparo - Broke for Free via Soundcloud
Ludovico Einaudi - Walk (Phaeleh Remix) via Getting Deeper
Foreigner - Urgent (LUXXURY edit) via AudioPorn Central
C A T H E D R A L S - Unbound via Soundcloud
Say Lou Lou - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (Tame Impala Cover) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Production Assistance via Simon JM

This show was supported by donations from our generous listeners:

Peter in the Noosphere
Erica in Oregon
Michael in Arizona
Sune, Andreas, Mads and other colleagues in Denmark
Gaby in the Noosphere

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[ Episode #35 // Ecology + Alcohol ]

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 ]

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
Gruff 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 #24 // Redesigning Business ]

Are we truly free or has our search for freedom led to entrapment by dysfunctional organizations? As the global monetary paradigm fails, it takes the internationl business structure along with it. This dynamic allows for the application of design principles to the foundations of the new organizations replacing corporations in meeting our human needs. How much power truly rests at the top of the megalithic corporations around us and how much is dictated by the demands of fiat currency and compounding interest? In this new age of austerity, can even the lowest on the societal hierarchy spark the change needed for a new society?

In Extraenvironmentalist #24 we speak with reformed lawyer, business thinker and blogger Patrick Andrews about how the failure of business to understand our ecological reality presents an opportunity to introduce new business structures that can prevent groupthink and allow responsible stewardship.  We discuss how businesses that seek only profit are failing to actualize the power that business transactions have to transform our world. Can the failure of our economy allow us to reimagine business?

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Active Child - Hanging On via Gorilla vs. Bear
Phaeleh - Afterglow feat. Soundmouse viaIndieShuffle
Young the Giant - Islands (Polaris at Noon Remix) via SoundCloud
Figure - Wonderwall (Finger Drumstep Edit) via Club Tunes

// Extended Clips
David McNally - Global Slump and the Age of Austerity on WORT
The Coming Collapse: We Can Buy Time, We Can't Change the Outcome via Yahoo Finance
Godfrey Bloom: Euro Christmas Fail via RT

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[ Episode #15.2 // Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss // Part II ]

In the course of an extraordinary life, one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents. Two young men set out from Colorado to the rainforest of South America as they hunt down an elusive chemical with the potential to reveal new dimensions of human nature. During this quest, they find something much greater, as their encounter with an enigmatic other sets their lives on a path too wild to predict.

In Extraenvironmentalist #15 we speak with Dennis McKenna about his Kickstarter project, Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss which, with your support, will become a book detailing his life with philosopher and visionary Terence McKenna. Dennis is co-author of The Invisible Landscape and a professor of ethnobotany at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing with an extensive career researching how plants and humans can create a productive partnership. We spoke with Dennis about the ways he and Terence would develop ideas, how Dennis made the trip to the Amazon with Terence, how events at La Chorrera changed him. Though we don't stop there, Dennis also shares with us many of his ideas on life, the universe and everything and weighs in on whether he coined the term extraenvironmentalist originally.

Please support Dennis' Kickstarter project

Note: This is Part II of II.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Youth Lagoon - Cannons via KLUBB ACE
Peter, Bjorn & John - Second Chance (RAC Remix) via Dealer of People Emotions

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[ Episode #15.1 // Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss // Part I ]

In the course of an extraordinary life, one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents. Two young men set out from Colorado to the rainforest of South America as they hunt down an elusive chemical with the potential to reveal new dimensions of human nature. During this quest, they find something much greater, as their encounter with an enigmatic other sets their lives on a path too wild to predict.

In Extraenvironmentalist #15 we speak with Dennis McKenna about his Kickstarter project, Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss which, with your support, will become a book detailing his life with philosopher and visionary Terence McKenna. Dennis is co-author of The Invisible Landscape and a professor of ethnobotany at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing with an extensive career researching how plants and humans can create a productive partnership. We spoke with Dennis about the ways he and Terence would develop ideas, how Dennis made the trip to the Amazon with Terence, how events at La Chorrera changed him. Though we don't stop there, Dennis also shares with us many of his ideas on life, the universe and everything and weighs in on whether he coined the term extraenvironmentalist originally.

Please support Dennis' Kickstarter project

Note: This is Part I of II.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Cults - Go Outside (2 Bears Remix) via The Bang Pop
MillionYoung - Calrissian via I Guess I'm Floating
How to Be Alone via Vimeo
James Vincent McMorrow - We Don't Eat (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix) via SoundCloud
Doug Hoyer - Oh, The Wind Will Blow (ft. Jessica Jalbert) via New Music Collaborative
Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed via KLUBB ACE

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[ Episode #11 // Temporal Blindness ]

Our education system creates the models we use to interpret information. A faulty model can lead to significant blind spots, especially in thinking about nonlinear problems. Do the cognitive models that you've developed allow you to understand the severe problems threatening our global civilization? How accurately can you recognize how trends will impact your society and your life? What is a reasonable response to dealing with 7 billion homo sapiens sapiens?

In Extraenvironmentalist #11 we speak with Jack Alpert of the Stanford Knowledge Integration Lab about the role that our cognitive models play in recognizing the severity of our global predicament. Seth and I discuss Jack's writings and his Nonlinearity and the Elephant Problem video. After talking about how to deal with scarce resources on a finite planet, we dive into how to deal with overpopulation, including Jack's approach for building public of rapid population decline through convincing grandmothers that fewer babies need to be born.

As always, let us know what you think about the episode through our email or voicemail, we'd love to hear from you! Especially if you think Justin's Alex Jones impression sounds far too constipated.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Purity Ring - Ungirthed via The Music Ninja
Mighty Mike - Lonely Yoshimi (The Police v The Flaming Lips) via AudioPorn Central
DJ Lobsterdust - Gotta Fly (Steve Miller Band v Amerie) via DJ Lobsterdust
MillionYoung - Perfect Eyes (Snoretex Mix) via A Heart is a Spade

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