Metastatic Modernity

[eumeswil]

Fizičar sa unija u San Dijegu je kreirao serijal video klipova o modernosti iz raznih naučnih perspektiva.

 

 

 

 

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I am excited to announce a new effort that will attempt to provide a crucial set of perspectives on modernity. It is to be a series of video shorts (5–10 minutes is my target) called Metastatic Modernity.

 

The name conjures a grave cancer diagnosis—terminal, in fact. This intentional association captures my sense that modernity is fated to self-terminate, like any cancer, on account of its complete reliability on non-renewable materials, accumulating ecological damage, and failure to exist as a part of an ecological whole in reciprocity with nature.  It has no long-term place on this planet.

 

But, because modernity is just one of many possible ways for humans to arrange their lives, a failure of modernity does not translate to a failure of humanity. The introductory video is here:

 

The series description reads as follows:

This series of 17 short videos aims to put modernity (another word for civilization) in perspective. In terms of cosmology, evolution, biology, ecology, and time, modernity is highly unusual and inherently self-terminating (i.e., fated to collapse). Eventually, a cancer metaphor is used to describe the tumor we witness growing out of control, spreading to all parts of the globe (metastasizing) and initiating a sixth mass extinction. Humans are not the cancer, but the infected organ within the community of life where the cancer took root.

 

The Sequence

Here is the first-cut outline of the series content, by episode (this page will provide a portal to each in one convenient place).

1. Introduction: What is modernity and what does this series aim to do?
2. Cosmology: Astrophysical perspective on our insignificance
3. Early Life: The tremendous problem-solving upon which we utterly rely today
4. Evolution: Simple, elegant, and subtle in the context of a co-evolved community
5. Biological Inheritance: Almost everything we are is gifted by ancestry
6. Accidental Tourists: We aren’t the pinnacle, purpose, or destiny of evolution
7. Ecological Nosedive: Documenting the explosive start of the sixth mass extinction
8. Timeline: Putting modernity into context as a flash in terms of relevant timescales
9. Recipe for Disaster: How did we fall into this trap? Who’s idea was it? This is weird.
10. Just Ditch the Bad? Can we keep the nifty parts and just jettison the ill effects?
11. What About Renewables? Won’t we solve the problems via technology?
12. Human Supremacy: How we became such narcissists and why it’s deeply problematic
13. A Species out of Context: A terminal departure from our evolved, ecological context
14. Cancer Diagnosis: Humans are a victim of this self-terminating disease, and at great risk
15. What Now? A difficult transition looms. What to expect and how we might react
16. Perspective Synthesis: Tying it all together toward a unified outlook
17. Humility back in Human: Establishing who we really are, valuing the truly important