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recent
I was procrastinating today so I skimmed some of my recent posts. I felt a little pang of "dang, that doesn't sound like I meant it" regarding several of them. For example:
A few days ago I was entertaining a thought about how people tend to rely on the promise of technology to save us from ourselves. Just as I was thinking about this, I came across an article about how an Austrian ski resort is using big plastic sheets to stop their glaciers from melting. My blog entry that day was not meant as an expression of hatred or disdain for technology, for I believe that without technology we are screwed. Rather, I was thinking about an attitude I come across sometimes whereby people seem to believe that they can continue to live as they please, and that the "free-market" and technological progress will "keep up".
I would just like to clarify that I do believe that if there is any hope at all, it lies in the power of true innovation. One manifestation of true innovation is efficient technologies. However, true innovation also means that we must be creative and innovative in the non-technical aspects of our lives as well. Certainly a hydrogen powered car is an innovative technology that could help make our society more sustainable, but just as innovative is the idea that maybe we don't need a car. Re-inventing our lives based on our needs, being creative in finding ways to satisfy those needs often leads to solutions that require little if any new technologies.
Re-inventing society does not mean to simply create cleaner technologies that allow us to live as we live now, but rather, re-thinking whether or not what we we want to use that technology for is actually needed.
(photos are still from Februrary's Norway trip)
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