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a low-tech perspective in a high-tech world
21 April 2010
19 April 2010
On the Nascent Science of Geoengineering
I'm no scientist. I'm just a guy. But I heard a scientist talking about geoengineering on the radio the other day, and I'd like to say for the record that I do not agree. Geoengineering refers to proposals to manipulate the planet's climate in order to counteract global warming. An example: spraying chemicals in clouds to make them more reflective thereby bouncing the sun's rays away from the earth. Another example: sucking carbon dioxide into big holes in the ground. Hmm.
Now, I like tools well enough. I appreciate well-thought-out and well-crafted technological solutions. Take hammers. Hammers are cool. Hammers do their job really well, and you can choose from a number of different designs depending on your work-style and end-purpose. Hammer designers have been working on better hammer designs for a long time, and at this stage, we'd have to say that hammer design and technology is pretty mature. And yet, we occasionally smash these modern, well-designed hammers into our thumbs and create problems for ourselves. Nobody can design all the risk out of our tools.
So my question is, how worried should we be that well-meaning scientists, as smart as they may be, are talking about designing planet-sized hammers to solve a global problem? Even if I believed that Scientists (that group of people who totally agree all the time on how things work ... right?) could understand all of the large-scale mechanisms at work in global climate patterns, which I don't really believe, I'm not sure I would want them trying their hand at a global solution. What if the hammer slips? We're not talking about a big toe here. We're talking about the Earth.
Now, I like tools well enough. I appreciate well-thought-out and well-crafted technological solutions. Take hammers. Hammers are cool. Hammers do their job really well, and you can choose from a number of different designs depending on your work-style and end-purpose. Hammer designers have been working on better hammer designs for a long time, and at this stage, we'd have to say that hammer design and technology is pretty mature. And yet, we occasionally smash these modern, well-designed hammers into our thumbs and create problems for ourselves. Nobody can design all the risk out of our tools.
19 March 2010
10 March 2010
27 February 2010
08 February 2010
05 February 2010
Ambivalence
I have several questions.
- Why was I compelled to buy this?
- Why does this label make me believe a drink that's mostly sugar is cool?
- Why would Pepsi want to advertise that they usually use unreal sugar?
- Why would Pepsi want to advertise that they will return to using unreal sugar?
- Is "Throwback" what happens to you when you gain 40 pounds because you drink sugar water and then try to lift something without stretching?
- Why was I compelled to buy this?
02 February 2010
Works on Paper: Bright Sadness
10 years ago, I wrote a simple devotional for Lent, drawing on the rich expression of the Christian faith in churches more traditional, and Eastern, than my own. That devotional has been online ever since, and gets a lot of visitors every year, and every year I get requests for the materials to be used in communities around the world. Having it available on the web has been great: I'm always amazed at the way this work has touched people in very far away places. It has also been used and appreciated in my own Vineyard church here in California ... a church not very Eastern, and not very traditional.
I've just taken a leap and revised the material for a print edition, which I'm very happy about: I like being able to hold a physical book. It's available now at lulu.com. (If you are against holding dead trees in your hand, there is a half-price download for your reader.)
Though the devotional will remain online, the book has updated content, some extra woodcuts by Spyros Vassiliou, and doesn't require batteries. Nice!
It's for sale for $10. Check it out.
I've just taken a leap and revised the material for a print edition, which I'm very happy about: I like being able to hold a physical book. It's available now at lulu.com. (If you are against holding dead trees in your hand, there is a half-price download for your reader.)
Though the devotional will remain online, the book has updated content, some extra woodcuts by Spyros Vassiliou, and doesn't require batteries. Nice!
It's for sale for $10. Check it out.
30 January 2010
07 January 2010
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