(Some of) The Central Questions of Our Time
Frankly #87
The period of relative peace and stability we’ve known - enabled by the energy surplus of the Carbon Pulse and the ecological stability of the Holocene - is slipping away. AI is turbocharging the Superorganism, governance structures are fraying, and ecological shocks are intensifying. As the Great Simplification approaches faster than expected, are we asking the right questions?
In this Frankly, I invite you to reflect on some of the most urgent questions of our time - and what they might mean for both our collective and individual trajectories ahead. Can open societies endure on the downslope of the Carbon Pulse? Is a future without large-scale war still possible? As the pace of change accelerates, the challenge isn’t just understanding what’s coming, but deciding how to respond.
What would you not regret doing if you knew major disruptions were imminent? Can you redirect frustration into meaningful action? And in a world that increasingly pulls us apart, can you help build a ‘coalition of sanity’?
In case you missed it…
This week, I was joined by psychiatrist and neurologist
for a deep dive on the implications of western society’s over-reliance on analysis and categorization on the quality and expectations of our leadership and governance systems. Iain emphasizes the need for a shift in perspective, advocating for wisdom over power and a deeper understanding of the impact of technology on our values and attention.Share Your TGS Story
Recently, I launched a community-driven project to capture and share these stories and examples of transformation - from small to large scales, with personal and global impact. We invite you to submit a short video (maximum three minutes) sharing how engaging with TGS has influenced changes in your life – whether through community projects, career shifts, consumption habits, or local initiatives. These submissions will be compiled into an upcoming episode, creating a tapestry of responses to, in turn, creatively inspire others to imagine how these ideas might 'rhyme' with possible changes in their own lives and communities.
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I intend to plant as many food forest plants in and around my yard as possible. I may not see any personal benefit, as I may not be living in this exact location as I age, but right now all I can do is garden and reduce my own expenses.
This is excellent Nate! I've been following your work since The Oil Drum days, and it has been very interesting indeed to track your journey from a distance.
Your proposed 5th Law of thermodynamics is indeed very interesting, but be aware that HT Odum had also proposed a 5th and a 6th law of thermodynamics. His fifth law is a law of energy hierarchy: "All the energy transformations known can be connected in a series network according to the quantity of one kind of energy required for the next." (Environment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century, p. 65)
This is essentially about energy quality, and the concept of energy transformations. "Available energy decreases through each transformation, but the energy quality increases, with increased ability to reinforce energy interactions upscale and downscale." (ibid, p. 63).
Where your 5th Law meets with Odum's 5th law might be in my own similar idea: as gross quantity of fossil fuel energy goes into decline, can we take this opportunity to increase high quality subtle energy in our bodies and our personal relations - what those in the east would call "qi" or "prana"? As you say, to throttle the quantity of gross fossil fuel energy, but attaining very tangible states of vitality and satisfaction through cultivation of higher quality subtle energy, via practices such as qigong, Tai Chi', yoga, etc.
We also need to embrace a broader definition of "Power," but that is another topic.
FYI, my presentation discussing the influence of HT Odum's insights about energy and power on David Holmgren's development of Permaculture principles is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgCzKGCbrw