1900 House

[jason rice]

Just one more little point Ill toss into the mix.  First I must apologise, I 
cannot remember the source of the info that follows, but Im fairly sure it 
was Scientific America.  If any body knows differently or has more solid 
information, please let me know.  The article I read was concerned with mass 
extinctions, brought on by the Ice Ages or impacting comets and/or asteroids 
(which killed the dinosaurs, according to the Discovery Channel).  Currently 
we are in the midst of yet another mass extinction, but one some scientists 
argue is killing off species THREE times as fast as those in the past.This 
applies to those brought about by the Ice Ages, but not the impact theories. 
Those buggers hit the Earth and really made a mess! The source of this 
latest mass extinction?  You guessed it, us.  I agree with GOrdon Fitch, 
when he reminds us that we are a part of nature, not as so many would have 
it sitting somewhere above and separate from it.  So there is certainly an 
enormous precedent for the possiblity of human extinction, the question is 
will we be the ones resposible? OR another possiblity, we dont do ourselves 
in, but are forced to inhabit a ecologically devastated world.  Doesnt 
appeal to me.
Jason Rice


>From: Gordon Fitch <gcf at panix.com>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: 1900 House
>Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 21:58:45 -0400
>
>Dace:
> > ...
> > What's different today is that the collapse of complexity could occur at 
>a
> > global scale.  If such an event came to pass (and Tainter discusses this
> > possibility at length) it would mean that for the first time the overall
> > interchange of energy between humanity and nature would decline, and it
> > would do so rapidly and catastrophically.
>
>One problem with this whole discussion (including what I
>have written) is that it generally treats _humanity_ and
>_nature_ as separate and distinct entities.  But in fact
>humanity is in nature and nature is in humanity.  One can
>construe certain things to be one or the other, but it is a
>provisional artifice, a delusional one if the artificiality
>is forgotten.
>
>The division, of course, reminds me of the class system.

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