We can look and still not see. We can listen and hear nothing. Why then are there no comparative words for smell and taste and touch? Do we value these other senses so little? Is this because visual and auditory messages are the primary methods of human communication? If we communicated more be smell like a wolf or dog, would we have a word for investigation by smell?
And what about sniff? Can we sniff, and smell nothing? Is feel the touch equivalent? Can we touch, but not feel?
Perhaps then the words exist, but we do not value them. Perhaps we have become smell and touch atrophied. Perhaps those senses have fallen out of use in a world of televisions and phones and computer screens- devices designed to serve only two senses.
There are problems, of course. I can imagine that smell-o-vision is not a good enhancement to television or movies.
Perhaps then, the problem is progress. Perhaps, once again, I must recommend that we immerse ourselves in the world to re-familiarize ourselves with the living black earth and the rich teeming world it supports. We are the emo teenager of Planet Earth. Hiding in our bedrooms listening to angsty music.
Perhaps we need somebody to kick us off the couch and tell us to play outside in the mud.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Pay Day Loans
We, as a civilization, are paying our grocery bills with payday loans. We are buying our furniture with nothing down for the first six months, even though we don't have the money to make even that first down payment. We are paying our rent with our credit cards, and living well beyond our salary's ability to pay. We can't afford all the child we have, and our wife is pregnant again. We are the yuppy white trash of civilizations. And we are in serious trouble.
Oil is a non renewable resource. Because we use a lot of oil, we are able to grow exponentially in our production and construction. As we grow, we need every greater amounts of oil.
Population is a function of food availability and space availability. Given enough of both, population will grow until it reaches the new limits of both.
If we use 10 liters of oil to double our food production, we will then double our population to match the new limit imposed by the increased food production. We must then use more oil to feed the new normal and even more if we wish to grow again next year.
Since we define success as growth, we will seek growth. And whether that growth is population or economic, we will still require more oil to fund the growth.
Constant growth based on a finite source is automatically unsustainable. The fact that our society can no longer survive without that finite energy source does not change that reality and is not a valid counter argument, but is in fact a dire warning that success may not be a valid option any longer.
If we have a pile of 100 1 dollar bill, and if on the first day we take 4 dollars, and every day we take 25% more from the pile. On the first day the pile has $96 left. On the second day we take $5 and the pile has $91. On the Third day we take $6 and the pile has $85. If we continue to round down, then on the fourth day we remove $7 and have $78. On the fifth day we then remove $8 and we have $70 in the pile. On the sixth day we remove $10 and have $60 left in the pile. On the seventh day we remove $12, and we have $48 left in the pile. On the eighth day we remove $15 and have $33 left in the pile. On the ninth day we then remove $18 and have only $15 left in the pile. We are now supposed to remove $22, but there is only $15 left in the pile. And on the tenth day we owe the pile $7 dollars.
If we have on a finite amount of stuff then constant increases, no matter how reasonable, will always be unsustainable.
We can also note that the Peak of the money pile, that is the point where we had used up half the money, was on day seven. Despite half the money being left, we only had two days left where we able to withdraw the full amount needed. While we were only half way through the money, we were 70% of the way through our time with access to that money.
If we increase how much we use every year, then the peak of supply will naturally occur- not at the halfway point with regards to the time where we may use the supply- but significantly closer to the end of the period when we may make use of the supply.
"There would be no surplus if EROEI approaches 1:1. What Hall showed is that the real cutoff is well above that, estimated to be 3:1 to sustain the essential overhead energy costs of a modern society. Part of the mental equation is that the EROEI of our generally preferred energy source, petroleum, has fallen in the past century from 100:1 to the range of 10:1 with clear evidence that the natural depletion curves all are downward decay curves. An EROEI of more than ~3, then, is what appears necessary to provide the energy for socially important tasks, such as maintaining government, legal and financial institutions, a transportation infrastructure, manufacturing, building construction and maintenance and the life styles of the rich and poor that a society depends on.
The EROEI figure also affects the number of people needed for food production. In the pre-modern world, it was often the case that 80% of the population was employed in agriculture to feed a population of 100%, with a low energy budget. In modern times, the use of cheap fossil fuels with an exceedingly high EROEI enabled 100% of the population to be fed with only 4% of the population employed in agriculture. Diminishing EROEI making fuel more expensive relative to other things may require food to be produced using less energy, and so increases the number of people employed in food production again." - from wikipedia
EROI is the energy return on investment, and this is the other side of the problem. All energy, such as oil, is not created equal. The early oil, such as Texas sweet crude that bubbles up from the soil like in the Beverly Hillbillies was found first and use first, because it was easy to get at. As a result, the amount of energy put in was small compared to the energy received.
But ass time goes by, we run out of Texas crud. USA oil production peaked in the 70s. And so we go looking for more oil. And a lot of it is in politically unstable countries, where we have to spend a lot of money to get the oil from the area to where we want to use it. And a lot of it is trapped under miles of ocean and ocean floor requiring difficult and delicate operations with crude and enormous machinery to extract for even more money and effort. And a lot of it is trapped in tar and oil shale where the amount of energy required to obtain the oil is sometimes as much or more than the amount that is received.
Just like scraping the last peanut butter from the corners of the jar on the Monday morning when you're running late, finding oil after the easy stuff is gone is a pain in the neck. And, even if there is oil left, we may not have the energy available or economic incentives strong enough to extract it.
There is a legend, related in the movie "Rush Hour 2" of a great Red Dragon that lived in a cave and demanded that the locals bring gold to it. The treasure eventually blocked the exit and the dragon could not leave the cave and thus starved.
In other words, our time is almost up.
Oil is a non renewable resource. Because we use a lot of oil, we are able to grow exponentially in our production and construction. As we grow, we need every greater amounts of oil.
Population is a function of food availability and space availability. Given enough of both, population will grow until it reaches the new limits of both.
If we use 10 liters of oil to double our food production, we will then double our population to match the new limit imposed by the increased food production. We must then use more oil to feed the new normal and even more if we wish to grow again next year.
Since we define success as growth, we will seek growth. And whether that growth is population or economic, we will still require more oil to fund the growth.
Constant growth based on a finite source is automatically unsustainable. The fact that our society can no longer survive without that finite energy source does not change that reality and is not a valid counter argument, but is in fact a dire warning that success may not be a valid option any longer.
If we have a pile of 100 1 dollar bill, and if on the first day we take 4 dollars, and every day we take 25% more from the pile. On the first day the pile has $96 left. On the second day we take $5 and the pile has $91. On the Third day we take $6 and the pile has $85. If we continue to round down, then on the fourth day we remove $7 and have $78. On the fifth day we then remove $8 and we have $70 in the pile. On the sixth day we remove $10 and have $60 left in the pile. On the seventh day we remove $12, and we have $48 left in the pile. On the eighth day we remove $15 and have $33 left in the pile. On the ninth day we then remove $18 and have only $15 left in the pile. We are now supposed to remove $22, but there is only $15 left in the pile. And on the tenth day we owe the pile $7 dollars.
If we have on a finite amount of stuff then constant increases, no matter how reasonable, will always be unsustainable.
We can also note that the Peak of the money pile, that is the point where we had used up half the money, was on day seven. Despite half the money being left, we only had two days left where we able to withdraw the full amount needed. While we were only half way through the money, we were 70% of the way through our time with access to that money.
If we increase how much we use every year, then the peak of supply will naturally occur- not at the halfway point with regards to the time where we may use the supply- but significantly closer to the end of the period when we may make use of the supply.
"There would be no surplus if EROEI approaches 1:1. What Hall showed is that the real cutoff is well above that, estimated to be 3:1 to sustain the essential overhead energy costs of a modern society. Part of the mental equation is that the EROEI of our generally preferred energy source, petroleum, has fallen in the past century from 100:1 to the range of 10:1 with clear evidence that the natural depletion curves all are downward decay curves. An EROEI of more than ~3, then, is what appears necessary to provide the energy for socially important tasks, such as maintaining government, legal and financial institutions, a transportation infrastructure, manufacturing, building construction and maintenance and the life styles of the rich and poor that a society depends on.
The EROEI figure also affects the number of people needed for food production. In the pre-modern world, it was often the case that 80% of the population was employed in agriculture to feed a population of 100%, with a low energy budget. In modern times, the use of cheap fossil fuels with an exceedingly high EROEI enabled 100% of the population to be fed with only 4% of the population employed in agriculture. Diminishing EROEI making fuel more expensive relative to other things may require food to be produced using less energy, and so increases the number of people employed in food production again." - from wikipedia
EROI is the energy return on investment, and this is the other side of the problem. All energy, such as oil, is not created equal. The early oil, such as Texas sweet crude that bubbles up from the soil like in the Beverly Hillbillies was found first and use first, because it was easy to get at. As a result, the amount of energy put in was small compared to the energy received.
But ass time goes by, we run out of Texas crud. USA oil production peaked in the 70s. And so we go looking for more oil. And a lot of it is in politically unstable countries, where we have to spend a lot of money to get the oil from the area to where we want to use it. And a lot of it is trapped under miles of ocean and ocean floor requiring difficult and delicate operations with crude and enormous machinery to extract for even more money and effort. And a lot of it is trapped in tar and oil shale where the amount of energy required to obtain the oil is sometimes as much or more than the amount that is received.
Just like scraping the last peanut butter from the corners of the jar on the Monday morning when you're running late, finding oil after the easy stuff is gone is a pain in the neck. And, even if there is oil left, we may not have the energy available or economic incentives strong enough to extract it.
There is a legend, related in the movie "Rush Hour 2" of a great Red Dragon that lived in a cave and demanded that the locals bring gold to it. The treasure eventually blocked the exit and the dragon could not leave the cave and thus starved.
In other words, our time is almost up.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Feel Good Architecture
I have noticed that there is a new rash of stores and shops that cater to the 'green' sensibilities. These shops look quaint and homespun- but they look (paradoxically) professional quality quaint and homespun.
I have walked through malls that seem more like Disneyworld. I have looked at Starbuck's carefully hand chalked advert signs. I have prowled through cheesy organic logos that were specially designed by high priced design companies intentionally to look homespun and amateurish.
These shops are cashing in the the big money available for those willing to pull the guilt string of middle income first world families that don't want to make an effort, but want to feel like they are helping the environment.
And profits are good.
I feel sick.
I have walked through malls that seem more like Disneyworld. I have looked at Starbuck's carefully hand chalked advert signs. I have prowled through cheesy organic logos that were specially designed by high priced design companies intentionally to look homespun and amateurish.
These shops are cashing in the the big money available for those willing to pull the guilt string of middle income first world families that don't want to make an effort, but want to feel like they are helping the environment.
And profits are good.
I feel sick.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
The Tribe
We are born weak and helpless, and as strong as we try to make ourselves, we will die weak and helpless if we live alone. No man is perfect. No woman is perfect. No person, child or adult, saint or buddha is without flaw- without weakness and doubt and moments when the walls fall in.
We train ourselves, strive to be stronger, but we are weak. No matter how strong our arm, or capable our mind- we are weak and helpless in the face of a world that does not care if we live or die. We are weak and pitiful and terrified in the face of the colossal monstrosity called civilization who seeks to bend us to its purpose and make us cogs to serve its own design.
We cannot break this, not alone. We, and I say again ‘WE’ cannot stand alone against so vast an enemy. One is always one, but two is twice as strong as one, and three is twice as strong again. As long as each person added is a warrior, is of the tribe and of the people, each person makes the tribe worth twice as much.
To be of the tribe, we must commit ourselves to the tribe. This alone is the tribe’s strength and why WE are so strong, while YOU and I are so weak. Whatever I can do alone, I can twice as much with another tribe member and four times as much with two others and eight times as much with but three more committed members to my little tribe.
But it is not my tribe, it is your tribe, if you would have me as part of it. No member owns the tribe, no member runs the tribe. Anyone may rise to lead at any time in a tribe. You make a tribe your own and you invest yourself in it. You bleed for it. You cry for it. You kill for it. You die for.
Some try to find the tribe in a church, or a suit, or flag. The tribe is older than cities and has withstood the beating of ten thousand years. It yearns to be free and we need it so that we too can be free.
We train ourselves, strive to be stronger, but we are weak. No matter how strong our arm, or capable our mind- we are weak and helpless in the face of a world that does not care if we live or die. We are weak and pitiful and terrified in the face of the colossal monstrosity called civilization who seeks to bend us to its purpose and make us cogs to serve its own design.
We cannot break this, not alone. We, and I say again ‘WE’ cannot stand alone against so vast an enemy. One is always one, but two is twice as strong as one, and three is twice as strong again. As long as each person added is a warrior, is of the tribe and of the people, each person makes the tribe worth twice as much.
To be of the tribe, we must commit ourselves to the tribe. This alone is the tribe’s strength and why WE are so strong, while YOU and I are so weak. Whatever I can do alone, I can twice as much with another tribe member and four times as much with two others and eight times as much with but three more committed members to my little tribe.
But it is not my tribe, it is your tribe, if you would have me as part of it. No member owns the tribe, no member runs the tribe. Anyone may rise to lead at any time in a tribe. You make a tribe your own and you invest yourself in it. You bleed for it. You cry for it. You kill for it. You die for.
Some try to find the tribe in a church, or a suit, or flag. The tribe is older than cities and has withstood the beating of ten thousand years. It yearns to be free and we need it so that we too can be free.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Mystery as a Source of Wonder
The men of religion speak to us, and they tell us that science and skepticism reduce our wonder and thus reduce the glory of creation. They tell us that we are attempting to diminish god, as though a phantom could be diminished.
The universe is 13.7 billion years old. That is 13 thousand and 700 million years. Imagine a dot. Now imagine a box of ten. Now imagine ten of those boxes in a crate. now imagine ten of those crates in a rail car box. Now imagine ten of those rail car boxes on a tanker ship. Now imagine ten tanker ships. We are only up to one hundred thousand.
The subtle interplay of simple rules, variation and time allow miracles that we cannot comprehend- not because they are withheld from us, but because our perception witholds itself from them.
The size of the universe. The scale of geologic time. The effect of small genetic changes on a population over time. The movement of plate tectonics. The interplay of prey and predator upon the ecosystem. Millions of millions of small interactions, and large but painfully slow interactions over vast stretches of time and space.
There is a mystery there that defies conventional religion, and mocks it as simple and trite.
The universe is 13.7 billion years old. That is 13 thousand and 700 million years. Imagine a dot. Now imagine a box of ten. Now imagine ten of those boxes in a crate. now imagine ten of those crates in a rail car box. Now imagine ten of those rail car boxes on a tanker ship. Now imagine ten tanker ships. We are only up to one hundred thousand.
The subtle interplay of simple rules, variation and time allow miracles that we cannot comprehend- not because they are withheld from us, but because our perception witholds itself from them.
The size of the universe. The scale of geologic time. The effect of small genetic changes on a population over time. The movement of plate tectonics. The interplay of prey and predator upon the ecosystem. Millions of millions of small interactions, and large but painfully slow interactions over vast stretches of time and space.
There is a mystery there that defies conventional religion, and mocks it as simple and trite.
The Preamble
What is written here is observation, and tradition. What is written here is not gospel. Everything must be tested and replaced if it no longer works or is no longer true- even this. This is not revelation. This is not divine. There are no gods or enlightened masters guiding this work.
Some of this may contradict. Some of this may seem obscure or unclear. Some or even many things may need to be reappraised or reinterpreted. This is as it should be. Everything is a product of its time and must be understood anew
This is the work of humans. This is a work of synthesis, not inspiration. This is the work of many years observation, investigation, study, research, and integration. This is blood on the page as ink, but from effort not martyrdom. This is work of flesh and blood. Follow this if you find it to be true, ignore it or change it if you find it to be false.
Beware false prophets. Anything, even this, should be scrutinized. Anything that does not bear scrutiny should be corrected or discarded,
Some of this may contradict. Some of this may seem obscure or unclear. Some or even many things may need to be reappraised or reinterpreted. This is as it should be. Everything is a product of its time and must be understood anew
This is the work of humans. This is a work of synthesis, not inspiration. This is the work of many years observation, investigation, study, research, and integration. This is blood on the page as ink, but from effort not martyrdom. This is work of flesh and blood. Follow this if you find it to be true, ignore it or change it if you find it to be false.
Beware false prophets. Anything, even this, should be scrutinized. Anything that does not bear scrutiny should be corrected or discarded,
Friday, August 1, 2014
More On living like Dwarves
I was looking into this and discovered that the stone walled, earth sheltered home was a staple building style in Shetland, Orkney, the Faroe Islands and many other northern Scottish and Nordic islands.
Shetland averages around 40 inches of precipitation per year, whereas Vancouver in the PNW averages just over 60 inches of precipitation per year. Although amount of precipitation is higher, the difference isn't jarring.
This suggests that such buildings can stay dry by taking measures, such as a raised floor, double walls with aggregate between the inner and outer stone walls to drain leakage, aggregate under the floor from drainage, and an aggregate ditch/moat around buildings to funnel rain away from the interior of structures.
For more details, have a look at the previous article on earth sheltered homes.
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