Science & Civilization

The Legacy of Steve Jobs

| October 6th, 2011 | Science & Civilization
The Legacy of Steve Jobs

The outpouring of warm sentiments and fond memories on the internet today about the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a reminder that what we accomplish in this life is deeply colored by who we are. We are flawed, imperfect human beings. As T Thorn Coyle says, “You try to do good work in the world, and die when you die.”

This iMac computer that I write on is just a gadget, hardly better or worse than any other in the grand scheme of things. Many ethical and environmental compromises went into its making and marketing. Yet it has also opened up opportunities for conversation and community that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

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The Death of Civilization

| April 1st, 2011 | Deep Ecology, Science & Civilization
The Death of Civilization

If future anthropologists are one day sorting through ancient literature trying to find some insight into today’s modern Western culture, they would do well to read this book. Not because it’s all that good, but because to understand a culture it’s often very useful to look at its worst fears. In this sense, The Road is a perfect artifact, a precise and unself-conscious portrayal of consumer culture’s unique nightmare: the end of consumer culture.

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