Sustainable Abundance, Security and Freedom by Ted Howard

Vladimir Rogozhin

Dear Ted,

Each contest FQXi - a contest for new ideas. In your essay, I saw these new ideas to address global problems, a more successful future for Humanity. Your ideas are close to me. Let's all work together in building up a more sustainable future of Humanity and hope for the best! It's time we start the path... The New Era and a New Generation demanded action.

«The choice is ours...» and «Freedom is the recognition of necessity.» (Hegel)

I wish you success in the contest. I invite you to my blog.

High regard,

Vladimir

Georgina Woodward

Ted, thanks for your reply and for sharing your optimism and vision of the future. Although there are still problems Cuba's return to small scale organic farming could be a good model. Organic agriculture in Cuba Though it grew out of necessity and has not so far been taken up with the same enthusiasm in other countries.

The idea of watering robots reminded me of those in the film "Silent running", directed by Douglas Trumbull, 1972

Three is also a lot of waste in food production. I live near to some apple orchards. The majority of the apples are never picked, but left to fall and rot. Those ones do not meet specific high quality standards and there is not enough profit in them, as fruit or juice, to justify paying pickers. It is a sad sight when there are people who are going hungry.

James Hoover

Ted,

But you have oligarchy as well as monopoly / oligopoly. Corporations are so huge they are too big to fail or be prosecuted, only fined at relatively miniscule amounts.

They are privatizing everything, even getting into our schools, claiming private schools trump public schools. they have the power and control to effect privatization here too.

Jim

James Hoover

Ted,

It grows late, so I am revisiting and rating. Your abstract says, "Technology can deliver abundance of all the necessities of life to everyone. Technology seems likely to deliver indefinite life extension soon. Once the threats of survival needs and aging are removed, many others remain, some involving social issues around justice and some that require massive engineering capacity." We seem to be mired in a type 0 civilization which does not use the most plentiful element, hydrogen, for fusion energy. With that, we will have potential abundance and less potential to destroy our environment.

Have you had a chance to review my essay? We do speak of some of the same problems.

Jim

pjackson

Ted,

You make some excellent and highly valid points showing the failings of market incentives and the 'dog eat dog' approach to bringing advancements. We may think somewhat alike as I was raised in a fishing family and I'm now a governor of the Lifeboat Institute and offshore representative level race helmsman. I certainly agree your thesis, which was well presented and certainly worth a high score. Some of my favourite quotes are;

"Abstraction is the ability to see patterns of relationships. It seems that there are potentially infinite levels of abstraction and awareness available to us, and most of those appear to be potentially infinite within themselves." That's exactly my approach to nature, exposing far more than maths alone can.

I've also written on the atrocious situation with 'privileged access' to research and lobbied with success for open access policies. But I'd never imagined quite that outlay! It's quite criminal.

My essay goes a different route and is quite unique in showing that a 'quantum leap' (to classical logic) is possible in our understanding of nature, with massive implications. Our present science is patch on patch on bandage on splint on sticky plasters. I had to smile at your;

"Forcing a skilled gymnast to use a Zimmer frame to reduce the risk of accidental fall is not an acceptable outcome." That applies to science too, it needs a zimmer frame now but I show it's really a gymnast. However those familiar with the zimmer frame have no vision. I hope you like my allegorical tale and can support the hypothesis (10yr olds can now understand 'QM' in this way!)

Very well done for your essay, like a good haul, rich with abundant valuable species to feed everybody if we can get the distribution right and honest.

Best wishes

Peter

« Previous Page