tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post4763871205574551180..comments2023-12-01T16:56:04.415+11:00Comments on Peak Energy: All watched over by machines of loving grace (part 2)Big Gavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-58947037493189657342011-06-16T22:11:34.405+10:002011-06-16T22:11:34.405+10:00Well - I've never thought much of the phrase &...Well - I've never thought much of the phrase "Balance of nature" at all and I don't think the systems theorists ever use it.<br /><br />Curtis seems to have found it particularly irksome, wherever he has encountered it, and decided it means all ecologists are basically evil (for the reason you mention - I've never met anyone like this so its not something that's ever pressed my buttons).Big Gavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-47797355290514050102011-06-16T01:16:37.475+10:002011-06-16T01:16:37.475+10:00Phrases like "balance of nature" are ok ...Phrases like "balance of nature" are ok in nature documentaries but does it really have a place in the real world? What does it really mean?<br />It's like that other phrase heard in Attenboroughs TV shows, "perfectly adapted". This obviously can not be true. If true, evolution ends. Or, true only for the briefest flitting moment for a very limited number during a period of exceptional environmental stability.<br />My anecdotal experience is that those that use the phrase "balance of nature" are often making some kind of allegory either describing or justifying the (economic) status quo.<br /><br />It might make more sense to talk about strange attractors of nature - but then that's not nearly so catchy!SPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12467929366702367892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-9604402805386571622011-06-15T21:17:46.680+10:002011-06-15T21:17:46.680+10:00Curtis was equating the idea of "nature in ba...Curtis was equating the idea of "nature in balance" with absolute stasis.<br /><br />I'm not sure if primordial ecologists believed this but Lotka-Volterra (and modern ecologists) don't.<br /><br />The whole thing just seemed like a convenient strawman to beat...Big Gavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-67132124034492893212011-06-15T14:11:07.652+10:002011-06-15T14:11:07.652+10:00"he assumes that this genuinely was a case of..."he assumes that this genuinely was a case of leaderless uprising spontaneously organised via network culture"<br /><br />The "invisible hand" was at work "guiding" the market to an "optimal" solution ;-)<br /><br />I probably won't get to see this doco, but it seems very strange to blame "ecologists" for our current position. What political power base does an ecologist build from?<br /><br />OR is the doco questioning those who advocate deterministic ideas/models... but this is not a trait limited to ecological theorists (not all think in the Lotka-Volterra way - used by economists as well).SPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12467929366702367892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-30988622590665748472011-06-13T21:21:25.677+10:002011-06-13T21:21:25.677+10:00Thanks (and my Floating LNG post a week or two ago...Thanks (and my Floating LNG post a week or two ago was original too !).<br /><br />I really like Bucky - I think I pretty much said what I have to say here :<br /><br />http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2009/02/buckminster-fullers-critical-path.htmlBig Gavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682404837426502876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-26250263265217028612011-06-13T21:15:26.138+10:002011-06-13T21:15:26.138+10:00Great seeing you make an original post again :)
Y...Great seeing you make an original post again :)<br /><br />You're spot on about the "colored" revolutions that hit eastern Europe. Just look at what happened to Ukraine and it's "Color" revolution, not much of a change in the socio economic status for the peons :P<br /><br />What's your personal take on Bucky if I may ask? He's a figure that's often fascinated me.TiradeFactionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760660346802297769noreply@blogger.com