James Lovelock talks to David Freeman - A Rough Ride to the Future
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Published 2014-04-10
Independent scientist and futurist James Lovelock, originator of Gaia Theory, explores our future on the planet through two new, key ideas. The first is that we are now subject to 'accelerated evolution', a process which is bringing about change on our planet roughly a million times faster than Darwinian evolution. The second is that as part of this process, humanity has the capacity to become the intelligent part of 'Gaia', the self-regulating Earth system.
More information on this event at oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2014/…
Oxford Martin School,
University of Oxford
www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk
All Comments (21)
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Such a humble and pleasant man. Hope I'm like him when I'm 94 (and now 96!). Edit: 99 as of July 2018!
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I need to get some powered speakers for my computer and I mean great big sons of bitches, we're talking Marshall stack type power. Because I want to listen to Mr. Lovelock so I can hear him, and I want the whole motherfucking street to hear him too.
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David Freeman goes off on very odd tangents!
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A brilliant mind and a wonderful individual whose scientific research over many years has shown that humanity's industrial fossil fuelled activity has affected the planets atmosphere irrevocably.
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Think what could be if Lovelock and Attenborough for Richard Dawkins was to have a chat on the Beeb. One could tell you why, the other, what we lost, and the last, would said it wot make any difference, it's a case of three wise monkeys. We are what we are. Look..! It's not as if where walking to our own oblivion, for we've seen the future. We know, and are happy to pay the hang man. Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Empty words, of humanity Swan song.
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I think the forgotten factor is our capacity to respond; carbon fixation in the semi-arid regions from mimicry of natural herding may restore vast areas and reduce CO2 vastly; shading and climate controlled greenhouses using solar power could defy all this even in deserts.
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Interesting people seem to come out of the UK ?!?
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We have passed the point of independent discovery in hard science, because we no longer have low hanging fruit of science where one can set up an experiment with simple tool and conduct research with limited information. Patent does not have an grudge against science or creativity or whatever, it is their job to justify a contraption for the patent, they have to deal thousands of similar inventions and pick out their differences. Predicting future is not always easy or difficult, human capacity is limited, resource and energy is limited, exponential progress cannot kept on forever. From this point onward, there will not be much changes for the next century or two. Ipads will simply lead to more ipads, singularity will not happen in the foreseeable future. The real purpose against nuclear power has nothing to do with its physical hazard, but rather its potential implication in world politics, the goal is to regulate access to nuclear technology and confine it within the few country that currently dominate world affairs. This is both caused by greed and real concerns of terrorism.
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You got to have renewerables because you said it yourself, one technologies leads to other greater understanding in new idea's, we maybe at that point of water pump running on steams using coal, but it,s early days for photo electric cells.
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Interestingly the story of the steam engine/coal mines at 20:00 was something I heard just this morning watching a new video by YouTuber OrinaryThings. Highly recommended on the scandal of "clean coal" and how we owe EVERYTHING to the coal that's killing the planet
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He's right about nuclear power. In the mid 1940's the Oppenheimer project produced the 1st Atomic bomb. They also knew at that time that you could make a chain reaction with Thorium instead of Plutonium. With Thorium, you could produce clean energy with minimal waste that would be toxic for a fraction of the time of spent plutonium. There was only one small problem with the stuff. YOU COULD NOT MAKE BOMBS WITH IT! The powers that be had a way to produce cheap and clean energy as far back as the 1940's! Those bastards! Thorium is more plentiful. It also cannot cause a nuclear meltdown.
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In this talk or another, he says that ipads were inevitable in human evolution. I thought about this: I don't see why ipads should be any more final or inevitable than Grammer Phones, Record players, Walkman or DVDs , videos or Stereos etc etc. At some point in the next 20 - 40 years, ipads will be replaced by another technology. In the past, Records players and Walkmans were revolutionary and new and everyone used them
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"As a scientist: you can never really be certain about anything" True!I In other words: "SCIENCE IS NEVER SETTLED!" Any body who says otherwise in no scientist. and should be ridiculed.
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Interesting talk. I think he tends to mix biological evolution with technological evolution.
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Just cover all the rooftops with solar and super-insulate; why cover good land, except relatively barren deserts? Solutions are low hanging fruit if we take notice...
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It's happening now. And at an accelerating rate. 😕
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Quite interesting, and I "liked" it, but as I watched it I thought more and more there should be a "this is weird" button... e.g. -- Nuclear reactors more safe than windmills? Lol....
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Why don't desert dwellers sell solar panels on all that sand?
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ok
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Free heating from nuclear waste - he meant it… must be senility.
