Zeitgeist: Moving Forward Page #12

Therefore, the basis of this civilization

needs to be as supportive and hence

sustainable for human life as possible -

taking into account the material needs

of all the world's people

while trying to remove anything

that can could hurt us in the long run.

With that goal of "Maximum Sustainability" understood

next question regards our "method"...

What kind of approach do we take?

Well, let's see -

last I checked, politics was the method of social operation on Earth...

so what do the doctrines of the republicans, liberals

conservatives or socialists have to say about societal design?

Hmmm... not a damn thing.

Okay then - what about religion?

Surely the great creator had to have left some blueprints somewhere...

Nope... nothing I can find.

Okay then - so what's left?

It appears something called "Science"...

Science is unique in that its methods demand not only that ideas

proposed be tested and replicated...

but everything science comes up with is also inherently falsifiable.

In other words, unlike religion and politics

science has no ego

and everything it suggests accepts the possibility

of being proven wrong eventually.

It holds on to nothing and evolves constantly.

Well, that sounds natural enough to me.

So then - based on the current state of scientific knowledge

in the early 21st century

along with our goal of "maximum sustainability"

for the human population

how do we begin the actual process of construction?

Well, the first question to ask is:

What do we need to survive?

The answer, of course, are Planetary Resources.

Whether it is the water we drink, the energy we use

or the raw materials we utilize to create tools and shelter

the planet hosts an inventory of resources -

many of which are demanded for our survival.

So, given that reality

it then becomes critical to figure out what we have and where it is.

This means we need to conduct a survey.

We simply locate and identify every physical resource on the planet

we can, along with the amount available at each location

from the deposits of copper, to the most potent locations for

wind farms to produce energy

to the natural fresh water springs

to an assessment of the amount of fish in the ocean

to the most prime arable land for food cultivation, etc.

But, since we humans are going to be

consuming these resources over time

we then realize that not only do we need to locate and identify -

we also need to track.

We need to make sure we don't run out of any of this stuff...

that would be bad.

And this means not only tracking our rates of use

but the rates of earthly regeneration as well

such as how long it takes for, say

a tree to grow or a spring to replenish.

This is called "Dynamic Equilibrium"...

In other words, if we use up trees faster than they can be grown back -

we have a serious problem, for it is unsustainable.

So then, how do we track this inventory

especially when we recognize that all

of this stuff is scattered everywhere.

We have large mineral mines in what we call Africa

energy concentrations in the Middle East

huge tidal power possibilities on the Atlantic coast of North America

the largest supply of fresh water in Brazil, etc.

Well, once again, good old science has a suggestion:

it's called "Systems theory"...

Systems theory recognizes that the fabric of the natural world

from human biology to the earthly biosphere

to the gravitational pull of the solar system itself

is one huge synergistically connected system - fully interlinked.

Just as human cells connect to form our organs

and the organs connect to form our bodies

and since our bodies cannot live without the earthy resources

of food, air and water, we are intrinsically connected to the earth.

And so on.

So - as nature suggests, we take all of this inventory

and tracking data and create a "system" to manage it.

A "Global Resource Management System", in fact

to account for every relevant resource on the planet.

There is simply no logical alternative if our goal as a species

is survival in the long run. We have to keep track as a whole.

That understood, we can now consider production.

How do we use all this stuff?

What will our process of production be and what do we need

to consider to make sure it is as optimized as possible

to maximize our sustainability?

Well the first thing that jumps right out at us is the fact that

we need to constantly try and preserve.

The planet's resources are essentially finite.

So it is important that we be "strategic"...

"Strategic Preservation" is key.

The second thing we recognize, is that some resources

are really not as good as others in their performance.

In fact, some of this stuff, when put into use

has a terrible effect of the environment

which invariably hinders our own health.

For example:
oil and fossil fuels, no matter how you cut it

release some pretty destructive agents into the environment.

Therefore, it is critical that we do our best to use such things

only when we really have to - if at all.

Fortunately for us, we see a ton of solar wind tidal wave -

heat differential and geothermal possibilities for energy production

so we can strategize objectively about what we use and where

to avoid what could be called "negative retroactions"

or anything that results from production or use

that damages the environment and hence, ourselves.

We will call this "Strategic Safety"

to couple in with our "Strategic Preservation.

But production strategies do not stop there.

We are going to need an "Efficiency Strategy

for the actual mechanics of production itself.

And what we find is that there are roughly

three specific protocols we must adhere to:

One:
Every good we produce must be

designed to last as long as possible.

Naturally, the more things breakdown

the more resources we are going to need to replace them

and the more waste produced.

Two:
When things do break down

or are no longer usable for whatever reason

it is critical that we harvest, or recycle as much as we possibly can.

So the production design must take this into

account directly at the very earliest stages.

Three:
Quickly evolving technologies, such as electronics

which are subject to the fastest rates of technological obsolescence

would need to be designed to

foreshadow and accommodate physical updates.

The last thing we want to do is throw away an entire computer

system just because it has only one broken part or is outdated.

So we simply design the components to be easily updated

part by part, standardized and universally interchangeable

foreshadowed by the current trend of technological change.

And when we realize that the mechanisms of "Strategic Preservation"

"Strategic Safety" and "Strategic Efficiency"

are purely technical considerations

devoid of any human opinion or bias

we simply program these strategies into a computer

which can weigh and calculate all the relevant variables

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