Quill and Gear

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a great series to watch, if a bit long, but well worth the time. Jared Diamond has a great theory that just “clicks” with me the more I watch it. He starts simple, and then extrapolates. Why are Europeans so often the conqueror? Farming, and domesticated animals that can help … Continue reading Are We There Yet?

It seems counter-intuitive, but it makes sense: Lions spend almost 80% of their day sleeping., which means they spend less than 20% hunting. Odd to think of laziness as a survival trait, but Jacobs makes a good point in The Nature of Economies, that without some way to limit how much they hunt, lions could easily … Continue reading Being Lazy Keeps You Alive (If You Are a Lion, That Is)

We the People 2.0 is an interesting video to watch. I can sympathize with the communities forced to have oil wells placed on private land, by a private company, with full backing of the government. I agree that it is wrong to do so. I essentially agree that a city or other municipality should be … Continue reading The Law of Unintended Consequences (of Laws)

The required reading, Chapter 3 of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is, forgive the near pun, eye-opening. I think of myself as very unprejudiced, and strive to be without discrimination when it comes to race, creed, gender, religion, etc. However, when I tried just the simple IAT given in the book, I was horrified to see myself … Continue reading Exposing Predisposition, Quick as a Blink

RIP! is a film I tried to watch when it was first released, but was never able to get past the first half or so. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to watch it all, I could never find the time. It was a pleasant surprise that I would now need to sit down and … Continue reading Creation as a Culture

Jock Brandis, shown in Replan It is now one of my heroes. Not only is he making machines out of common materials, and using parts in ways for which they we clearly never intended, he makes plans, molds, and schematics a part of the project. This to me is so far the best example of what … Continue reading You Can Fit a Lot of Sustainability in a Box

I work in information technology (IT), which is just a way of saying that if it might have a computer in it, or in someway involved with it, the people I work with expect me to fix it. As such, I am no stranger to systems within systems. I live and die by systematic diagnosis. … Continue reading Systematic Turtles, All the Way Down

RS-450: Sustainable Communities Why? Fits the schedule I have to keep, meets the upper-division requirements. What? Not just being green, being less degenerative. Make the world better, create a livable world, become better and more well-rounded citizens. Posts? Weekly homework requires a post on two or more topics, as given by the professor. Brief much? […]