Podcast #24: Michael Zimmerman Gets Philosophical on Tech

In a wide-ranging conversation, philosopher Michael Zimmerman contextualizes our technological journey within the history of Western thought.

By Mo Lotman | January 9, 2019 | Artificial Intelligence, Culture, Employment, Environment, Ethics, Knowledge, Philosophy, Podcasts, Religion, Society | Acts of Enclosure, Addiction, Agriculture, Ancient World, Anger, Aristotle, Arnold Toynbee, Artificial General Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Authenticity, Axial Age, Behavior, Bible, Bolsheviks, Boundaries, Buddhism, Capitlism, Carolyn Merchant, Christianity, Civilization, Control, Craving, Creativity, CRISPR, David Loy, Death, Decadence, Deep Ecology, Delusion, Desire, Distraction, Earth, Ease, Embodiment, Engineering, Environment, Eternity, Exploitation, Exponential Growth, Facebook, Fake News, Fate, Finitude, Fire, Francis Bacon, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gnosticism, Golden Rule, Google, Greed, Hatred, Hegel, Heiddeger, Hubris, Human Nature, Humanness, Immaturity, Immortality, Industrial Revolution, Infantilization, Isaiah, Islam, Jaron Lanier, Karl Jaspers, Karl Marx, Knowledge, Lab-Grown Meat, Life, Loss, Martin Rees, Marxism, Master-Slave Dialectic, Meaning, Meat-Eating, Mediation, Medieval World, Metallurgy, Mind, Mining, Modernity, Money Economy, Morality, Mortality, Native Americans, Nature, Nazis, News, Nihilism, Obesity, Pain, Pascal, Peter Thiel, Philosophy, Plato, Playing God, Power, Production, Progress, Propoganda, Protestant Reformation, Ray Kurzweil, Reincarnation, relationships, Religion, René Descartes, Resentment, Resources, Respect, Sailing, Security, Self-Mastery, Silicon Valley, Smartphones, Socialism, Soviets, Spirituality, Splintering, Steve Jobs, Suffering, The Overman, The Singularity, Trade, Traditional Societies, Transhumanism, Twitter, Utopia, Wealth, Wildfires, Will to Power, Wisdom, Wonder

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Living on Sunshine: A Real, Sustainable Energy Model

A farmstead in Virgina has built a sustainable low-energy lifestyle. Can the rest of us follow their example?

By Alexis Zeigler | January 2, 2019 | Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Society | AC Power, Agriculture, Batteries, Community, Daylight Drive, DC Power, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Heat, Infrastructure, LEDs, Living Energy Farm, Photovoltaics, PV, Refrigeration, Renewable Energy, Scalability, Solar Power, Sustainability

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Is it Time to Separate Science From Technology?

While science and technology are usually paired in modern discourse, the false relationship hides ulterior motives.

By Olufemi Terry | May 30, 2018 | Culture, Knowledge, Philosophy, Religion, Society | Against the Grain, Agriculture, Climate Change, Daniel Kahneman, Darwin, David Keith, Ecomodernism, Elizabeth Kolbert, Elon Musk, Evolution, Extinction, Geoengineering, Inequality, Innovation, Inquiry, Intelligent Design, James C. Scott, Mars, Military-Industrial Complex, Obesity, Peter Thiel, Religion, Science, Sedentarism, Steven Pinker, Techno-optimism, Techno-utopians, Technology, Thought

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Warped Incentives Cultivated by US Industrial Agriculture

Industrial agriculture has increased the food supply, but it has done so at tremendous cost to the environment, food quality, health, and family farming.

By Samantha Maxwell | September 13, 2017 | Agriculture, Culture, Environment, Food, Health, Society | Agriculture, Chemicals, Diabetes, Family Farms, Farmers Markets, Flavor, Food Deserts, GMOs, Green Cart, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Junk Food, Land, Local Food, Low-Income, Monocrops, Monoculture, Nutrition, Poverty, Processed Foods, Roundup, Sustainability, Third World, Vandana Shiva

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Disruptive Technologies Outpace Our Adaptability

As digital technologies improve exponentially, the pace of change has become too great for healthy adaptation.

By Mo Lotman | August 9, 2017 | Artificial Intelligence, Culture, Economics, Employment, Philosophy, Society, Well-Being | Agriculture, AI, Clay Christensen, Disruption, Employment, FailCon, Homo Sapiens, Invention, Moore's Law, Moveable Type, Pace, Retraining, Silicon Valley, Speed, The Internet, The Wheel, Wisdom

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How Climate Change Could Affect Culinary Culture

Climate change is already affecting agriculture. What will this mean for iconic food items that help define cultures? Can we gracefully adapt?

By Samantha Maxwell | August 2, 2017 | Agriculture, Culture, Environment, Food | Abby van den Berg, Agriculture, Canada, Chocolate, Climate Change, Coffee, Foliage, Food Collapse, Georgia, Global Warming, Identity, Lane Orchards, Maple Syrup, Maple Trees, Modernity, New England, Peaches, Pesticides, Pests, Proctor Maple Research Center, Timothy Perkins, Tom Okie, Tradition, Vermont, Water Shortages

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New Back-to-Landers Have More Information and More Obstacles

The most recent wave of back-to-landers, seeking sustainability, simplicity, and meaning, have a rich vein of resources; they also have bigger challenges.

By Nancy Matsumoto | July 5, 2017 | Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Family, Food, Society | Agriculture, Back to the Land, Back-to-Landers, Conservation, Eliot Coleman, Environmentalism, Family Farms, Farmer Shortage, Farming, France, Helen Nearing, Hippies, Jean-Martin Fortier, Maine, Market Gardening, Maude-Hélène Fortier, National Young Farmers Coalition, New Mexico, NYFC, Organic Farming, Quebec, Scott Nearing, Socialism, Start-ups

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Interview: Ethan Hughes of The Possibility Alliance, part two

In the first part of this interview, Ethan Hughes talked with The Technoskeptic about events that led to the founding [...]

By Mo Lotman | June 15, 2016 | Culture, Economics, Environment, Family, Human Rights, Society, Well-Being | Activism, Agriculture, Anger, Bacha Kahn, Gift Economy, Health Care, Martin Luther King, Missouri, Off-the-grid, Oil, PEACH, Permaculture, Pyrenees, Service, Still Waters Sanctuary, Sustainability, The Possibility Alliance

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Interview: Ethan Hughes of The Possibility Alliance, part one

There are brilliant writers and thinkers who are questioning technological progress from a philosophical perspective, others who raise alarms about [...]

By Mo Lotman | June 8, 2016 | Culture, Economics, Environment, Family, Human Rights, Society, Well-Being | Activism, Agriculture, Be the Change, Cycling, Ecuador, Gift Economy, Loving Earth Sanctuary, Missouri, Off-the-grid, Oil, Permaculture, Service, Still Waters Sanctuary, Sustainability, The Amazon, The Possibility Alliance

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