M.I. Lastman's Blog, page 13
April 19, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Extreme science might briefly feed 10 billion lost souls; gentle science would easily feed 500 million fulfilled souls for eons 
This picture speaks for itself, but don't overlook the gunk-filled top soil that is blowing in the wind. This picture broadcasts death. 
The point of this blog is that we might just might stretch our invasion of Nature to the point where we might feed as many as 10 billion of us. It would not last long because we would be destroying the resource that sustained us and we would be very, very unfulfilled - unhappy. Personally, I don't think we'll get that far, but we seem horrifyingly determined to try, and even to try to go farther (12 billion?) Never has the word tragedy been more truly written.
Picture two speaks for itself as well. Note the looks of happiness, note the evenness between men and women. Note the enriching healing contact with the living earth. This is a part of the contract with Nature that we must now work urgently to restore. All of our dreams must now be built upon the understanding that our appetite for fulfillment is a great as our appetite for food. The unmet appetite for fulfillment is at the heart of the appalling human tragedy.
There is some evidence that this kind of farming, in which our hands, our muscles, our intelligent kindness, and a knowledgeable partnership with nature replace herbicides, pesticides, machines, and petroleum, offers a much better prospect for meeting the minimum nutritional requirements of the current 7 and a third billion than the intensive farming of the first picture. However, we know with absolute certainty that the mixed farming of the second picture could meet the nutritional needs of a half billion people beyond are wildest dreams and it would provide fulfillment for a large part of that population as well. WE NEED TO DREAM NEW DREAMS. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FORWARD.
This picture speaks for itself, but don't overlook the gunk-filled top soil that is blowing in the wind. This picture broadcasts death. The point of this blog is that we might just might stretch our invasion of Nature to the point where we might feed as many as 10 billion of us. It would not last long because we would be destroying the resource that sustained us and we would be very, very unfulfilled - unhappy. Personally, I don't think we'll get that far, but we seem horrifyingly determined to try, and even to try to go farther (12 billion?) Never has the word tragedy been more truly written.Picture two speaks for itself as well. Note the looks of happiness, note the evenness between men and women. Note the enriching healing contact with the living earth. This is a part of the contract with Nature that we must now work urgently to restore. All of our dreams must now be built upon the understanding that our appetite for fulfillment is a great as our appetite for food. The unmet appetite for fulfillment is at the heart of the appalling human tragedy.
There is some evidence that this kind of farming, in which our hands, our muscles, our intelligent kindness, and a knowledgeable partnership with nature replace herbicides, pesticides, machines, and petroleum, offers a much better prospect for meeting the minimum nutritional requirements of the current 7 and a third billion than the intensive farming of the first picture. However, we know with absolute certainty that the mixed farming of the second picture could meet the nutritional needs of a half billion people beyond are wildest dreams and it would provide fulfillment for a large part of that population as well. WE NEED TO DREAM NEW DREAMS. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FORWARD.
April 18, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
The only thing natural about the hegemony of the patriarchy is the physical strength of the male of our species. 
April 17, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Maybe women invented religion to get their menfolk out the house. Count the women: clue, the hot ones in picture one, covered head to toe in black. 
April 16, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
We fear the malignant growth of cancer; how about the malignant growth of homo sapiens?
This is Mexico City in Aztec times. It is an island in a lake.
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt. The lake is still visible in the background. 
This is modern Mexico City. The lake is gone, even the mountains are mostly gone, hidden behind the smog. Malignant growth?
This is Mexico City in Aztec times. It is an island in a lake. The city has been destroyed and rebuilt. The lake is still visible in the background. This is modern Mexico City. The lake is gone, even the mountains are mostly gone, hidden behind the smog. Malignant growth?
April 15, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
There is no need to abandon your faiths, but beware of the stories you weave around them. Those can lead to war 
Picture one represents an attack by Crusaders on a Saracen fort. Picture two depicts a battle from the European wars of religion. They were fought between Christian story tellers for a century and a quarter in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tellers of tales among Muslims are at it now. Pray god that their wars of religion will not be so prolonged. I could not resist picture three because the ruins frame the minaret of a mosque.
Picture one represents an attack by Crusaders on a Saracen fort. Picture two depicts a battle from the European wars of religion. They were fought between Christian story tellers for a century and a quarter in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tellers of tales among Muslims are at it now. Pray god that their wars of religion will not be so prolonged. I could not resist picture three because the ruins frame the minaret of a mosque.
April 14, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Man, the maker of mighty magic, is leading us into the wilderness, not out of it.
April 13, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Violence is natural to predation. Only humans make a science of killing. 
April 12, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
We are in deep trouble. There’s no planet B. We require truly ethical behaviour to save ourselves from ourselves, and we need to know who we are.
April 11, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Growth is no longer sensible. Should we substitute the word restoration for the word growth in our economic formulations?
The first three pictures are taken in Beijing. What are we thinking? We have no real choice but to move back from this as quickly as possible.
The first three pictures are taken in Beijing. What are we thinking? We have no real choice but to move back from this as quickly as possible.
April 10, 2015
Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Neither the meek nor the Taliban nor the WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democracies) shall inherit the world. It’s not ours to inherit. There are other co-inheritors. Have a look at www.bbcearth.com. Here are a few pictures from among the millions of species who should be in the will.
