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Going Dark
We are the last individuals of our species on Earth. How shall we respond? How shall we act? If industrial civilization is maintained, climate change will cause human extinction in the near term. If industrial civilization falls, sufficient ionizing radiation will be released from the world's nuclear power plants to cause human extinction in the near term. In the wake of this horrific conclusion, conservation biologist Guy McPherson proposes we act with compassion, courage, and creativity. He suggests we act with the kind of empathy for which humans are renowned. In other words, he suggests we act with decency toward the humans and other organisms with which we share this beautiful planet. Going Dark is the story of one scientist's response to the horrors we face. It is a deeply personal narrative infused with abundant evidence to support its terrifying claims. In the words of syndicated cartoonist David Fitzsimmons, McPherson's ""approach is disarming and his message is both life-changing and convincingly alarming. A blend of Paul Revere with Rachel Carson, Guy McPherson is a significant voice of rational conscience nudging in the wilderness. Fierce as Ed Abbey, and equally prophetic, Professor McPherson is a modern-day John Muir with a global perspective. Beyond the warnings is a body of thoughtful and pragmatic real world ideas."" "Going Dark peels the shadow from the cozy dreams we've all bought into. You know the technology will save us from climate change; the products we consume are endless and untainted; our modern idea of happiness and convenience doesn't crush others; the heartbeat of the industrial economy that pulses within us all is sustainable and ethical. McPherson's latest work will make you think twice, twice. If you feel discomfort as you read you are reading it correctly." -Cameron Conaway, author of Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet. "There is an end of the world scenario, but there is no James Bond or Superman around to save everything at the last moment. Read this book if you dare." Professor Richard Davies
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 30, 2013
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186 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 20, 2014
NOTE: This review contains spoilers.
Guy McPherson and I are the same age, with very different experiences, yet we are converging on a similar set of conclusions about what the future holds for us and everyone else. I finished reading his book "Going Dark" two days after completing the latest update of my ongoing project to gain insight into how humanity's future is likely to evolve; both reach depressing conclusions about our prospects.
"Going Dark" is a group of essays mostly extracted from McPherson's online blog "Nature Bats Last," which discusses from a deeply personal perspective why he believes our species and most others are headed for extinction within just a few years and how we might cope with that fact. As a successful conservation biologist, McPherson knew how humans have been causing other species to go extinct at an alarming rate; but as he learned more about human-induced climate change, it became clear to him that we were passing various tipping points that were making recovery, and our own survival, practically impossible.
McPherson blames industrial civilization for our fate, having reached the conclusion that it is inherently incompatible with a healthy planet. In his view, the most successful agent of that civilization, the United States, is especially to blame for what is happening now, going out of its way to make things even worse. His last hope for even a marginal delay in our fate was dashed when the economic disaster of 2008 didn't result in a total crash of the world economy, especially its use of fossil fuels. Now, he has no hope (what he calls "hopium"), because too many tipping points have been crossed, and because the inevitable decline of civilization is almost certain to unleash even worse consequences. Those consequences include the release of lethal radiation from incompletely shut down nuclear power plants, and reduction of air pollution that has helped delay the onset of the worst of climate change.
He now plays the role of a doctor comforting dying patients, which include himself, and enlightening those patients who don't yet know their time left is extremely limited. Overwhelmed with despair, he's not yet willing to totally give up on life, instead trying to make the two remaining decades as good as possible.
I'm inclined to take McPherson very seriously, in large part because of his credentials and other things I've read, and because his prediction of "near-term extinction" represents a realistic consequence of one of the three scenarios I've considered in my own recent research. In that "best case," we are not immediately overwhelmed by own depletion of ecological resources (read "other species") and act as though we will have a lot of additional resources to fuel our hunger for total life satisfaction. The scenario is "best" because it is premised on us finding those new resources very soon; but if we don't (and we probably won't), then the timeline for extinction of other species, to include us, is close to the one McPherson is expecting. If self-sustained climate change is indeed already in progress, then we are probably committed to this path in terms of our ecological impact (not our population growth), no matter what else we try to do.
Whether or not McPherson is correct in his expectations will be decided by experience. Even more important to me is whether we should, as he recommends, accept their inevitability ahead of that and treat the living part of Earth (including ourselves) as if it is in hospice. I've wavered on this question, losing hope and recovering it several times over the past few months. Reading this book has made that indecision more uncomfortable, even urgently so. Which is, I think, McPherson's intent.
I'm a big fan of thought-provoking discussion about important issues, and there is no more important issue than survival. "Going Dark" is an excellent contribution to this discussion, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Guy McPherson and I are the same age, with very different experiences, yet we are converging on a similar set of conclusions about what the future holds for us and everyone else. I finished reading his book "Going Dark" two days after completing the latest update of my ongoing project to gain insight into how humanity's future is likely to evolve; both reach depressing conclusions about our prospects.
"Going Dark" is a group of essays mostly extracted from McPherson's online blog "Nature Bats Last," which discusses from a deeply personal perspective why he believes our species and most others are headed for extinction within just a few years and how we might cope with that fact. As a successful conservation biologist, McPherson knew how humans have been causing other species to go extinct at an alarming rate; but as he learned more about human-induced climate change, it became clear to him that we were passing various tipping points that were making recovery, and our own survival, practically impossible.
McPherson blames industrial civilization for our fate, having reached the conclusion that it is inherently incompatible with a healthy planet. In his view, the most successful agent of that civilization, the United States, is especially to blame for what is happening now, going out of its way to make things even worse. His last hope for even a marginal delay in our fate was dashed when the economic disaster of 2008 didn't result in a total crash of the world economy, especially its use of fossil fuels. Now, he has no hope (what he calls "hopium"), because too many tipping points have been crossed, and because the inevitable decline of civilization is almost certain to unleash even worse consequences. Those consequences include the release of lethal radiation from incompletely shut down nuclear power plants, and reduction of air pollution that has helped delay the onset of the worst of climate change.
He now plays the role of a doctor comforting dying patients, which include himself, and enlightening those patients who don't yet know their time left is extremely limited. Overwhelmed with despair, he's not yet willing to totally give up on life, instead trying to make the two remaining decades as good as possible.
I'm inclined to take McPherson very seriously, in large part because of his credentials and other things I've read, and because his prediction of "near-term extinction" represents a realistic consequence of one of the three scenarios I've considered in my own recent research. In that "best case," we are not immediately overwhelmed by own depletion of ecological resources (read "other species") and act as though we will have a lot of additional resources to fuel our hunger for total life satisfaction. The scenario is "best" because it is premised on us finding those new resources very soon; but if we don't (and we probably won't), then the timeline for extinction of other species, to include us, is close to the one McPherson is expecting. If self-sustained climate change is indeed already in progress, then we are probably committed to this path in terms of our ecological impact (not our population growth), no matter what else we try to do.
Whether or not McPherson is correct in his expectations will be decided by experience. Even more important to me is whether we should, as he recommends, accept their inevitability ahead of that and treat the living part of Earth (including ourselves) as if it is in hospice. I've wavered on this question, losing hope and recovering it several times over the past few months. Reading this book has made that indecision more uncomfortable, even urgently so. Which is, I think, McPherson's intent.
I'm a big fan of thought-provoking discussion about important issues, and there is no more important issue than survival. "Going Dark" is an excellent contribution to this discussion, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
December 24, 2014
Going Dark is an introspective and personal look at one's life upon discovering the very real threat of Near Term Human Extinction in the very near future, like by 2030 or even more terrifyingly, by 2017!
The Abyss calls to every living thing on Earth and very little is being done by the failed leaders of the world to seriously address the climate crisis.
The frustration and grief resulting from this knowledge has led Dr McPherson to travel the country and the world sharing the scientific information that he says all the leaders of the world know, but are too scared to tell us. He has written extensively on the topic and has a blog that is read by hundreds every day. His previous book, Walking Away From Empire, documented his leaving behind a luxurious life in the Ivory Tower of academia to live in the desert off the grid.
Going Dark follows his search for meaning when faced with the ultimate end, moving into a future where there will be no dirges, no legends of how hard we fought to save the planet and it's beings, and no memory left of us.
The existential question that humans have wrestled with since becoming sentient creatures has been "Why am I here?"
Dr Guy R. McPherson, Conservation scientist and professor Emeritus of University of Arizona, takes that question to a new level and asks the very temporal and important question, "What do I do while I'm here? How should I be?" and takes a close look at the question in relation to our very likely extinction coming soon. He believes that there are 7+ billion answers to that question, and gives no real advice except for guidance that we live lives of excellence, authenticity, empathy and compassion in the face of doom.
Excerpt:
"This text is not for the faint of heart. Not only are the lights about to go out on industrial civilization, but the lights are about to go out on our species. Marching in lockstep with the dark days faced by society and Homo sapiens is my own heart, heavy with the knowledge in my head and the failure of my personal efforts. My prose in this work reflects the darkness of our final days. It's time to let go, one last time."
His writing is humorous, liquid, ironic at times and does not insult one's intelligence. 159 pgs. You have time to read before the lights go out. Maybe.
Guy McPherson
The Abyss calls to every living thing on Earth and very little is being done by the failed leaders of the world to seriously address the climate crisis.
The frustration and grief resulting from this knowledge has led Dr McPherson to travel the country and the world sharing the scientific information that he says all the leaders of the world know, but are too scared to tell us. He has written extensively on the topic and has a blog that is read by hundreds every day. His previous book, Walking Away From Empire, documented his leaving behind a luxurious life in the Ivory Tower of academia to live in the desert off the grid.
Going Dark follows his search for meaning when faced with the ultimate end, moving into a future where there will be no dirges, no legends of how hard we fought to save the planet and it's beings, and no memory left of us.
The existential question that humans have wrestled with since becoming sentient creatures has been "Why am I here?"
Dr Guy R. McPherson, Conservation scientist and professor Emeritus of University of Arizona, takes that question to a new level and asks the very temporal and important question, "What do I do while I'm here? How should I be?" and takes a close look at the question in relation to our very likely extinction coming soon. He believes that there are 7+ billion answers to that question, and gives no real advice except for guidance that we live lives of excellence, authenticity, empathy and compassion in the face of doom.
Excerpt:
"This text is not for the faint of heart. Not only are the lights about to go out on industrial civilization, but the lights are about to go out on our species. Marching in lockstep with the dark days faced by society and Homo sapiens is my own heart, heavy with the knowledge in my head and the failure of my personal efforts. My prose in this work reflects the darkness of our final days. It's time to let go, one last time."
His writing is humorous, liquid, ironic at times and does not insult one's intelligence. 159 pgs. You have time to read before the lights go out. Maybe.
Guy McPherson
February 21, 2015
Many people will disagree with McPherson's conclusions. I agree with them. The premise of this book is that anthropogenic climate disruption is real, that it's proceeding at a far faster pace than most people realize, and that we've passed a tipping point beyond which life on Earth will become untenable. I'm certain many of my friends will think me crazy to believe such a thing, but while many of them are watching TV, I'm reading enough science to understand what's going on. I could point to the recent calving of the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier in Western Greenland and many other things that are happening, and most people would just say, "What?" and proceed with their lives.
Most people I know who are my age think this is ridiculous. Most people I know who are half my age know about this. I've made my peace with it and try to live my life with a small footprint.
To friends and family who disagree with this point of view, I've said we should talk in another five years, when I think the world will be a very different place. Based on when I started saying this, it will be 2019. I'll see you all then.
Most people I know who are my age think this is ridiculous. Most people I know who are half my age know about this. I've made my peace with it and try to live my life with a small footprint.
To friends and family who disagree with this point of view, I've said we should talk in another five years, when I think the world will be a very different place. Based on when I started saying this, it will be 2019. I'll see you all then.
February 12, 2015
Could not put this one down. This book made me think in so many different ways. What an emotional experience it gave me. Guy McPherson is truly an inspiring human being.
September 6, 2015
Contains spoilers
This book is mainly about Guy McPherson's personal thoughts on the matter. The question this book seeks to help one answer, is HOW can one continue to live and keep an attitude other than utter despair after one has seen that near-term human extinction is inevitable. While there are a number of other climate books that will tell you how we got over tipping-point after tipping-point, noting that one cannot identify a tipping point until they are past it (and it's too late), or what sorts of mitigation strategies society can employ, or even how to secure your OWN survival, Going Dark takes on a different tactic. Although very personal to Guy McPherson, it's about just HOW one can keep living after having seen this fact - once you've seen it, you can't just "unsee" it. It's there. It's real. Moreover, it leads to utter despair, and this time it is with good reason, and it is in no way related to depression. This is sadness for a reason, grief of a loss of everything and everyone - everyone we love, have ever loved, everything we enjoyed, all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our hopes for young people in our lives - are soon to be lost. This is anticipatory grief. Then, there is how Guy McPherson chooses to deal with others - to tell them, loudly, and in written form, to anyone who will listen, hoping that someone will see it too. He's gotten used to being thought of as a bit loony. So have I, but I don't proclaim my utter despair for the future as loudly as he does.
I'm looking to him to gain a bit of piece through acceptance - I cannot educate everyone. I can get but a very few to listen to one bit I say about the topic of near-term extinction. The answer is - I can't get through to any more. The majority are going to continue in this "omnicidal" culture, as it's called in the book, and keep using and living as always until that becomes impossible, then express shock and awe. I really feel sorry for the fact that for many of these caught up in industrial urban civilization's thrall, that having babies (or "starting families" as they prefer to call it), is part of the deal. When I see an infant or child, I feel sorry for that child who will have a short and unpleasant life, because his or her parents failed to notice what to me has been obvious for about 10 years - that we're in an extinction event, and above the weight of creatures going extinct. It's unnatural that we haven't gone extinct. We can only fool mother nature for so long - and the longer, the more speed and violence it will hit us with.
He goes into what he calls "hopium" of many people. We've all heard them: They are the ones who see what's happening, but remain hopeful against-all-odds or reason, that something is somehow going to change it. Recycle a few newspapers or glass bottles. Drive an economy car. Have no more than 1 child. Wear natural-fiber clothing. I guess those things are good so far as they may keep one out of utter despair, but maintaining hope to the point of delusion is sort of like a drug - hence "hopium".
Still, like Guy, I would not describe myself as depressed. I'm realistic. The time we have is now, and there are things I (or we) can do now that will make things better for someone, somehow, even in a small way. I won't be able to stop it, and nothing I can do will slow it down for more than a few seconds, maybe.
This book is mainly about Guy McPherson's personal thoughts on the matter. The question this book seeks to help one answer, is HOW can one continue to live and keep an attitude other than utter despair after one has seen that near-term human extinction is inevitable. While there are a number of other climate books that will tell you how we got over tipping-point after tipping-point, noting that one cannot identify a tipping point until they are past it (and it's too late), or what sorts of mitigation strategies society can employ, or even how to secure your OWN survival, Going Dark takes on a different tactic. Although very personal to Guy McPherson, it's about just HOW one can keep living after having seen this fact - once you've seen it, you can't just "unsee" it. It's there. It's real. Moreover, it leads to utter despair, and this time it is with good reason, and it is in no way related to depression. This is sadness for a reason, grief of a loss of everything and everyone - everyone we love, have ever loved, everything we enjoyed, all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our hopes for young people in our lives - are soon to be lost. This is anticipatory grief. Then, there is how Guy McPherson chooses to deal with others - to tell them, loudly, and in written form, to anyone who will listen, hoping that someone will see it too. He's gotten used to being thought of as a bit loony. So have I, but I don't proclaim my utter despair for the future as loudly as he does.
I'm looking to him to gain a bit of piece through acceptance - I cannot educate everyone. I can get but a very few to listen to one bit I say about the topic of near-term extinction. The answer is - I can't get through to any more. The majority are going to continue in this "omnicidal" culture, as it's called in the book, and keep using and living as always until that becomes impossible, then express shock and awe. I really feel sorry for the fact that for many of these caught up in industrial urban civilization's thrall, that having babies (or "starting families" as they prefer to call it), is part of the deal. When I see an infant or child, I feel sorry for that child who will have a short and unpleasant life, because his or her parents failed to notice what to me has been obvious for about 10 years - that we're in an extinction event, and above the weight of creatures going extinct. It's unnatural that we haven't gone extinct. We can only fool mother nature for so long - and the longer, the more speed and violence it will hit us with.
He goes into what he calls "hopium" of many people. We've all heard them: They are the ones who see what's happening, but remain hopeful against-all-odds or reason, that something is somehow going to change it. Recycle a few newspapers or glass bottles. Drive an economy car. Have no more than 1 child. Wear natural-fiber clothing. I guess those things are good so far as they may keep one out of utter despair, but maintaining hope to the point of delusion is sort of like a drug - hence "hopium".
Still, like Guy, I would not describe myself as depressed. I'm realistic. The time we have is now, and there are things I (or we) can do now that will make things better for someone, somehow, even in a small way. I won't be able to stop it, and nothing I can do will slow it down for more than a few seconds, maybe.
April 8, 2023
Fast paced brutally honest information about the failed human experiment
Those readers who think that humans are special and above all other forms of life will not appreciate or believe what this author has to say. I have known for some time that our species is without a doubt headed for extinction, but now realize that the terrible end will come much sooner than previously expected.
I am a father and grandfather, and like Guy it pains me very much to know how poorly we have treated this incredible world we call earth, and how much misery we are leaving behind for the younger generations. It is even more painful for me to realize that I belong to the species Homo Sapiens that has been able to thoroughly destroy this once beautiful place we call home in such a short period of time. I hope I am fortunate enough to not live to witness our final days.
Those readers who think that humans are special and above all other forms of life will not appreciate or believe what this author has to say. I have known for some time that our species is without a doubt headed for extinction, but now realize that the terrible end will come much sooner than previously expected.
I am a father and grandfather, and like Guy it pains me very much to know how poorly we have treated this incredible world we call earth, and how much misery we are leaving behind for the younger generations. It is even more painful for me to realize that I belong to the species Homo Sapiens that has been able to thoroughly destroy this once beautiful place we call home in such a short period of time. I hope I am fortunate enough to not live to witness our final days.
February 7, 2018
Outstanding in every detail
life changing read that touches on all the critical issues of our time. This style of reading is not not for everybody
life changing read that touches on all the critical issues of our time. This style of reading is not not for everybody
December 2, 2017
Mr. McPherson is deeply disturbed. He is trapped in vicious circle paradoxes he sees everywhere. He has no hope. He says hope is wishful thinking. He calls hope, "hopium." He says global warming has progressed beyond the point of no return. It is in runaway territory now. He says we are on a path toward "omnicide." Species extinction of humans will occur by 2030 or maybe 2050. He suggests that a world wide economic collapse in all the industrial civilizations would be a good thing for the planet and might save us, but not really, because the planet is doomed already anyway. Aside from global warming, the 400 nuclear power plants currently in operation will poison the planet anyway. He's living off the grid but he's not sure it does any good and he doesn't like it but he would feel bad about going back to his life as a tenured professor in the academic world. He doesn't know why he wrote the book because he knows it won't do any good. He is writing during the Obama administration and he predicts that by now, (2017) the interior of all the continents of the Northern Hemisphere will be uninhabitable. (So he was wrong about that.) He still speaks on the Global Warming topic when invited but he's not sure why. He concludes by saying love is the only answer and thinks of his grandchildren (even though everybody will be dead before they're born). He contradicts himself a lot. Not all of his science is entirely accurate. (He says uranium had a radioactive half life of 4.5 billion years. I don't think so.) He leaves out important words in some of his sentences so that they say the opposite of what he wants to say (I think). He seems to be struggling to maintain his sanity throughout the book. Whatever dire warning or prediction about Global Warming you may have heard is wrong because everybody is understating the facts and the situation. It's much worse than anyone says it is. He doesn't trust government, media, corporations, or scientific studies, but he quotes them anyway. All presidents since Reagan (who was terrible) have each been worse than his predecessor. His primary target audience for this book seems to be himself. I wonder how he's coping here in the tRump era if he's still alive. I would not be surprised if he were in a mental institution today. The reader is left in a state of depressed bewilderment upon finishing this book. It's such a bizarre self-portrait, it's almost worth reading, but not really.
February 24, 2023
Paradoxically comforting -- but it probably won't be to you.
One can't read this book and not be moved. Moved to stop reading (as I suspect will be the reaction even of most of the self-selected compulsive realists who've always felt compelled to know), moved to scream, moved (forgive the syllepsis) to tears. Personally, I found it cathartic. McPherson provides a terminal diagnosis for this species the dominant culture of which has long been impossibly pathological, an indictment of omnicidal capitalistic predation, an autobiography and a requiem. He seems to me conflicted, justifiably enraged in a pacifistic sort of way, but above all, irrefusably compelled to speak. I knew all this, I'd even articulated some of it, but McPherson cannot omit to convey a message the self-annihilative implication of which is that there's no utility in conveying any messages. Appropriate, I suppose, since the human race is self-annihilative (and annihilative of every other species on the planet). We've already pressed the button, and there's literally nothing we can do to unpress it.
Like McPherson, I am an inveterate rationalist, and I've always preferred stark reality to force-fed delusion -- much to my own detriment, I suppose. So I've always tried to speak truth to evil (with all the futility that project comports), but my compulsion has been political. McPherson's is profoundly existential. He's speaking truth to the perpetrators of extinction -- including their own.
One can't read this book and not be moved. Moved to stop reading (as I suspect will be the reaction even of most of the self-selected compulsive realists who've always felt compelled to know), moved to scream, moved (forgive the syllepsis) to tears. Personally, I found it cathartic. McPherson provides a terminal diagnosis for this species the dominant culture of which has long been impossibly pathological, an indictment of omnicidal capitalistic predation, an autobiography and a requiem. He seems to me conflicted, justifiably enraged in a pacifistic sort of way, but above all, irrefusably compelled to speak. I knew all this, I'd even articulated some of it, but McPherson cannot omit to convey a message the self-annihilative implication of which is that there's no utility in conveying any messages. Appropriate, I suppose, since the human race is self-annihilative (and annihilative of every other species on the planet). We've already pressed the button, and there's literally nothing we can do to unpress it.
Like McPherson, I am an inveterate rationalist, and I've always preferred stark reality to force-fed delusion -- much to my own detriment, I suppose. So I've always tried to speak truth to evil (with all the futility that project comports), but my compulsion has been political. McPherson's is profoundly existential. He's speaking truth to the perpetrators of extinction -- including their own.
August 6, 2018
What's worrying is I think he could be correct.
I have been reading books on the environment for forty years. It started with lack of material for industry and loss of Whales. There was always a change we could make to repair the damage to the planet. I now see as the author highlights than mankind has triggered a world climate that we cannot control.
I did not like the quotes on nearly every page found this annoying .
If you are looking for a solution to climate change this book will depress you.
I have been reading books on the environment for forty years. It started with lack of material for industry and loss of Whales. There was always a change we could make to repair the damage to the planet. I now see as the author highlights than mankind has triggered a world climate that we cannot control.
I did not like the quotes on nearly every page found this annoying .
If you are looking for a solution to climate change this book will depress you.
June 23, 2019
Anprim rambling.
September 22, 2020
Good rant
May 17, 2015
As the title conveys, quite a dark book. I hope Mc Phearsons view is overly pessimistic, but it's also possible that his view is actually realistic. However, he does not support it sufficiently with data in this book, it's all impressions and personal anectotes.
November 28, 2016
An Important book! Highly recommended!
October 29, 2021
The book is quite repetitious and I wish there was a lot more scientific data in it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews