Climate Change and Civilization Collapse?

[Lou Gold]

Not necessarily. Here is a more nuanced view that upends the old story.

The great Goethe observed:

The spectacle of Nature is always new, for she is always renewing the spectators. Life is her most exquisite invention; and death is her expert contrivance to get plenty of life.

[Soul_of_Shu]

If the supposedly 'metaphysical' focus of the article is that our focus is very much biased by our psychological and cultural predispositions and conditioning, and that our ingenuity in getting around limitations is highly adaptable, then this forum, as a microcosm, surely is evidence of that.

[Ed Konderla]

I'll try this again.
Great article. In todays world the ruling class uses fear as a motivator almost exclusively and probably always have. There is plenty to be afraid of if you are a materialist. Most people feel little or no control over their lives. They don't understand how anything works, where their food, water or electricity come from. Whatever values they follow today and society supports may be thrown in the garbage tomorrow and they will be held accountable for not following the new values at any time in their past lives. Very few make any intrinsic contribution to society and they know it. If they ceased to exist tomorrow no one out of their immediate family would know or care. They are told they need to be very afraid and must surrender what little control they have over to the politicians and scientists who promise to ride in like the cavalry and save them from themselves.

However being a staunch idealist I can enjoy the show with the same detached involvement I experience when watching "The Life of Brian" by Monty Python. I know without a doubt that this reality is a facade. Having little or no fear allows me to experience life without the terrible fog fear creates. I constantly experience the sublime reality that surrounds me and feel blessed to have had the opportunity to experience it. And when I rejoin "Mind at Large" (when I drop dead as a hammer) I'll take the impact of the experiences in this plane into the new reality.

[Lou Gold]

If the supposedly 'metaphysical' focus of the article is that our focus is very much biased by our psychological and cultural predispositions and conditioning, and that our ingenuity in getting around limitations is highly adaptable, then this forum, as a microcosm, surely is evidence of that.

Yeah, Dana. The metaphysical context is that metacognitive peoples evolved in two different ways in consciousness (Idealism). One group used their greater awareness to improve their balance in place, to be more sustainably indigenous. As the article says, Recent research suggests that indigenous groups have been particularly good at adapting to climate changes, Degroot said, “either because they were able to migrate or because they were able to alter the distribution of resources that they relied upon.” Another meta-cognitive group did not redistribute resources or migrate but turned attention toward conquering new places or escaping the inevitable suffering by striving toward Nirvana or Paradise. I assert that within Idealism (consciousness is supreme) that this is the difference making the difference where the rubber meets the road. Although consciousness is non-local, alters by definition function in locations. As the marketing guy says, it's about location, location, location. The modern idea of being free of or separate from location is a huge source of the mischief and should not be indiscriminately celebrated as a progress.