Tuesday, July 08, 2014

through the anthropocene looking glass...,


scientificamerican |  DNA sequencing and synthesis technologies might be used to create new microorganisms with potentially far-reaching environmental effects, thus contributing to the acceleration of the Anthropocene. But these technologies might also be used to mitigate and deal with some of the other consequences of anthropogenic climate change: by producing materials more sustainably, creating new antibiotics, and performing other ecosystem services. For their potential importance in both contributing to and dealing with the Anthropocene, the authors propose that the start of the Great Acceleration shouldn’t be 1945 or 1950, as most others have proposed, but 1953 — the year that Watson and Crick published the double helix structure of DNA.

This is a surprising proposal, because though they are increasingly powerful, DNA technologies haven’t created the same scale of global environmental impact as something like the steam engine. (At least not the microbial genome-scale synthetic biology that they mention in the article; genetic technologies in agriculture have certainly made big changes in land use, industrial farming practices, and other relevant Anthropocene measures). The hype surrounding novel biotechnological tools, however, frequently asserts that biology will enable technological solutions to the global problems that other technologies have caused. From algae that produce biofuels to bacteria that eat pollution to crops that can tolerate drought, biotechnologies are frequently defined by their potential to someday solve the ecological crises of the Anthropocene.

Perhaps rather than backdating the relevance of this sort of biotech, we might consider how this hype might lead us instead to a new phase of the Anthropocene. Now that we are coming to terms with the term “Anthropocene” and are proposing new technologies specifically to combat the problems caused by other technologies, the Great Acceleration might soon turn into a Great Technological Problem Feedback Loop. We might be setting ourselves towards a bio-techno-evolutionary arms race, where we design new technology that has an unforeseen impact on living things, then we design other problem-solving biotechnologies that have their own potential problems, and on and on.

In Through the Looking Glass the Red Queen tells Alice that “it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” As we run to outpace technological problems of the past, are we creating the Red Queen’s Anthropocene of the future? This doesn’t mean that we should stop trying to solve the very real problems of the Anthropocene, but perhaps we need to think more about what it might mean to technologically “run twice as fast” to finally get somewhere else.

21 comments:

BigDonOne said...

"biology will enable technological solution[z] to the global problem[z]"
BD is pleased to note Subrealism's acknowledgement of DNA's powerful role - perhaps in the future we will see a new Cabinet level position: Secretary of Molecular Biology....

CNu said...

The old guard is extracting value from the newcomers, while surrendering none of their prestige, power, or authority. THAT's why nothing changes...,

Ed Dunn said...

So your proposed solution is the establishment of a professional service class in the black community. This is not bad except you about 90 years late on implementation of this approach and zero-sum game theory over a 30 year span make this unfeasible.

Indian and Korean dentist and African and Hispanic lawyers and doctors and Chinese engineering will destroy anything American including white and black American on margins. Have you been a few hours up north of philly to New York? Who keep running against Range and will eventually win?

If an Indian become a doctor and their caste system support that - that Indian doctor is going to the UK or USA to practice medicine not stay in India. But they do remittance just like the Africans so your proposal is not bad.

But I think you should stop thinking of an 90 year old outdated proposed based on black nationalism and identity. It never worked and never will. The abroad professional service remittance strategy is more realistic in 2014.

umbrarchist said...

anthropo may come from Greek, meaning Man or Human But how often do Europeans use the general term "Man" and only mean themselves?

Who will they say is responsible for the Industrial Revolution?

The trouble is inventing technology and using it are two different things. Henry Ford did not start planned obsolescence. So should the anthropocene really be called the Europocene since it is Europeans leading the charge in the ecological destruction of the planet and telling everyone what "education" is? And then they will say you are stupid or crazy if you don't agree.

Ignore all of that Demand Side Depreciation. Throw physics out the window whenever Nobel Prize winning economists say so. Oh yeah, that is another European prize.

Constructive_Feedback said...

HOW TO MITIGATE THE "EMBEDDED CONFIDENCE MEN"


1) Promote INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY as a more important, long term "competency" than is "short term" appeasement


CASE STUDY - THE BANKRUPTCY OF DETROIT
** Sharpton & The NAACP made the case that "Detroit was only $300 million in the hole" and that the "State Republicans" reneged on a 'Revenue Sharing" program that they failed to send the $300 million to the city.
** Emergency Manager Kevin Orr looked at the books and told the unions: 'YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO SEE THE MONEY THAT YOU ARE ANTICIPATING IN YOUR PENSIONS'.
** The SWARM ATTACKED ORR. (Just 2 weeks ago an activist fighting the water shut offs called Kevin Orr "a snake in the grass).


LESSONS LEARNED - these type of Black people WANT TO BE TOLD WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR and NOT to be told THE TRUTH.if it would require them to take a DEFENSIVE POSITION against "Their TEAM MEMBERS" who are IN POWER but have lied to them


2) "DEVELOPMENT" Must Trump "POPULARITY" - THE TIME LINE (x-axis) with DEVELOPMENT as the (y-axis) is the critical tool for GOVERNING the institutions within the black community and MANAGING the resources.


CASE STUDY - The Propagandists who control the "Mentholated Black Media Pressgang" LOVE the fact that POPULARITY of an ideal or ideology is proof of its "BLACKNESS" because they control the MESSAGING that transpires WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY relative to AMERICA and POLITICS and RACIAL OFFENDEDNESS.


In the mind of Embedded Confidence Men like Ta-Nehisi Coates it is inconceivable that anything other than RACISM is the cause for the stunted Black community UPLIFT after so much investment into POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM, the success at wining favorable people into office yet the stunted DEVELOPMENT of Black people within these confines. After years of running his political/ideological confidence scheme - with Obama at the pinnacle of elective office - REPARATIONS are what is needed to DO THE TRICK.


IN truth Coates and others WILL NEVER agree to do an forensic investigation of the PARTY THAT HIS SCHEME played in diverting the AMERICANIZED NEGRO'S UPWARD THRUST laterally for the benefit of SOME OTHER TEAM. When it comes to the question of REGULATING PROGRESSIVE FUNDAMENTALISM so that BLACK PEOPLE CAN RISE - you are ALWAYS going to see "Black Development" take a back seat.


The Black community needs TRANSPARENCY and appraisal of the EFFECTIVENESS of their INVESTMENTS - like a "Wall Street Mutual Fund" manager is FORCED to account for where he puts the FUND MEMBERS MONEY and IF these choices produced FRUIT.


For the Americanized Negro - he has been TRICKED into fusing his "IDEOLOGICAL OPERATIONS" inside of AMERICAN POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM with his "BLACKNESS".

Today we now have the notion that the "BLACK PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES" can be a VICTIM OF RACISM - AND THUS the same confidence men running this scheme are therefore justified in ignoring the AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY ATTACKS on "Nations Of Color" that THEY WOULD HAVE PROTESTED AGAINST but for the fact that they LIVE VICARIOUSLY through the Commander In Chief.


YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS.
* The Domestic US "Social Justice Scheme" fight
* The voice of PROTECTION against "Western Imperialism" in "Nations Of Color".


Failing this - the DESTRUCTION of the institutions by military / fiscal policy and intelligence operatives overseas will ONLY be matched by the systematic undercutting of the INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY of the "Human Resource Development Institutions" that the Americanied Negro SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOCUSING UPON BUILDING UP - until he chose to become a part of the AMERICAN POLITICAL TEAM.

CNu said...

Nonsense. Without exception, from the RC church to the kinte klothe afro-trekkies, all the way through to the black gangster disciples, the "old guard" is deeply incumbent, embedded, in-charge, and not about to give an inch of the prestige, power, and authority they believe they're entitled to.

The only thing to worth doing and pursuing is to burn these old oxygen thieves to the ground and leave even their ashes unrecognizable, seriously.

CNu said...

At least when it comes to the question of the literally "old" guard, you and I are in complete agreement.

BigDonOne said...

Latest PRR -- those with poor reading and math skills are genetically impaired......
http://www.counselheal.com/articles/10385/20140708/same-genes-are-responsible-for-reading-and-math-skills-study-finds.htm

makheru bradley said...

And who would do the burning? Certainly not the punks who complain about the "deeply incumbent, embedded, in-charge, and not about to give an inch of the prestige, power, and authority," as if they are totally impotent to challenge this "authority."


Bob Moses, James Forman, Ruby Doris Robinson, Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, etc, didn't complain about the "authority" of Wilkins, Young, Farmer, Randolph, and King. The seized the time and crushed American Apartheid.

makheru bradley said...

These "old people" had more courage in a single-strand of their hair, than a bunch of middle-age punks who have shown no capacity to challenge a "deeply incumbent, embedded, in-charge, and not about to give an inch of the prestige, power, and authority," have in their entire bodies. These "old folks" challenged powerful and barbaric white supremacists on their turf. These middle-aged punks can't even muster the courage to challenge the other end of the umbilical cord. Vitriolic comments towards people who've actually done something is all they have. What a crock of bull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abULMt8wtPU

CNu said...

rotflmbao...., if they had "seized and crushed" anything, your raison d'etre would be at an end. As it is, whatever remnants from this era continue to cling to life, they crave the center of attention and of gravity that is over and done and which moved away from them (as a practical matter) forty or fifty years ago.

Since it's impossible to work with these fossils, the only thing left to do is to ignore them, mock them, and/or leave them to their own pathetic, nostalgic devices.

Constructive_Feedback said...

Brother Ed:


This is where you mistake my plan.


I APPLAUD the Korean, Indian, Dominican and African for coming INTO "Black Communities" that the "Embedded Confidence Men" say are MARGINALIZED and ECONOMICALLY DEAD.


I have several unprocessed pictures from my recent trip to Philadelphia that shows the economic ecology in the residential areas and how these forces now control commerce - to a greater extent and do the national corporate chains (Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc).


The only "Black Nationalist" construct that one can claim that I have is that SOME DAY the circumstances are going to present themselves by which - BECAUSE of a reconvergence of the global marketplace from what we know it today, over to a more "Dog Eat Dog" framework - with RACE and/or Ethnicity returning as the more blatant point of delineation - the "Americanized Negro" will RUE THE DAY that he failed to shift from CONSUMERISM and SOCIAL JUSTICE over to ORGANIC COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT and a focus on being the SUPPLIER of "Professional Services" to his base of consumers: HIS COMMUNITY.


To be clearer - I AM NOT arguing that some band of "Deacons Of Defense" come a long and run out the Koreans, Dominicans or other forces from their commercial shops within.


It is the ENERGY that is presently captured by PROTESTING, STRUGGLING and VOTING that needs to be redirected into EDUCATION AND CULTURE that manifests itself as this "Talented 10th" - as you call it. I reject "Talented 10th" because it sets up an ELITE class of Blacks.


My "Professional Services Agents" are meant to facility a more stable foundation and operating structure - allowing the network of corpuscles (secondary businesses) to spring up in the context of this stable foundation.


It should be argued that if you reject these "90 Year Plans" because they are vulnerable to more nimble competitors (AND I AGREE) then it should be logical that the present prevailing drive for $15 MINIMUM WAGE should be seen as such - BECAUSE I saw a lot of "Two Man" Chinese Stir Fry Joints in which (I assume) Husband and Wife work from 4pm till 1am (they don't even bother to cater to the Black lunch time crowd any longer. They know their money is made in the late night meal) they work long hours in order to build up a FOOTHOLD on their particular 2 block area on the main store front area of the Black community.


Their sole proprietorship and close family holdings make it difficult for a competitor that is bound to paying a $15 per hour wage to compete. When the government gets to the point where they FORCE a Korean husband and wife to TAKE A WAGE at a certain rate to PAY THEMSELVES - then we have reached a totalitarian state which has gone past irrationality.

BigDonOne said...

The "Old Folks" were actually in a much better position to complain -- they did not have EBT, Sec8, SNAP, affirmative action, plus SCOTUS Cabinet & POTUS positions.......

Vic78 said...

Why do you act as if the right wing is never a problem? That whole emergency manager thing is social engineering to fuck the Black people in Detroit. Up until now, Black folks don't know how to fight back.

I've seen what you've said about Obama being a victim of racism enough to make my head hurt. Much of the shit he's dealing with has to do with racism. He even gets it from his own people. What is up with you that you can't acknowledge that the first Black President has to contend with bigots? The first Black mayor of NYC had those issues. The first Black mayor of Chicago had those issues. This shit wasn't that long ago. Of course Harold Washington figured out how to deal with it.

I already know. You're going to regurgitate a blog post about ORGANIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. You only shoot one way. What's the saying when all one has is hammer? You can sit the chicken down sometimes. You don't have to fuck it every time out.

Ed Dunn said...

While the black activists in the Occupy/Anonymous/Wikileaks change geopolitical status quo, force banks to stop foreclosures and reversing bad loans and help twist the hand of corporations to raise the min wage and initiated Trayvon Martin and force DAs to take the sexual assault of a high school by some jocks seriously, I had to hear something about a real punk ass mouthpiece like Stokemichael having more to contribute. These middle age punks doing kickstarter and gofundme to raise more money and petition the white house and congress while these old heads pretend they added value? Am I not supposed to laugh at this comedy?

Constructive_Feedback said...

(You've got it bad sir)

1) Black people were getting FUCKED long before Kevin Orr set foot into the city. He gave a SOBER ANALYSIS of THE BOOKS. The people WHO PREFERRED TO BE LIED TO about the likelihood they'd ever see their PENSIONS - were TRICKED by the EMBEDDED CONFIDENCE MEN to attack Orr.

1A) We have AUDIO AND VIDEO TAPE from Sharpton's TV Show, Sharpton's Radio Show, Sharpton's newspaper feeds that HE ARGUED about 18 months ago that DETROIT'S KEY FISCAL PROBLEM was that the "State Republicans" were withholding $300 million from a "Revenue Sharing Agreement".

HOW DO YOU SIT WITH YOUR SELF, with your beliefs - now that we know that the problem was $18 BILLION - with an ERODING TAX BASE that could NEVER have afforded to pay off the PENSION OBLIGATIONS even IF you believe Kevin Orr to be a liar?

This is where I part ways with you bro. YOU are the one with the problem

2) The RIGHT WING PROVOKES Black People To DROP WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY in order to FIGHT AGAINST THEM. After which we are left without certain

GOVERNING COMPETENCIES.

2A) The POST-RACIAL PROGRESSIVE FUNDAMENTALISTS see the results of the Black Community that has been misdirected as such and offers them PROTECTION via COALITION POLITICS.

2b) The Americanized Negro gets so caught up in THE FIGHT through the Progressives that THEY FORGET TO ASK "WHERE IS MY DEVELOPMENT that you promised after I gave you my valuables?)

3) OBAMA VICTIM OF RACISM - You did as expected. YOU CAN'T BRING YOURSELF to note that THE AMERICAN IMPERIALISTS have been doing what they have always been doing - while Obama is in power. THE ONLY FORCE THAT HAS CHANGED - is the AMERICANIZED NEGRO who is NOT PROTESTING against AMERICAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA and "Nations Of Color" BECAUSE he is a "We Are In The White HOUSE NEGRO"

I would like for you to REFUTE this point.

Sir - THE HAMMER and NAIL is in the hands of the CIVIL RIGHTS PHARISEES.

By their OWN DAMNED ADMISSION:

* The Negro Is #1 in VOTER PARTICIPATION

* LAST in all of their OTHER MEASURES

* YET on the MSNBC Propaganda web site TO-DAMNED-DAY is a story about VOTER SUPPRESSION via PHOTO ID for BLACK PEOPLE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

In your TIREDNESS of hearing me - THE ONLY thing that you have indicted is the you PREFER to have WHAT YOU ALREADY BELIEVE AFFIRMED.

I prefer to have WHAT I MODEL AS A "CONFIDENCE SCHEME" confirmed in reality - with the HOPES that people will change once I offer them CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK - like I do in my real job

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSe3Oan7PBCMIKQdkXfFeOEJhBgFH3KdewP_lRkoaOIvicQkXvm
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mUXP7Kx_w-k/TQjYg1ivJ3I/AAAAAAAADJk/f-tgFZl-hd0/s1600/Freedom+Index.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5RfMSeD8TnE/Ut8sVCJfLdI/AAAAAAAA2ak/CV3hGZ5nJHQ/s1600/The+Fight+Over+The+Americanized+Negro.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VJzYuE_ERB4/UsWP4DrSR8I/AAAAAAAA1vY/IG4_My4fh5E/s1600/Compromised+Blackness.png

Vic78 said...

The right wing is going to have to be dealt with. They cause more trouble than they're worth. The thing is how to deal with them? What's going on now isn't cutting it. I said they didn't know how to deal with them. It takes guile and ruthlessness to deal with them.

I'm with you on getting rid of the fake ass leaders. They need to be stomped out as well. We can do without their fuckery. They do a lot to maintain the status quo.

Now as for the imperialist wars that Black people don't seem bothered by, it's been like that as long as I can remember. The only time I remember it being different was the second Iraq war. Other than that, they really never cared about what happened over there. The people that spoke on it are the same ones that spoke on it in the past(I'm talking about prominent speakers). The prominent ones that flipped are the cats with MSNBC gigs. The rank and file are detached from much of what goes on outside of states. They were never a bunch of righteous protesters(the Civil Rights demonstrators were a small percentage).

You don't have to tell me that MSNBC are fake Democratic Party cheerleaders. I've said as much more than once on this site. I believe I said as much in my first posting on this topic.

Vic78 said...

THE ONLY thing that you have indicted is the you PREFER to have WHAT YOU ALREADY BELIEVE AFFIRMED.

No, you're talking to someone that disagrees with you. It doesn't mean my character's suspect. You've committed some logical fallacies with that statement. Question begging, ad hominem, and straw man right off the top.

makheru bradley said...

LOL. Dude’’s strategy is to petition the “failed Brookings symbolic experiment,” and the fractured US Congress, as if he is part of a power bloc that influences public policy, as Stokely Carmichael was, when the White House and Congress was forced to change public policy in 1964-65. In fact without the efforts of Moses, Hamer, Carmichael, etc., dude would not have a "failed Brookings symbolic experiment" to petition.

makheru bradley said...

And whose fault is it that your ilk could not keep it moving. Oops I forgot. It was the people you’ve been whining about for the last eight years, those nasty 2nd/3rd line civil rights inheritors who thwarted your progress. And you were too impotent to unblock their efforts. They wouldn’t let you play so you’re hoping for someone to go holokaustos on them. That's pretty sick!

CNu said...

lol, why you so worked up about my disdain for these uniquely dehydrated old raisins Bro. Makheru?

An intelligent man wouldn't waste his breath on futile chastisements bound to fall on deaf ears. An intelligent man would wonder how it came to pass that Ed, CNu, and Bro.Feed - representing a broad geographic dispersion but sharing in common vocations in the digital arts and sciences - would have arrived at such a strong consensus about the dysfunction of the 2nd/3rd line.

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