Might as well continue in drill sergeant mode for this one. (And why not? I find that I rather like writing in drill sergeant mode, for "mysterious" reasons I'll let you use your own fucking noggin to figure out.)
So, I learn about David Wallace-Wells's book, The Unhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (hereafter TUE), after reading Andrew Sullivan's seemingly well-reasoned piece on the toxic-as-fuck radical trans ideology madness. (I say seemingly, because past experience has made me skeptical about Sullivan; his reckless idiocy about Rand stands out too far, and his verbal fellating of Obama in '08 didn't quite pan out in any sort of transformative presidency.) (I have a fresh draft still in the queue about the latest ultra-toxic trans ideology madness, quite possibly the gravity well that ends up sucking in the entire political left in its already-near-batshit-crazy current form; long story short, if the left's goal is to get Trump re-elected, then embracing the madness as the Democrats appear poised to do might be a wonderful idea. It'll help things along nicely if leftists (continue to) foam at the mouth and basically lie that Trumpism is fascism.) Sullivan's comments on TUE appear at the link below the trans-madness piece. His views echo those of the great majority of goodreads reviewers: it paints a picture of a future that is nothing short of frightening.
I have no expertise on the subject of climate change. Whenever I hear about the latest in climate alarmism I am reminded of Paul Erlich's The Population Bomb from half a century ago; suffice it to say that its alarmist predictions did not come to pass. He lost that resource-scarcity bet with Julian Simon (The Ultimate Resource, HINT HINT). But my well-developed (I think) "ring of truth" detector says that the climate change problem is for real, based on a comprehensive body of data which is best explained by man-made CO2 emissions. The observed increase in temperatures appears to be happening at a pace well out of the usual range for such things over geologic time. (Anyway, what do we do if we're still around when that Yellowstone supervolcano blows? I don't know shit.) My "ring of truth" detector also tells me that the American Right in particular has been epistemically reckless about this subject. It's not just that the very stable genius Trump might somehow happen to be right that "climate change is a hoax" (etc.), but rather it's his dogmatic, unaccountable and therefore credibility-shitting way of speaking on the subject, the fucking dickhead. If he has some kind of argument, I haven't seen it. The piece of shit. Speaking of that Ehrlich-Simon bet, Trump should put some of that money where his big loud mouth is and place a bet on climate change outcomes. Also, the fat scumbag could stand to lose some weight.
The wikipedia page for TUE indicates a reception that's more mixed - as in, less ready than the goodreads reviewers to buy into Wallace-Wells' alarmism.
But I'm here to address issues surrounding the climate change debate - e.g., the nature of the debate itself. I'm also addressing it as someone who regularly beats the drum for philosophical education as a comprehensive means of solving a vast range of human problems/challenges; the aim is to facilitate better living by making humans better problem-solvers. And I have certain recommendations for living that make abundant sense in their own right, regardless of whether the lifestyle changes involved are necessary to combat climate change.
First off, the likes of Naomi Klein bring their own (leftist) baggage to this issue. The left has hated capitalism well before climate change ever became a major concern. All the shitty arguments these disgusting creatures made against capitalism has destroyed their credibility. The overall credibility of the left today is in shambles. Just as they are the boy who cried racism, they are the boy who cry that capitalism is inhumane and unjust, and they also happen to be the boy who's been crying climate catastrophe. This is to say that the more we can leave discreditable and toxic leftist politics out of this, the better, and we'd better look for the most credible people we can find who are not affiliated with the political left (especially the far left). AOC's credibility is in that toilet she claims the migrants were told to drink from. Flush her and her ilk down so that we can get serious.
(Besides, anyone who knows about libertarianism/capitalism in steelmanned version knows that there is no such thing in such a version as a right to impose negative externalities. Private property rights so constrained are consistent with ecological health. So this is consistent with stiff penalties for the sorts of lifestyle decisions I prescribe against below. [An issue I am no expert on is how the legal system rationally goes about relying on science to estimate the extent of externalities damages.])
Nuclear energy strikes me as a serious measure to reduce carbon footprint. I don't know if the nuke facilities can be made redundant in their security measures well enough to avoid Fukashima-like fuck-ups.
But the real solutions lies in basic lifestyle changes (and these are not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to give the general flavor/mindset):
Don't have kids. You don't need them. (Not as a pressing need, anyhow. [Edit: Okay, so it's context-dependent, I guess; context-dependent needs...? I shall think through this more thoroughly, I might be wrong, maybe have fewer kids, etc....] Existing humans are in abundance and a great many of those could use some Aristotelian-eudaimonic social capital to help get their acts together. How about prioritizing things in that direction if legacy-traces is the motivation here.) Easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. Your biology has programmed and perhaps fooled you into thinking it is an imperative within the framework of a reflective sapient creature's meaning-fulfillment. Wake the fuck up. Chances are non-zero that having kids these days will consign them to that uninhabitable-earth scenario. Don't be a fucking moron.
Stop eating so fucking much, you fat fucking pigs, especially you sedentary and slovenly American pigs.
You don't need that big car, and the big house, with that big yard that you wastefully water and manicture. Instead of spending all your time and money on that shit, buy some books and read some more. E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful may not be a bad choice.
Unplug from your devices and screen-time once in a goddamn while at least. (If you must have screen time, why not use it to be a film buff, and fucking listen and learn any and all necessary film references/quotes.) You are dopamine addicts seeking your next momentary fix, you fucking pathetic pieces of shit. Shut 'em off cold turkey if you have to, go outside and exercise (which will require energy but then again your not having kids should offset problems there). Get off your twitter feed, stop caring about getting the "likes." Nobody was ever great by virtue of being liked. No monument has been erected to honor a critic.
Make wisdom and its pursuit the centerpiece of your existence. Learn to learn better. If you're going to be online (2 hrs a day is about the healthy limit), seek out and read philosophy blogs rather than the latest twitter turd-pile. Seek out opposing opinions as much as you can and try to prove your own ones wrong if they haven't been established by exhaustive research. (Have I established by exhaustive research that wisdom(-pursuit) is a really wise idea? Am I reasoning in a vicious circle, or a virtuous one? Is any attempt to refute wisdom-pursuit self-defeating? You tell me, genius; I don't know fuck-all.) You're not entitled to your opinion qua opinion, you entitlement-mentality lazy little shit. Get obsessed with wisdom and character because that's really all that matters, and not all those material consumables. The more wise you are, the better you can meet your ultimate fate (natural death, car crash, inevitable ecosystem collapse, tech-based immortality, whatever it turns out to be).
Learn some aesthetic appreciation if you haven't yet. That'll tune you in better to the beauty of nature and cause you to respect it more. Stop subsidizing factory farming with your thoughtless, inhumane cakehole-stuffing. You'll also develop an appreciation for having an aesthetically pleasing figure rather than that tub of lard you're probably dragging around.
If you're having trouble finding guidance, ask yourself what Aristotle, Jesus, Einstein, Ghandi, MLK, the Buddha might do. Even if you know next to jackshit about these figures, certain shall we say archetypical behaviors and attitudes may pop into mind. Then adapt for your own personality and circumstances as necessary, since in fact only Aristotle is (was) eligible to do what Aristotle would do. What if you draw inspiration from both Aristotle and Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, the senior drill instructor (and/or the Snake Diet Wizard, the Fat Shaming King)? Then incorporate both inspirations into your act. Don't stop there. Dialectically synthesize the fuck out of all your positive influences and add your own unique touch, for shit's sake.
When in doubt, try being kind instead of being an asshole. Try not going out of your way to misconstrue someone's statements on the internet, as insecure strawman-mongering pieces of shit do. If you do have to be an "asshole," have a good reason, like motivating some weak-ass limp-dick fools into becoming the versions of themselves they can and should be.
Become more acutely aware that human flourishing is a social activity involving a congeniality of diverse and complementary excellences, and act accordingly. Strive for excellence and nobility and encourage it in others (which is part of striving for excellence and nobility).
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Is it really hard to believe that if humanity adopts the spirit of these recommendations/guidelines that problem-solving abilities can and will go through the roof? I mean, after all, how much is the problem-solving potential of AI constrained by the quality of those AI is meant to assist?
Here I'm trying to finally get around to delving into Hurley's Natural Reasons (written at the age of 35 by someone with clearly more raw talent than I possess) presumably in preparation for my own treatise, and I keep getting distracted by this other shit? Goddammit!
[Possibly in the queue if/when priorities permit: tying together common strands in Ayn Rand and The Big Lebowski. I am quite possibly the only person on the planet who is very well-versed in both, which should make for some kind of potent combination that manifests itself somewhere/somehow if one makes the effort to look around. They both have had the word "cult" attached to them in some way or other. Let's just say I'm an enthusiast for both, and Rand-bashers are a bunch of fucking amateurs; the dipshits don't have the goods they represent themselves as having. They are high in the running for intellectually laziest worldwide. Their weakness is vanity. Rand went out, overcame obstacles, and achieved while they're just looking for a credibility-handout, pretending that it was she who micturated upon their own credibility. Leftist losers, indeed. I can't solve their problems, only they can. As for Rand herself: wonderful woman, I'm all very fond of her. But as some wiser fella than myself once said, . . . aw hell, I've lost my train of thought here.]
