[NetBehaviour] Accelerationism

[Simon Biggs]

I agree with Alan.

The human species has evolved to the point where it is no longer adapted to its environment. Humans now seek to adapt the environment to the species. That is not working. If the human species was to become extinct today that would be the best thing that could happen to the planet (putting aside the power-plant melt-downs, dam breaches and chemical disasters that would be the consequence of lack of infrastructural maintenance). But it will take us longer to go extinct than that… biology is not as slow as geology, but it is slow compared to human history. We will devolve. The current migration crisis is a phenomena of devolution, as the species panics in the face of the ecological destruction it has wrought.

best

Simon


Simon Biggs
simon at littlepig.org.uk
http://www.littlepig.org.uk
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> On 25 Apr 2016, at 02:51, Alan Sondheim <sondheim at panix.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> You know well that the diff. between this and the Perm. for example is this is the result of a particular species running amuck. And with 40-50 % of ocean life scheduled to disappear, etc. as a result of climate, microspherules, etc., the situation is a mess. Yes, there will be something afterwords. But we're slaughterers trashing the planet, and for me that's unacceptable.
> 
> - Alan
> 
> On Sun, 24 Apr 2016, John Hopkins wrote:
> 
>>> learning to listen, listening, is necessary. The fundamental problem I
>>>> think is that we're blind when it comes to ecosystems, energy, micro-
>>>> biomes, and so forth. The fundamentals of mycology are being rewritten as
>>>> we discuss, and what's emerging are whole universes of ignorance.
>>>> Meanwhile we plow ahead, destroying the planet. It seems to me that
>>>> accelerationism is so fundamentally human-based (perhaps man-based for all
>>>> that), that it really overlooks collateral damage. And what do we do, for
>> 
>> Acceleration, in mechanical physics, is the result of the application of directed (vector) energy to a body. It is a quantity -- meters-per-second-per-second (how fast am I going faster!) -- that results in ever-increasing velocity -- meters-per-second (how fast am I going?). Acceleration cannot occur without an ever-increasing energy input to the system. Velocity can be maintained with a steady-state energy input. Stasis, death, requires no energy input.
>> 
>> In a system with finite energy, acceleration has a limit, as does velocity.
>> 
>> We are not destroying the planet, we are temporarily altering the local energy balance. We are merely another expression of Life on the planet. Doing its thing. Pulsing, expanding temporarily.
>> 
>> Acceleration occurs in the presence of locally excessive eneergy. This is demonstrated at many scales in living systems where there is an energy excess. When that energy is entropically dispersed through a combination of expansion/growth, it slows down...
>> 
>> Pulsing (temporal, spatial) is a regular feature in bio-systems.
>> 
>> When we fixate on particular material manifestations of Life (as in a particular species), we miss the fact that Life is a continuous feature of the planet, and will continue long after we are gone *no matter what we do*. In my mind, the fixation on the material is what brings us to the hubris of the Anthropocene. Which, okay, plutonium makes a fine geo-marker. But what about the traces of Life from the Late Carboniferous? Talk about geo-marker, and Life leaving traces! The huge Applachian coal beds are the remains of Life at that time -- accelerated based on temperate climates (Appalachia was at the Equator), and abundant energy sources. And it altered the chemistry of the planet...
>> 
>> So it goes.
>> 
>> jh
>> 
>> PS -- as for all the preparatory conceptualizing on the word 'accelerationism' -- it seems mostly to be a symbolic discussion that has little to do with the real world except as simply another 'ism' to be discussed ad infinitum. if it cannot be connected to the real world, what's the point? Maybe we need to calculate how much carbon is emitted from 'The Cloud' each time we email the word.
>> 
>> PPS -- I heartily support the concept of listening in any and all contexts. It has the effect of healing many problems!
>> -- 
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD
>> grounded on a granite batholith
>> twitter: @neoscenes
>> http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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>> 
> 
> ==
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