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Nov 18, 2010

Dave Pollard, author of the How To Save The World blog, joins me in an episode dedicated to our Culture of Dependency and how our civilization has evolved into a highly complex system that lacks the resilience to handle the multiple crises that we now face.

This episode examines the structure of our complex society and how it has been a product of an era of abundant cheap energy (ie. petroleum oil). We also discuss overshoot and what that means to future societies. Along those same lines we talk about a transition to steady-state economics (while hashing out the probability of it ever being implemented).

A truly enjoyable guest and a great episode. Thank you all for listening. Towards the end of this podcast we talk about how the listening and reading community is as much a part of the New Revolution as the speakers and writers.

-Ol' Two Beers

Download Podcast Through Itunes

Books mentioned:

Dave Pollards Book Finding the Sweet Spot

The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon


Camila
almost eleven years ago

OMG!! ECHO!!! These have got to be the best of your best of your best. Amaaaaaazing. I teared up half way thrugoh. Once again you have proved how in tune you are with your clients, your surroundings, and your camera. These are phenomenal.

Ahed
almost eleven years ago

I'm to exciteted I mean to ixected for words Thank You Echo ,you and Kassidy and Tyler made this Granma's Heart just sing ,I have just one word to describe how I feel JOY Thank You soo Much She Has my Heart !!! My Thumbilina! : )

Irina
almost eleven years ago

Dave,I really love our tips. I have been doing TV prdocution a long time and I always learn from you. I do appreciate the way you break things down into understandable chunks of information.Nearly 190 years ago Agustine-Jean Fresnel developed the multi-part lens. He was a unique individual. Today, we might think of him as ADHD, put him on drugs and in a special class and the Fresnel lens would have never been developed. The lens was first developed for use in lighthouses and they still are used for that today. It is not unusual for a 12-foot Fresnel lens with a thousand watt lamp to be seen 20-to-25 miles out to see. That is amazing.Because the lens (and the TV light we use that has that lens) is named for Fresnel there are two things I hope you will realize. First, he is French and in pronouncing his name the S is silent and the emphasis is on the second syllable of the word (pronounced fru-NEL). Second, because the lens is named for a person it is always capitalized.Again, thank you for all you do.Ken http://hlqqftgyl.com [url=http://ebjuywdzuv.com]ebjuywdzuv[/url] [link=http://cjmknjztj.com]cjmknjztj[/link]

Vanesa
almost eleven years ago

There are really no rdcoreing limitations with any camera the limitations come from memory cards.SDHC memory cards, by specification, have a maximum storage size of 32GB. The also have a single, continuous (i.e. one long video) size limitation of 4GB per file. That means if you're shooting a really long video and it's size reaches 4GB, the camera automatically continues rdcoreing, but to a 2nd new file. This is because SDHC cards use a FAT32 file system, where 4GB is the maximum size of any single file. Again, these limitations are strictly due to the SDHC format and have nothing to do with a camera (whether it be a T2i or any other brand/model).If you want a bigger card, you have to use the new SDXC memory cards, which based on specs, can hold up to 2TB. However, the largest SDXC memory cards currently available are 64GB and these cards with speeds fast enough for video (Class 6 or higher) run around $500. By the way, the T2i accepts both SDHC and SDXC memory cards.And yes, you simply multiply Canon's specs per the storage limits of your memory cards. If a 4GB card can hold 12 minutes of video, then a 32GB card can hold 96 minutes of video. They are not pulling a fast one , it's just math. http://akxcvnf.com [url=http://tynwwn.com]tynwwn[/url] [link=http://zclzzdi.com]zclzzdi[/link]

Putri
almost eleven years ago

Hi Michael,Thanks for stopping by.Just out of cutiosiry, howold is your Vitamix machine?Is it a Vitamix 5200?The warranty I list is for theVitamix 5200.I will copy your response toVitamix and see what theysay.Sorry, if I misled you. I onlyspelled out what was told tome. Hi Dave,Thanks for responding.I bought my Vita Mix (a Model 500) from a demonstrator on the boardwalk in Atlantic City in the mid 1960s. He dumped all sorts of vegetables into it then some eggs – in the shells, explaining that the eggs would provide calcium. I tasted the result, and it was good.My not-yet-wife thought that I was nuts to buy what at the time was a fairly expensive product from this smooth talking guy, but she eventually married me anyway.I could certainly buy a new model (Vita Mix, that is – not wife) but I have too much sentiment invested in the original (Vita Mix and wife).I think that it would be to Vita Mix’s advantage to maintain the mystique of Vita Mix by helping folks like me. I don’t expect them to carry parts forever (although that would be nice), but they could be more helpful to us true believers by at least providing helpful information. I have machinist friends who could make the part, but Vita Mix did not respond to a question about how to remove the old part.So you might want to expand your statement from “if at any time” to “if at any time during the 7 year warranty period.”Mike

Marcus
almost eleven years ago

heath hi dave,is the t2i only limited by the size of your sd card size? on the canon site under feurates: Continuous Shooting Time: Approx. 12 min. (1920 x 1080), 18 min. (1280 x 720), 24 min. (640 x 480)Based on Canon's testing standards using a 4GB card. so based upon canon's feature list on their site if one has a 32gb card would this allow for 96 min of (1920 x 1080) continuous shooting? what have you experienced to be factual? thanks for any insight as i am considering purchasing the t2i but 12 min limit is undesirable for my purposes. lastly is 32gb cards the largest capacity you have found to date? kind regards,

Shamsu
almost eleven years ago

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing detlais about what it has been like for you all. Am looking forward to seeing the new cards arrive and making a deck review of them. I wish you guys the best going forward.

Bill
thirteen and a half years ago

Steve, thank you for providing that insight. There is no doubt in my mind that you are very good at what you do. On a daily basis you get a sobering look at people at their best and their worst. Now I see the genesis of the extraordinary insight you exhibit. Thanks for another great Two Beers conversation!

Ol' Two beers
thirteen and a half years ago

Bill,
I am a funeral director and it puts me in situations of intense emotions, this may explain my fasination with these topics, it provides an outlet for alot of things. I am very aware of this fact.

In my profession, our customers are torn from the 'growth based paradigm' briefly and are made aware of what is truly important to them. But for most people, this is only a brief side-excursion before once again joining back up again with the 'growth based paradigm'. I do it myself so I can't really judge.

Steve

Bill
thirteen and a half years ago

Steve, that was a fascinating interview. I may have to listen to it several more times. As I was out on my morning walk with the dogs I found myself grappling intellectually with a number of Dave's brilliant observations. I think if you look closely at Dave's thoughts, there are actually two things at play here. I accept first the major premise that complex systems become increasingly tangled until they fail. I offer our financial system as Exhibit "A", a sputtering behemoth now bleeding from self-inflicted innovations such as the dreaded credit default swap.

I think that there is another factor at play here that Dave did touch on anecdotally. Working in symbiosis with the complexity of the macro system is the a corollary of the "simplicity" of the human being. I believe that there is great truth in the pejorative word, "Sheeple." Without prompting, the human being will, for example, sit on a couch and take easy calories in the form of sugary cereals rather than expend the energy to obtain more healthy foods. Accordingly, the simplicity of the human mind coaxes "John Doe" to crave the comforts and ease of complexity - it seduces him to "move along" and go with the flow, ignoring the logic that complexity must end. As long as the opiates of ease and comfort flow, the sheeple will crave the system and shun the knowledge of self-sufficiency. The Steve Pattersons and the Dave Pollards of this world will inevitably find themselves preaching to a select minority who see the systemic drug for what it is.

As I make the above observation, I find myself needing to stop for just a moment and acknowledging with some humility that, despite the fact that I listen to the wisdom of "Two Beers" and his guests, I too often walk with the sheeple. I will often opt for the cheap calorie rather than expend the weekend energy of growing my own vegetables or going out of my way to shop at the farmers market. Accordingly Steve, you see that complexity and its comforts can even woo those with awareness. If the Sheeple vote what they perceive to be their interests, then complexity will not be derailed and the system will play itself out to its logical conclusion.

I don't know what your profession is Steve but from your gentle mannerisms and the way that you process ideas, I don't think that it is a great leap of logic to assume that you work in a profession that places you in the midst of very smart people. I work in law enforcement. This gives me the ability to watch and observe the masses. I am constantly amazed at the psychology of the average human being and the choices that he makes. They want the opiate and the ease of complexity.

Daniel McCann
thirteen and a half years ago

Steve,
Thanks again for your efforts. If you have a chance to find someone who can explain the principals of complexity theory or chaos theory don't miss the opportunity. It is extremely powerful when understood practically. There is a reason why ancient people could predict the nature of our doom: Complex systems fail; it does not matter if you talk about it or not--complex systems will fail. The only question will be who will have enough understanding of Chaos Theory to survive.

Happy Ark building