Miyazaki Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:39

Lovelock says we are already too late

BBC News - Today - Lovelock: 'We can't save the planet'

Pretty depressing read to be honest. I have read most of Lovelock's books and think he is a genius.

Wild Weasel Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:40

He always was a bit of a fruit cake, but interesting nonetheless.

At least being an old school scientist, he's not happy with the garbage that's being done in science's name these days.

From a recent Guardian interview with him:

On the influence of vested interests:

Continued:

James Lovelock on the value of sceptics and why Copenhagen was doomed | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Miyazaki Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:41

Have you read Gaia: a new look at life on Earth? Its a really good book.

DPinBucks Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:41

I have a lot of time for Lovelock. His Gaia idea has been widely misunderstood as some kind of new-age mysticism, when in fact it’s simply an acknowledgement that life, the oceans, the land and the atmosphere are all part of one big interactive whole. He originally emphasised the stabilising effects, but now realises it can get out of control, too.

I think he wishes now he’d thought up some less evocative name.

Miyazaki Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:42

Yeah I know. I totally agree. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7

Wild Weasel Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:42

No I haven't. Although I've read books that are influenced by his ideas like the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.

DPinBucks Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:42

I don't follow that. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7

Foundation preceded Gaia by a quarter of a century.

And anyway I'm not sure I see the connection. Foundation's psychohistory describes purely human societies; a kind of quantified mob psychology. Gaia disregards human activity per se; its original idea was to try and demonstrate a self-correcting process within the Earth's inter-connected physical systems. Psychohistory couldn't cope with the unforeseen (the Mule), whereas Gaia is a mechanism specifically hypothesised to counter it.

Wild Weasel Publish time 26-11-2019 04:28:42

The 4th and 5th books in the series, Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1984) talk about Gaia. It's ages since I've read them & I've not read the prequel yet either.
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