#brad werner

[redeleven]

CHLOE, MONICA, SOPHIE N, GEORGIE, BRAD, HELENA, LANA, KAREN & SOPHIE M | KATHRYN WILSON | A/W16 SHOW

[entendamonos]

"His research shows that our entire economic paradigm is a threat to ecological stability. And indeed that challenging this economic paradigm – through mass-movement counter-pressure – is humanity’s best shot at avoiding catastrophe."

[mmmbec]

I've always thought about making change from within the system. I could work within a company participating in tangible change. Reading an account by Naomi Klein of geophysicist Brad Werner's recent research has given me a lot to consider. Is Earth F**ked? Dynamical Futility of Global Environmental Management and Possibilities for Sustainability via Direct Action Activism- is the fairly self explanatory title of the work investigated by Werner. I'm thinking now- is the only way to change the system from beyond the system? Any level of investment in the system equates (I guess) to a reliance on the system. So much to mull and worry over.

[erickaforman]

Standing at the front of the conference room, the geophysicist from the University of California, San Diego walked the crowd through the advanced computer model he was using to answer that question. He talked about system boundaries, perturbations, dissipation, attractors, bifurcations and a whole bunch of other stuff largely incomprehensible to those of us uninitiated in complex systems theory. But the bottom line was clear enough: global capitalism has made the depletion of resources so rapid, convenient and barrier-free that “earth-human systems” are becoming dangerously unstable in response. When pressed by a journalist for a clear answer on the “are we f**ked” question, Werner set the jargon aside and replied, “More or less."

Read the rest of the article, written by Naomi Klein. Perhaps we should start thinking about saving our children and theirs after that.

[odd-notes]

[the-exhausted-researcher]

This is laudable, but what Werner is doing with his modelling is different. He isn’t saying that his research drove him to take action to stop a particular policy; he is saying that his research shows that our entire economic paradigm is a threat to ecological stability. And indeed that challenging this economic paradigm – through mass-movement counter-pressure – is humanity’s best shot at avoiding catastrophe