0 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:15,000 1 00:01:01,627 --> 00:01:02,251 [car honks] 2 00:01:02,252 --> 00:01:10,252 [city traffic sounds] 3 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:24,167 (Jeff Bridges) This Earth was here before us, 4 00:01:30,919 --> 00:01:37,627 Every living thing on it has evolved together, over eons of time. 5 00:01:44,084 --> 00:01:49,960 And although we are part of the web of life, 6 00:01:49,961 --> 00:01:53,041 because we see it, 7 00:01:53,042 --> 00:01:56,376 we think we stand above it. 8 00:02:00,999 --> 00:02:08,124 From all that nature gave us, we have made a new world out of wilderness, 9 00:02:08,125 --> 00:02:11,375 Built great civilizations. 10 00:02:11,376 --> 00:02:15,998 It seemed there was nothing we could not do. 11 00:02:15,999 --> 00:02:20,876 Even the sky itself was not the limit. 12 00:02:20,877 --> 00:02:26,500 We see the symptoms of a reality we didn't expect. 13 00:02:26,501 --> 00:02:31,500 Have we reached the limitations of our human nature? 14 00:02:31,501 --> 00:02:35,998 Is this the end of the line for us? 15 00:02:35,999 --> 00:02:39,208 It's hard to tell from our current point of view, 16 00:02:39,209 --> 00:02:42,333 living here in the future's past. 17 00:02:42,334 --> 00:02:44,501 [explosions] 18 00:02:57,877 --> 00:03:02,960 [british accent] The world that we live in 19 00:03:02,961 --> 00:03:08,291 when you see it in space, you understand there's a planet that's bowling around the sun, 20 00:03:08,292 --> 00:03:09,584 turning on its axis. 21 00:03:09,585 --> 00:03:12,998 The oceans, clouds, mountains, forests. 22 00:03:12,999 --> 00:03:14,291 You see it all from up there. 23 00:03:14,292 --> 00:03:17,500 You can see over a thousand miles 24 00:03:17,501 --> 00:03:23,166 and it's all moving underneath you at five miles per second. 25 00:03:23,167 --> 00:03:24,999 When you look at the horizon, 26 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,375 you see a very, very thin 27 00:03:27,376 --> 00:03:29,998 little blue ribbon of atmosphere 28 00:03:29,999 --> 00:03:31,918 and it really brings home to you 29 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,041 it was a shock to me and I'm a scientist, okay, 30 00:03:34,042 --> 00:03:37,166 I thought I had all the scales worked out, intellectually, 31 00:03:37,167 --> 00:03:40,834 but it was a shock to me to see how thin the atmosphere is 32 00:03:40,835 --> 00:03:41,998 and how obviously it's easily affected by what we do. 33 00:03:41,999 --> 00:03:47,500 And how obviously it's easily affected by what we do. 34 00:03:47,501 --> 00:03:50,333 This is the great challenge of our time 35 00:03:50,334 --> 00:03:51,998 dealing with the 36 00:03:51,999 --> 00:03:54,291 human impact on the environment 37 00:03:54,292 --> 00:03:59,998 and what it means in terms of our civilization going forward. 38 00:03:59,999 --> 00:04:02,375 We cut all the trees. 39 00:04:02,376 --> 00:04:04,998 We kill all the fish. 40 00:04:04,999 --> 00:04:07,250 We consume and consume. 41 00:04:07,251 --> 00:04:09,333 [british accent] So much ecological writing, 42 00:04:09,334 --> 00:04:10,998 you know, just open the paper, 43 00:04:10,999 --> 00:04:11,961 is about the end of the world. 44 00:04:11,961 --> 00:04:12,794 Is about the end of the world. 45 00:04:12,795 --> 00:04:17,041 It's starting! Like, when's it going to start? 46 00:04:17,042 --> 00:04:18,042 And, the concept world It's starting! 47 00:04:18,043 --> 00:04:19,998 And, the concept world 48 00:04:19,999 --> 00:04:20,999 as a sort of way of distinguishing between 49 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:22,709 as a sort of way of distinguishing between 50 00:04:22,710 --> 00:04:28,998 human beings and everything else, has evaporated. 51 00:04:28,999 --> 00:04:31,417 This is the only place that we know, 52 00:04:31,418 --> 00:04:37,250 out of this whole universe, that we can live. 53 00:04:37,251 --> 00:04:39,291 Life is messy. 54 00:04:39,292 --> 00:04:42,500 We are changing multiple aspects of the 55 00:04:42,501 --> 00:04:45,876 Predicting all the effects of it 56 00:04:45,877 --> 00:04:47,667 [british accent] What do we do? 57 00:04:47,668 --> 00:04:53,667 We've been standing back and watching nature 58 00:04:53,668 --> 00:04:55,667 It's on everyone's mind: 59 00:04:55,668 --> 00:04:58,332 Why are why not doing more in response? 60 00:04:58,334 --> 00:05:00,375 We've used our abilities to build a huge, 61 00:05:00,376 --> 00:05:03,166 technological society that's very advanced. 62 00:05:03,167 --> 00:05:06,083 But, in our essence, we're still animals. 63 00:05:06,084 --> 00:05:07,208 And one of the problems is that, as animals, 64 00:05:07,209 --> 00:05:09,375 And one of the problems is that, as animals, 65 00:05:09,376 --> 00:05:12,918 we have certain emotions and certain tendencies 66 00:05:12,919 --> 00:05:14,124 that are counter-productive in our great, complex society. 67 00:05:14,125 --> 00:05:18,500 That are counter-productive in our great, complex society. 68 00:05:18,501 --> 00:05:20,542 [british accent] Spinoza, the philosopher, has said, 69 00:05:20,543 --> 00:05:22,998 Man doesn't understand the unconscious processes 70 00:05:22,999 --> 00:05:30,375 which actually really control their conscious behaviors and thoughts. 71 00:05:30,376 --> 00:05:34,918 (Jeff Bridges) Perhaps the solutions 72 00:05:34,919 --> 00:05:35,998 in our genes, 73 00:05:35,999 --> 00:05:37,082 our subconscious motivations, in our genes, 74 00:05:37,084 --> 00:05:39,751 our subconscious motivations, 75 00:05:39,752 --> 00:05:43,999 our most primal instincts. 76 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,667 We are the most flexible species 77 00:05:47,668 --> 00:05:49,998 ever evolved, I would think. 78 00:05:49,999 --> 00:05:53,041 And when you see people thriving in the arctic, 79 00:05:53,042 --> 00:05:55,998 and you see people thriving in the Kalahari Desert, 80 00:05:55,999 --> 00:06:03,998 and you see people thriving in the Amazon Rainforest, 81 00:06:03,999 --> 00:06:08,041 we also have the ability to destroy all of those habitats, 82 00:06:08,042 --> 00:06:11,998 and everything in between. 83 00:06:11,999 --> 00:06:18,082 (Jeff Bridges) Can looking at evolution help us understand 84 00:06:18,084 --> 00:06:19,207 and the future of humanity? (Jeff Bridges) 85 00:06:19,209 --> 00:06:20,375 and the future of humanity? 86 00:06:20,376 --> 00:06:21,543 And the future of humanity? 87 00:06:27,334 --> 00:06:30,124 From an evolutionary perspective, 88 00:06:30,125 --> 00:06:31,125 another species. 89 00:06:31,125 --> 00:06:31,919 We're unique, but 90 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:38,207 evolutionary biology sees every species as unique. 91 00:06:38,209 --> 00:06:42,291 Every species, everywhere, is a genius at survival, 92 00:06:42,292 --> 00:06:44,998 otherwise it wouldn't be here. 93 00:06:44,999 --> 00:06:48,960 Every species can teach us something. 94 00:06:48,961 --> 00:06:51,166 (Bruce Hood) [british accent] 95 00:06:51,167 --> 00:06:52,167 The plants and animals, 96 00:06:52,168 --> 00:06:54,667 they just seem so different to each other. 97 00:06:54,668 --> 00:06:56,667 But, we're all made of the same stuff. 98 00:06:56,668 --> 00:06:59,584 The atoms, which make the molecules, 99 00:06:59,585 --> 00:07:03,709 And the diversity started this process 100 00:07:03,710 --> 00:07:07,208 So, we know that natural selection has allowed diversity to appear 101 00:07:07,209 --> 00:07:11,998 as a process of winning out those who are most suited to the environments. 102 00:07:11,999 --> 00:07:12,999 [british accent] Natural selection 103 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:14,667 [british accent] Natural selection 104 00:07:14,668 --> 00:07:16,667 different lineages of organisms, 105 00:07:16,668 --> 00:07:20,124 and we are at the top of one of those lineages. 106 00:07:20,125 --> 00:07:22,207 (Timothy Morton) [british accent] 107 00:07:22,209 --> 00:07:25,250 That underneath our sophisticated civilization 108 00:07:25,251 --> 00:07:28,918 we are these utilitarian lumps. It's exactly the opposite. 109 00:07:28,919 --> 00:07:34,041 It means that being sophisticated and artistic 110 00:07:34,042 --> 00:07:35,584 and leads to the level of beetles with iridescent wing cases. 111 00:07:35,585 --> 00:07:38,250 And leads to the level of beetles with iridescent wing cases. 112 00:07:38,251 --> 00:07:42,998 Because there's something intrinsically non-utilitarian and playful 113 00:07:42,999 --> 00:07:45,751 about evolution. 114 00:07:45,752 --> 00:07:48,500 We're part of the system. We're nature. 115 00:07:48,501 --> 00:07:49,418 We're part of the Earth, and we're 116 00:07:49,419 --> 00:07:50,998 We're part of the Earth, and we're 117 00:07:50,999 --> 00:07:54,626 fundamentally dependent 118 00:07:54,627 --> 00:07:57,998 on its good graces. 119 00:07:57,999 --> 00:08:01,584 Very symbiotic relationship 120 00:08:01,585 --> 00:08:04,250 to everything on this Earth. 121 00:08:04,251 --> 00:08:06,626 I understand some people that if they say, 122 00:08:06,627 --> 00:08:09,998 'No, no, this is a science thing.' 123 00:08:09,999 --> 00:08:13,876 That's the province of God. 124 00:08:13,877 --> 00:08:17,166 I can hear that view, but I, I really don't think it's 125 00:08:17,167 --> 00:08:20,793 what I see in scripture. What I see in scripture is, 'C'mon', 126 00:08:20,794 --> 00:08:26,041 I want to show it to you. I want to reveal myself to you.' 127 00:08:26,042 --> 00:08:28,998 I don't see science as challenging my faith. 128 00:08:28,999 --> 00:08:33,998 In fact, I see it as affirming my faith. 129 00:08:33,999 --> 00:08:36,709 [british accent] We are new on the planet. 130 00:08:36,710 --> 00:08:40,290 We are the most newly 131 00:08:40,292 --> 00:08:42,290 We are a trial run. 132 00:08:42,292 --> 00:08:43,417 In terms of evolution, We are a trial run. 133 00:08:43,418 --> 00:08:44,376 In terms of evolution, 134 00:08:44,377 --> 00:08:46,751 animals adapt to their 135 00:08:46,752 --> 00:08:48,667 ecological conditions. But as humans, 136 00:08:48,668 --> 00:08:53,998 we have been able to control our ecological conditions. 137 00:08:53,999 --> 00:08:55,998 Evolution itself is a process by which 138 00:08:55,999 --> 00:09:01,793 organisms become more efficient at extracting resources from their environment. 139 00:09:01,794 --> 00:09:02,334 Humans are unique, 140 00:09:02,335 --> 00:09:05,124 and what makes us so different from all other animals 141 00:09:05,125 --> 00:09:06,084 is our mastery of technology. 142 00:09:06,085 --> 00:09:13,998 We're uniquely able to transform our environment in ways no other animals can. 143 00:09:13,999 --> 00:09:17,751 (Jeff Bridges) We humans are really 144 00:09:17,752 --> 00:09:20,041 that lucked out by becoming bi-pedal, 145 00:09:20,042 --> 00:09:24,250 and discovering how to coerce other animals from a distance, 146 00:09:24,251 --> 00:09:26,751 by being able to throw. 147 00:09:26,752 --> 00:09:29,375 We figured out how to tame fire 148 00:09:29,376 --> 00:09:31,375 and use it to our advantage. 149 00:09:31,376 --> 00:09:35,998 Our evolving technology allowed us to expand into new territories 150 00:09:35,999 --> 00:09:43,999 and manipulate the environment in ways that gave us an edge. 151 00:09:45,794 --> 00:09:49,999 [british accent] Places like this remind me about 152 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:51,124 We're so used to living in air conditioning 153 00:09:51,125 --> 00:09:52,333 We're so used to living in air conditioning 154 00:09:52,334 --> 00:09:54,998 and having the comfort of the modern world. 155 00:09:54,999 --> 00:09:58,417 But when you go out into nature, and experience it firsthand, 156 00:09:58,418 --> 00:09:59,998 you're reminded very powerfully about how weak we are as an animal. 157 00:09:59,999 --> 00:10:04,834 You're reminded very powerfully about how weak we are as an animal. 158 00:10:04,835 --> 00:10:10,918 (Jeff Bridges) And this is because we are 159 00:10:10,919 --> 00:10:14,998 Culture is our life support system. 160 00:10:14,999 --> 00:10:17,999 Our cumulative culture allows us to cushion ourselves 161 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,291 against the harsh realities of the environment 162 00:10:21,292 --> 00:10:26,793 and to reshape the environment. 163 00:10:26,794 --> 00:10:30,998 Our culture is an integral part of our ecology. 164 00:10:30,999 --> 00:10:34,667 We can trace human ancestors back over 4 million years, 165 00:10:34,668 --> 00:10:39,290 and anatomically modern humans for more than 200,000 years. 166 00:10:39,292 --> 00:10:43,999 Snd we have inherited their successful survival traits. 167 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,250 These traits are in all of us, to some extent, 168 00:10:47,251 --> 00:10:48,709 traits like optimizing time, These traits are in all of us, 169 00:10:48,710 --> 00:10:50,960 traits like optimizing time, 170 00:10:50,961 --> 00:10:54,500 really caring about what other people think about us, 171 00:10:54,501 --> 00:10:55,418 and comparing ourselves to others. 172 00:10:55,419 --> 00:10:59,876 And comparing ourselves to others. 173 00:10:59,877 --> 00:11:01,208 We are still trying to attain 174 00:11:01,209 --> 00:11:08,626 the same daily emotional state as our successful ancestors. 175 00:11:08,627 --> 00:11:11,876 We carry the same neurotransmitters in our brains 176 00:11:11,877 --> 00:11:13,876 that created the exhilarating feeling 177 00:11:13,877 --> 00:11:18,041 our ancient ancestors got when they had the unexpected reward 178 00:11:18,042 --> 00:11:20,793 of finding a berry, or a nut, 179 00:11:20,794 --> 00:11:25,250 or were looking forward to a successful hunt. 180 00:11:25,251 --> 00:11:27,918 But in a culture of amazing technology, 181 00:11:27,919 --> 00:11:34,165 we are surrounded by ready-made stimuli, pushing us to reward ourselves. 182 00:11:34,167 --> 00:11:38,999 Our evolutionary impulses can be easily hijacked. 183 00:11:44,376 --> 00:11:46,960 [british accent] Irrespective of where you grew up, 184 00:11:46,961 --> 00:11:49,584 it's in our DNA to copy those around us. 185 00:11:49,585 --> 00:11:55,333 For humans, imitation is part and parcel of what it is to be a member of a tribe. 186 00:11:55,334 --> 00:12:01,709 Now our adaptations are primarily to the cultural environment we created around us. 187 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:03,124 If we don't fit into our culture, Now our adaptations are primarily 188 00:12:03,125 --> 00:12:04,042 If we don't fit into our culture, 189 00:12:04,043 --> 00:12:08,834 we're not going to reproduce, we're not going to survive very well. 190 00:12:08,835 --> 00:12:10,458 We're going to be ostracized, 191 00:12:10,459 --> 00:12:11,751 and being ostracized in a social species like ours, 192 00:12:11,752 --> 00:12:14,834 and being ostracized in a social species like ours, 193 00:12:14,835 --> 00:12:18,333 can feel like a death sentence. 194 00:12:18,334 --> 00:12:23,458 Do we have a human brain mismatched between how we evolved to be here, 195 00:12:23,459 --> 00:12:26,999 and the modern circumstances we find ourselves in? 196 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,250 Are our needs any different from our ancestors? 197 00:12:28,251 --> 00:12:32,458 Are our needs any different from our ancestors? 198 00:12:32,459 --> 00:12:35,124 [british accent] Need, the word, 199 00:12:35,125 --> 00:12:38,998 like, 'I really need a bar of chocolate.' 200 00:12:38,999 --> 00:12:39,961 that from my point of view, 201 00:12:39,962 --> 00:12:42,999 I'm sure Neanderthals would have totally loved Coca Cola Zero. 202 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,793 They looked really good and pure because they didn't have it, 203 00:12:45,794 --> 00:12:49,999 you know, it's us poor saps, but presumably they got the same nervous system. 204 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,667 If it's true that Neanderthals would have also become addicted to Angry Birds, 205 00:12:55,668 --> 00:12:56,459 [video game sounds] ba-ling 206 00:12:56,460 --> 00:13:01,626 there's something true in contemporary society, it's saying something true 207 00:13:01,627 --> 00:13:05,998 about ancient people. 208 00:13:05,999 --> 00:13:08,667 [british accent] This is a modern human brain. 209 00:13:08,668 --> 00:13:12,208 It's identical to the brain of individuals 210 00:13:12,209 --> 00:13:16,918 But the information which is stored in the modern brain is very different 211 00:13:16,919 --> 00:13:18,124 to that of our ancestors. 212 00:13:18,125 --> 00:13:20,250 The brain basically encodes information 213 00:13:20,251 --> 00:13:23,751 and that information changes from one generation to the next. 214 00:13:23,752 --> 00:13:26,834 So, you can see the course of human evolution as the 215 00:13:26,835 --> 00:13:28,998 uh, accumulation of wisdom and knowledge 216 00:13:28,999 --> 00:13:33,998 that we pass on from one generation to the next. 217 00:13:33,999 --> 00:13:37,998 [wind rushing] 218 00:13:37,999 --> 00:13:41,165 [water gurgling] 219 00:13:41,167 --> 00:13:44,458 Our perceptual system isn't attuned to 220 00:13:44,459 --> 00:13:46,998 the massive changes that 221 00:13:46,999 --> 00:13:48,250 are happening on the planet, 222 00:13:48,251 --> 00:13:54,165 nor are they attuned to the very fine-grained details of those changes. 223 00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:55,125 Our brain's nor are they attuned to 224 00:13:55,125 --> 00:13:55,794 Our brain's 225 00:13:55,795 --> 00:13:59,998 alarm system for threat, the amygdala, the emotional centers 226 00:13:59,999 --> 00:14:01,998 are very tuned to these earlier dangers 227 00:14:01,999 --> 00:14:07,918 from a time when that rustle in the bushes might be a tiger that was about to eat you 228 00:14:07,919 --> 00:14:11,667 or today's symbolic realities: 'I'm not being treated fair, 229 00:14:11,668 --> 00:14:19,208 or, 'Honey, we have to talk,' or whatever it is that triggers you. 230 00:14:19,209 --> 00:14:22,041 We have a very quick system 231 00:14:22,042 --> 00:14:26,667 that is dealing with gut reactions, 232 00:14:26,668 --> 00:14:31,208 with, uh, an instant response to danger. 233 00:14:31,209 --> 00:14:36,375 And on the other hand, we have a slower, 234 00:14:36,376 --> 00:14:41,998 which takes time to engage, and which is slow and ponderous, 235 00:14:41,999 --> 00:14:43,083 that we should keep engaged 236 00:14:43,084 --> 00:14:47,501 when we're looking at complex issues in the world around us. 237 00:14:54,877 --> 00:15:01,834 (Jeff Bridges) We are physical and biological beings 238 00:15:01,835 --> 00:15:05,542 That sounds pretty trippy, and it is. 239 00:15:05,543 --> 00:15:13,543 Where every part contains information about the whole. 240 00:15:13,752 --> 00:15:18,999 The long view is both forward and back. 241 00:15:27,251 --> 00:15:30,041 (Amy Jacobson) For 99.9% of our evolutionary history, 242 00:15:30,042 --> 00:15:31,667 hunting and gathering people, 243 00:15:31,668 --> 00:15:33,417 living in small kin groups 244 00:15:33,418 --> 00:15:34,998 where everybody was related 245 00:15:34,999 --> 00:15:37,124 and therefore, had a vested interest 246 00:15:37,125 --> 00:15:38,960 in taking care of each other. 247 00:15:38,961 --> 00:15:41,960 We also lived off of the land in such a way that 248 00:15:41,961 --> 00:15:46,794 we did not live beyond the carrying capacity of the environment. 249 00:15:52,919 --> 00:15:55,709 There was no way to store food for long period of time, 250 00:15:55,710 --> 00:16:01,542 and therefore, there was no ability to acquire surplus. 251 00:16:01,543 --> 00:16:05,834 This resulted in a very egalitarian social system where 252 00:16:05,835 --> 00:16:06,418 women had autonomy, 253 00:16:06,419 --> 00:16:08,960 there was no real rigid dominance hierarchy among men, 254 00:16:08,961 --> 00:16:14,124 and it was only after the invention of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals 255 00:16:14,125 --> 00:16:22,125 that humans were faced with the situation of what to do with these surplus resources. 256 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,208 (Jeff Bridges) This was the beginning of 257 00:16:26,209 --> 00:16:29,124 We started farming for the first time. 258 00:16:29,125 --> 00:16:30,998 Everything took off from there. 259 00:16:30,999 --> 00:16:34,250 And that's only been around 12,000 years. 260 00:16:34,251 --> 00:16:38,998 That's a blink of an eye, in evolutionary terms. 261 00:16:38,999 --> 00:16:43,333 Controlling the production and distribution of these surplus resources 262 00:16:43,334 --> 00:16:47,626 led to a change in human cultural and social organization. 263 00:16:47,627 --> 00:16:52,375 [canons firing] [crowd cheering] 264 00:16:52,376 --> 00:16:56,999 (Jeff Bridges) Cultural evolution is a 265 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,918 It has all the properties of an evolving system. 266 00:17:01,919 --> 00:17:05,458 Since we found agriculture, things changed. 267 00:17:05,459 --> 00:17:05,999 And we, 268 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,998 We started to act like a larger entity 269 00:17:08,999 --> 00:17:14,251 just like an ant colony, or a termite colony, 270 00:17:16,417 --> 00:17:21,751 [bees buzzing] bzzzzzzz 271 00:17:21,752 --> 00:17:28,999 (Jeff Bridges) Bees and ants are individual organisms 272 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,918 They rush about to feed or defend the colony 273 00:17:32,919 --> 00:17:37,500 and collectively they create a super-organism. 274 00:17:37,501 --> 00:17:39,998 Of course, humans are not social insects, 275 00:17:39,999 --> 00:17:45,542 but if you were able to watch a village or a city from a distance over time, 276 00:17:45,543 --> 00:17:52,208 it looks a lot like a growing interdependent super-organism. 277 00:17:52,209 --> 00:17:53,250 A reorganization 278 00:17:53,251 --> 00:18:01,166 of material existence with far reaching implications. 279 00:18:01,167 --> 00:18:06,041 Today we live in a world of material abundance 280 00:18:06,042 --> 00:18:06,999 And this leads us to think 281 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,208 that this is normal for humans, that it's the normal human condition. 282 00:18:12,209 --> 00:18:15,998 Early societies, even through the middle ages, 283 00:18:15,999 --> 00:18:18,626 and up until almost the modern era 284 00:18:18,627 --> 00:18:22,083 had 90% of their economies devoted to the production of energy, 285 00:18:22,084 --> 00:18:23,500 primarily in the form of food. Had 90% of their economies 286 00:18:23,501 --> 00:18:24,292 primarily in the form of food. 287 00:18:24,293 --> 00:18:28,333 That meant that 90% of what people did involved producing energy. 288 00:18:28,334 --> 00:18:34,166 In other words, just getting by. 289 00:18:34,167 --> 00:18:38,458 (Jeff Bridges) Our lives 290 00:18:38,459 --> 00:18:39,998 Sunlight hit the earth, 291 00:18:39,999 --> 00:18:42,124 photosynthesis grew the plants, 292 00:18:42,125 --> 00:18:45,998 rain and soil with the nutrients grew crops, 293 00:18:45,999 --> 00:18:47,751 animals ate the crops, 294 00:18:47,752 --> 00:18:51,250 and we ate the animals. 295 00:18:51,251 --> 00:18:56,542 Energy transforms from one state to another. 296 00:18:56,543 --> 00:19:04,458 Our bodies were product of the current sunlight of the day. 297 00:19:04,459 --> 00:19:08,667 [italian accent] And we are just transient entities, 298 00:19:08,668 --> 00:19:10,999 move a little bit, and then disappear. 299 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,960 That's the way the system works. 300 00:19:13,961 --> 00:19:16,998 And, we have this chance 301 00:19:16,999 --> 00:19:18,166 to be alive, 302 00:19:18,167 --> 00:19:20,998 to move on this planet, to do things on this planet, 303 00:19:20,999 --> 00:19:23,998 to create things on this planet, because we have this 304 00:19:23,999 --> 00:19:26,999 gigantic flux of energy coming from the sun. 305 00:19:32,999 --> 00:19:36,166 The whole universe is a giant machine 306 00:19:36,167 --> 00:19:39,542 for dispersing energy potential. 307 00:19:39,543 --> 00:19:41,998 Energy is everything in the sense that 308 00:19:41,999 --> 00:19:45,333 nothing moves in the universe without 309 00:19:45,334 --> 00:19:47,998 an energy potential available. 310 00:19:47,999 --> 00:19:50,919 [flames roaring] 311 00:19:52,999 --> 00:19:55,375 [birds chirping] chirp chirp chirp 312 00:19:55,376 --> 00:19:56,998 [machinery moving] 313 00:19:56,999 --> 00:19:59,709 (Ugo Bardi) We have been also 314 00:19:59,710 --> 00:20:01,918 already very large amount of energy 315 00:20:01,919 --> 00:20:06,500 by means of using ancient processes 316 00:20:06,501 --> 00:20:07,998 frozen 317 00:20:07,999 --> 00:20:10,876 below the ground in the Earth's crust 318 00:20:10,877 --> 00:20:15,626 in the form of what we call fossil fuels. 319 00:20:15,627 --> 00:20:18,208 (Jeff Bridges) Fossil sunlight is so powerful 320 00:20:18,209 --> 00:20:21,584 it's indistinguishable from magic. 321 00:20:21,585 --> 00:20:23,709 And we're mining this ancient sunlight 322 00:20:23,710 --> 00:20:27,084 in a very brief period of human history. 323 00:20:34,919 --> 00:20:37,998 A chemical composition of 50% 324 00:20:37,999 --> 00:20:42,166 of the protein in our bodies, and 80% of the nitrogen in our bodies 325 00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:45,667 indirectly comes from the chemical signature 326 00:20:45,668 --> 00:20:49,542 of this fossil sunlight that we're mining. 327 00:20:49,543 --> 00:20:52,999 So, we are different than our ancestors. 328 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,834 They were made of sunlight, 329 00:20:54,835 --> 00:20:56,542 we are made of fossil fuels. 330 00:20:56,543 --> 00:20:58,918 In hunting and gathering societies, 331 00:20:58,919 --> 00:21:04,542 can provide enough food to support maybe one person 332 00:21:04,543 --> 00:21:07,998 Basic subsistence agriculture can support more people, 333 00:21:07,999 --> 00:21:12,208 but nowhere near the population densities that we have today. 334 00:21:12,209 --> 00:21:14,292 The way we live is an anomaly. 335 00:21:20,877 --> 00:21:23,375 So, there's really no way for anyone 336 00:21:23,376 --> 00:21:25,626 to know at a, sort of, visceral level 337 00:21:25,627 --> 00:21:27,542 that there are problems with the system, 338 00:21:27,543 --> 00:21:32,626 and if you look around, it all works. 339 00:21:32,627 --> 00:21:36,998 We know historically, to the extent that we pay attention to it, 340 00:21:36,999 --> 00:21:37,919 we used to use wood. 341 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,998 We're aware that our predecessors used wood 342 00:21:39,999 --> 00:21:44,166 and they used so much of it they had to switch to something else. 343 00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:49,333 They switched to coal. 344 00:21:49,334 --> 00:21:51,584 And then they switched to oil. 345 00:21:51,585 --> 00:21:52,585 Eighty years ago, 346 00:21:52,586 --> 00:21:55,998 the oil in America was just under the surface. 347 00:21:55,999 --> 00:21:59,998 We would need very little machinery to get these gusher wells 348 00:21:59,999 --> 00:22:03,041 and we would get out over 100 times 349 00:22:03,042 --> 00:22:05,084 the energy that we put in. 350 00:22:09,835 --> 00:22:12,960 Suddenly this whole new world of transportation opened up, 351 00:22:12,961 --> 00:22:16,500 and with that, this entirely new model for how we fed ourselves, 352 00:22:16,501 --> 00:22:18,999 how we clothed ourselves and built shelter, 353 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,960 and it totally changed the way we live. 354 00:22:22,961 --> 00:22:29,998 It made it possible for us to move away from the country. 355 00:22:29,999 --> 00:22:33,375 Throughout human history, we had to live sort of scattered 356 00:22:33,376 --> 00:22:39,250 in order to not tax any particular resource too greatly. 357 00:22:39,251 --> 00:22:41,542 As we began to be able to import food, 358 00:22:41,543 --> 00:22:42,918 or import energy, 359 00:22:42,919 --> 00:22:44,709 we could live where we wanted to, 360 00:22:44,710 --> 00:22:45,999 and we wanted to live in the cities. 361 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:51,998 So, we have this massive migration, and we empty the countryside. 362 00:22:51,999 --> 00:22:55,626 We all move to the city because we grow food in the country 363 00:22:55,627 --> 00:22:57,333 and we can just transport it to the city, 364 00:22:57,334 --> 00:23:00,998 and once you're in the city then you can do all these other things. 365 00:23:00,999 --> 00:23:03,999 You can create all this knowledge, create technologies, 366 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,834 you can create this massive economic growth, 367 00:23:06,835 --> 00:23:08,124 and the longer you live that way, 368 00:23:08,125 --> 00:23:12,417 the harder it is to remember what allowed it to start in the first place, 369 00:23:12,418 --> 00:23:15,501 and that was this idea of cheap energy. 370 00:23:26,961 --> 00:23:31,793 Humans gradually became a functional super-organism. 371 00:23:31,794 --> 00:23:36,375 At first, we would maximize grain surplus. 372 00:23:36,376 --> 00:23:38,876 We would grow more grain and store it, 373 00:23:38,877 --> 00:23:44,500 and that would allow our population to increase and our territory to expand. 374 00:23:44,501 --> 00:23:48,166 But now we're maximizing surplus value. 375 00:23:48,167 --> 00:23:51,999 We're maximizing financial, digital, electronic 376 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,998 representations of surplus. 377 00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:58,375 But all money really effectively is, 378 00:23:58,376 --> 00:24:02,375 is a claim on some energy services. 379 00:24:02,376 --> 00:24:03,998 And so what happens, 380 00:24:03,999 --> 00:24:07,208 is money, 381 00:24:07,209 --> 00:24:08,167 trade, 382 00:24:08,167 --> 00:24:09,125 technology 383 00:24:09,126 --> 00:24:17,126 are all in service of the super-organism. 384 00:24:18,543 --> 00:24:24,667 (Jeff Bridges) It's nearly impossible for individuals 385 00:24:24,668 --> 00:24:28,918 We contribute to and rely on a growing super-organism 386 00:24:28,919 --> 00:24:31,709 to feed us, clothe us, 387 00:24:31,710 --> 00:24:34,500 power our sophisticated communications, 388 00:24:34,501 --> 00:24:37,458 even protect our societies from each other 389 00:24:37,459 --> 00:24:41,998 through highly organized warfare. 390 00:24:41,999 --> 00:24:46,333 We live within a mesh of energy-eating interdependence 391 00:24:46,334 --> 00:24:49,458 and we never really see the big picture. 392 00:24:49,459 --> 00:24:54,542 A state of plenty can have unintended consequences. 393 00:24:54,543 --> 00:25:01,793 It is the paradox of our times. 394 00:25:01,794 --> 00:25:04,291 [british accent] Running in the background 395 00:25:04,292 --> 00:25:08,291 whether we consider ourselves to be capitalist, soviet, or feudal, 396 00:25:08,292 --> 00:25:11,417 everything is a kind of program, 397 00:25:11,418 --> 00:25:14,124 a kind of recipe, a kind of algorithm, 398 00:25:14,125 --> 00:25:16,250 the logistical functioning 399 00:25:16,251 --> 00:25:20,542 of Neolithic society, which started all over the world. 400 00:25:20,543 --> 00:25:22,998 The trouble is that when you wash, rinse, repeat, 401 00:25:22,999 --> 00:25:27,751 eventually, when you do it enough times, it starts to reveal its flaws. 402 00:25:27,752 --> 00:25:28,998 For example, me starting my car 403 00:25:28,999 --> 00:25:32,998 is statistically meaningless from a global warming point of view. 404 00:25:32,999 --> 00:25:35,709 Billions and billions of car ignition turnings 405 00:25:35,710 --> 00:25:37,458 has a meaning, and that's the paradox. 406 00:25:37,459 --> 00:25:41,041 All of a sudden, we realize that we're part of a super-organism. 407 00:25:41,042 --> 00:25:43,998 We are enmeshed in systems of production, 408 00:25:43,999 --> 00:25:49,041 systems of manufacture, systems of use. 409 00:25:49,042 --> 00:25:53,083 It's incredibly important to recognize that we're all 410 00:25:53,084 --> 00:25:54,291 part of the system. It's incredibly important 411 00:25:54,292 --> 00:25:57,125 part of the system. 412 00:26:04,835 --> 00:26:08,041 (Leonard Mlodinow) As social organisms, 413 00:26:08,042 --> 00:26:11,041 Our signals that we exchange 414 00:26:11,042 --> 00:26:13,998 than the simple chemical signals 415 00:26:13,999 --> 00:26:16,876 but we do exchange signals, and as humans, 416 00:26:16,877 --> 00:26:21,333 we take individual actions that, on the whole, cause emergent behavior. 417 00:26:21,334 --> 00:26:24,584 The problem happening today is that 418 00:26:24,585 --> 00:26:27,751 is growing very complex and detrimental 419 00:26:27,752 --> 00:26:29,998 to ourselves, and to many 420 00:26:29,999 --> 00:26:33,458 [squawking, honking] 421 00:26:33,459 --> 00:26:35,998 (Jeff Bridges) Emergent behavior 422 00:26:35,999 --> 00:26:38,667 It could be fast moving and unpredictable. 423 00:26:38,668 --> 00:26:44,709 No one could see our patterns of interaction would lead to the internet, 424 00:26:44,710 --> 00:26:45,876 the smart phone, 425 00:26:45,877 --> 00:26:47,999 the disappearance of phone booths, 426 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,998 and the rise of server farms. 427 00:26:50,999 --> 00:26:56,999 Who knows what will happen next? 428 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,998 (Bob Inglis) We're all in this together. 429 00:26:58,999 --> 00:27:02,960 Maybe if you're off the grid 430 00:27:02,961 --> 00:27:05,960 maybe then you have the right 431 00:27:05,961 --> 00:27:10,542 We're tiny little microbes on the surface of this huge planet. 432 00:27:10,543 --> 00:27:15,418 We can actually affect the planet and cause it to respond. 433 00:27:27,835 --> 00:27:29,998 (Piers Sellers) [british accent] 434 00:27:29,999 --> 00:27:33,626 Emitting carbon dioxide at these rates, 435 00:27:33,627 --> 00:27:35,998 pretty soon we're going to be in trouble. 436 00:27:35,999 --> 00:27:39,458 We're going to have massive climatic disruption. 437 00:27:39,459 --> 00:27:42,083 The rainfall belts will move. 438 00:27:42,084 --> 00:27:47,458 People in the hundreds of millions, maybe a billion and a half people 439 00:27:47,459 --> 00:27:53,960 have problems getting access to fresh water and food. 440 00:27:53,961 --> 00:27:57,998 The issue is not what the world is like 441 00:27:57,999 --> 00:27:59,709 or when it's warm. 442 00:27:59,710 --> 00:28:01,500 We are in a time of change. 443 00:28:01,501 --> 00:28:04,998 What is interesting is how the world changes 444 00:28:04,999 --> 00:28:07,250 when you dramatically, in our case, increase 445 00:28:07,251 --> 00:28:11,584 the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 446 00:28:11,585 --> 00:28:17,542 Or, when it suffers mammoth biodiversity loss caused by our own behavior. 447 00:28:17,543 --> 00:28:18,876 If there's a big change coming, 448 00:28:18,877 --> 00:28:22,166 and we want to know what it might do in the future, what do we do? 449 00:28:22,167 --> 00:28:23,584 We look at what's happened in the past. 450 00:28:23,585 --> 00:28:28,250 Geological history largely reinforces the lessons from the climate models. 451 00:28:28,251 --> 00:28:30,083 The doubling of carbon dioxide will 452 00:28:30,084 --> 00:28:32,834 lead to about 2.5 degrees to 3 degrees (F) of warming. 453 00:28:32,835 --> 00:28:36,667 And the history of the Earth is broadly in agreement with that. 454 00:28:36,668 --> 00:28:43,998 So, a lot of my own research is focused on the reconstruction of past climate. 455 00:28:43,999 --> 00:28:47,542 We look at dramatic transitions 456 00:28:47,543 --> 00:28:49,876 And, there's not a lot of those, 457 00:28:49,877 --> 00:28:53,667 because in Earth history, things change gradually. 458 00:28:53,668 --> 00:28:55,208 Three years ago, I started on a project. 459 00:28:55,209 --> 00:28:58,998 It was to look at an event that was about 120 million years ago. 460 00:28:58,999 --> 00:29:00,542 And it was to explore exactly this: 461 00:29:00,543 --> 00:29:05,333 it was what we generally consider a rapid ocean acidification event, 462 00:29:05,334 --> 00:29:06,709 a rapid warming event, 463 00:29:06,710 --> 00:29:10,291 and we thought, 'Let's look at this, and see what happened.' 464 00:29:10,292 --> 00:29:12,375 And as we studied it more and more, 465 00:29:12,376 --> 00:29:14,375 and we got better and better at age models, 466 00:29:14,376 --> 00:29:17,667 we got better and better reconstructions of the climate change. 467 00:29:17,668 --> 00:29:22,458 It became apparent that this event that happened about 100 million years ago, 468 00:29:22,459 --> 00:29:24,876 the climate change happened 469 00:29:24,877 --> 00:29:27,250 over about 40,000 years. 470 00:29:27,251 --> 00:29:29,667 This is the same degree of climate change 471 00:29:29,668 --> 00:29:33,752 that we think might happen over the next 100 years. 472 00:29:38,292 --> 00:29:40,999 There's much more energy in the system. 473 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,998 [waves crashing] 474 00:29:43,999 --> 00:29:46,998 We have very little knowledge 475 00:29:46,999 --> 00:29:51,667 of how Earth's biological life support systems 476 00:29:51,668 --> 00:29:58,998 will respond to dramatic and rapid change. 477 00:29:58,999 --> 00:30:05,998 [british accent] We have extraordinary 478 00:30:05,999 --> 00:30:10,710 that all are individual pieces of a jigsaw. 479 00:30:14,919 --> 00:30:18,834 [british accent] The picture is clear 480 00:30:18,835 --> 00:30:20,998 But start picking those 481 00:30:20,999 --> 00:30:24,998 and you can no longer see, really, what that picture looks like 482 00:30:24,999 --> 00:30:28,667 and the functionality of the entire system 483 00:30:28,668 --> 00:30:30,999 is out of whack. 484 00:30:34,999 --> 00:30:37,208 (Piers Sellers) [british accent] 485 00:30:37,209 --> 00:30:41,208 The Greenland ice mass is being lost at 300 gigatons per year. 486 00:30:41,209 --> 00:30:45,998 Three hundred cubic kilometers of ice per year is disappearing. 487 00:30:45,999 --> 00:30:48,667 The ocean is changing, sea level rise, 488 00:30:48,668 --> 00:30:50,918 we're seeing significant sea level rise. 489 00:30:50,919 --> 00:30:54,250 We're expecting a couple of feet, maybe more 490 00:30:54,251 --> 00:30:56,166 before the end of the century. 491 00:30:56,167 --> 00:30:58,834 So, all these things are facts. 492 00:30:58,835 --> 00:31:01,333 (Rich Pancost) It's not so much 493 00:31:01,334 --> 00:31:02,998 but it's how fast it's happening. 494 00:31:02,999 --> 00:31:05,667 The faster the change comes, 495 00:31:05,668 --> 00:31:07,584 the less time we have to adapt. 496 00:31:07,585 --> 00:31:09,667 The faster the change comes, 497 00:31:09,668 --> 00:31:13,584 the trees have to adapt, or plankton living in the ocean. 498 00:31:13,585 --> 00:31:19,793 The faster the change comes, the less time ecosystems have to adapt. 499 00:31:19,794 --> 00:31:20,585 And the more complex these are, 500 00:31:20,586 --> 00:31:26,918 the harder it is to actually predict what the consequences of that change will be. 501 00:31:26,919 --> 00:31:29,333 (Piers Sellers) [british accent] 502 00:31:29,334 --> 00:31:29,999 Huge stress 503 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:35,709 on societies that are already under internal political stress 504 00:31:35,710 --> 00:31:36,834 and, stress induced by lack of resources. 505 00:31:36,835 --> 00:31:40,041 And, stress induced by lack of resources. 506 00:31:40,042 --> 00:31:41,998 Like, food availability, 507 00:31:41,999 --> 00:31:42,835 water availability, 508 00:31:42,836 --> 00:31:44,998 dramatic events associated with climate change, 509 00:31:44,999 --> 00:31:49,998 all of which potentially will exacerbate the divisions within society. 510 00:31:49,999 --> 00:31:52,333 Access to wealth creates divisions. 511 00:31:52,334 --> 00:31:58,667 Access to food and water makes the divisions very pronounced. 512 00:31:58,668 --> 00:32:02,458 It's going to impact the way humans live on the planet. 513 00:32:02,459 --> 00:32:05,584 And when that impacts, then people move. 514 00:32:05,585 --> 00:32:06,667 People are angry. And when that impacts, 515 00:32:06,668 --> 00:32:07,209 People are angry. 516 00:32:07,210 --> 00:32:09,998 Land becomes less valuable, or more valuable. 517 00:32:09,999 --> 00:32:10,999 Populations shifts, and those shifts 518 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,542 Populations shifts, and those shifts 519 00:32:13,543 --> 00:32:15,124 destabilize governments. 520 00:32:15,125 --> 00:32:17,334 [explosion] 521 00:32:23,543 --> 00:32:27,333 (Jeff Bridges) We might look up at night 522 00:32:27,334 --> 00:32:33,918 as if we were in a pristine crystal snow globe. 523 00:32:33,919 --> 00:32:39,960 But our problems can no longer be pushed into the back yard of the less powerful, 524 00:32:39,961 --> 00:32:42,960 the less fortunate among us. 525 00:32:42,961 --> 00:32:44,998 No. Here we are, 526 00:32:44,999 --> 00:32:46,458 and here we were made. 527 00:32:46,459 --> 00:32:52,751 Where everything from farmers, dogs, LED lights, flower, pencils, 528 00:32:52,752 --> 00:32:56,417 politicians, microwaves, and penguins, 529 00:32:56,418 --> 00:32:58,998 the past, present, and future 530 00:32:58,999 --> 00:33:01,752 are all interrelated. 531 00:33:14,459 --> 00:33:16,083 (President Nixon) In the next ten years, 532 00:33:16,084 --> 00:33:17,291 we shall increase our wealth by fifty percent. 533 00:33:17,292 --> 00:33:20,998 We shall increase our wealth by fifty percent. 534 00:33:20,999 --> 00:33:23,250 The profound question is 535 00:33:23,251 --> 00:33:26,998 Does this mean we will be fifty percent richer, 536 00:33:26,999 --> 00:33:28,375 In a real sense, 537 00:33:28,376 --> 00:33:30,998 fifty percent better off, 538 00:33:30,999 --> 00:33:32,998 fifty percent happier? 539 00:33:32,999 --> 00:33:34,999 And so, to just get more facts 540 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,751 about climate change or about oil depletion 541 00:33:38,752 --> 00:33:40,709 or about environmental destruction, 542 00:33:40,710 --> 00:33:43,999 people don't know what to do, because they're part of this 543 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:49,500 organism trying to get more feel-good brain chemicals. 544 00:33:49,501 --> 00:33:50,292 (Ruth Gates) [british accent] 545 00:33:50,293 --> 00:33:52,458 (Ruth Gates) [british accent] 546 00:33:52,459 --> 00:33:55,918 And, the number of people who want to be on the treadmill, 547 00:33:55,919 --> 00:33:57,751 is getting bigger and bigger 548 00:33:57,752 --> 00:34:00,667 And eventually, there's going to be no room to run. 549 00:34:00,668 --> 00:34:03,667 And so, people will fall off. 550 00:34:03,668 --> 00:34:04,998 Many people 551 00:34:04,999 --> 00:34:10,876 will fall off. 552 00:34:10,877 --> 00:34:13,918 We are profoundly motivated 553 00:34:13,918 --> 00:34:14,998 by having purpose. 554 00:34:14,998 --> 00:34:20,998 We're motivated by having a sense of autonomy, efficacy, and control. 555 00:34:20,998 --> 00:34:25,960 Where it seems that our gifts, our energy, our life force 556 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:31,375 is not going to have some impact, we will simply withdraw 557 00:34:31,376 --> 00:34:36,417 and we will very likely redirect that energy 558 00:34:36,418 --> 00:34:40,833 into where we can feel we have most impact. 559 00:34:40,835 --> 00:34:43,542 And where is that in our culture right now? 560 00:34:43,543 --> 00:34:45,458 It's in consumption. 561 00:34:45,458 --> 00:34:47,998 (Mark Plotkin) The economist Immanuel Wallerstein has 562 00:34:47,998 --> 00:34:49,417 talked about world systems theory, in which all things are connected 563 00:34:49,418 --> 00:34:52,960 talked about world systems theory, in which all things are connected 564 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:54,250 for better, and often for worse. 565 00:34:54,251 --> 00:34:59,208 So, living here in the most industrialized part of the industrialized world, 566 00:34:59,209 --> 00:35:01,209 our tentacles reach everywhere. 567 00:35:08,459 --> 00:35:13,083 (Jeff Bridges) Efficacy is the ability to produce a desired result. 568 00:35:13,084 --> 00:35:17,998 But are the results we're achieving, the ones we intend? 569 00:35:17,999 --> 00:35:20,999 Wild animals are disappearing forever. 570 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:26,709 Our intelligence is remaking the world before our eyes. 571 00:35:26,710 --> 00:35:28,998 Today we can just click on a link somewhere 572 00:35:28,999 --> 00:35:31,626 and have something appear at our doorstep 573 00:35:31,627 --> 00:35:32,998 without having any idea 574 00:35:32,999 --> 00:35:35,998 of what went into getting it there. 575 00:35:35,999 --> 00:35:38,751 All we know about what got it there is the price. 576 00:35:38,752 --> 00:35:41,751 We get more and more detached from the actual cost 577 00:35:41,752 --> 00:35:45,835 of creating and transporting what we're using. 578 00:35:50,999 --> 00:35:53,291 Energy is really at the center of physics, but 579 00:35:53,292 --> 00:35:55,998 for the lay person, the easiest way to explain it 580 00:35:55,999 --> 00:35:58,709 is that energy is the ability to do work. 581 00:35:58,710 --> 00:36:00,960 [truck horn honking] 582 00:36:00,961 --> 00:36:03,375 Work is force through distance. 583 00:36:03,376 --> 00:36:05,542 So, every time you move something, 584 00:36:05,543 --> 00:36:07,083 from China to the U.S. 585 00:36:07,084 --> 00:36:09,458 or from the floor to the ceiling, 586 00:36:09,459 --> 00:36:10,167 that takes energy. 587 00:36:10,168 --> 00:36:12,998 When you drive to work, it takes energy. 588 00:36:12,999 --> 00:36:14,041 To boil one quart of water, 589 00:36:14,042 --> 00:36:17,250 takes up the equivalent of 500 calories of food. 590 00:36:17,251 --> 00:36:19,584 Any kind of transformation requires energy. 591 00:36:19,585 --> 00:36:21,998 [italian accent] We are powerful creatures on this planet, 592 00:36:21,999 --> 00:36:24,834 but we still need the ecosystem to survive. 593 00:36:24,835 --> 00:36:26,083 So we don't want to destroy 594 00:36:26,084 --> 00:36:29,375 the ecosystem, because it would be rather bad. 595 00:36:29,376 --> 00:36:30,667 And this is a transition, 596 00:36:30,668 --> 00:36:32,626 you can call it also a revolution, 597 00:36:32,627 --> 00:36:34,918 you can call it whatever you'd like. 598 00:36:34,919 --> 00:36:37,333 The point is that there have been such 599 00:36:37,334 --> 00:36:40,834 revolutions, such transitions in the past, 600 00:36:40,835 --> 00:36:42,998 but these transitions have a cost. 601 00:36:42,999 --> 00:36:47,459 An energy transition must be paid in energy. 602 00:36:52,999 --> 00:36:59,375 (Jeff Bridges) Energy is the currency of life. 603 00:36:59,376 --> 00:37:06,375 Energy creates movement and food. 604 00:37:06,376 --> 00:37:09,961 All life taps energy flows. 605 00:37:18,999 --> 00:37:25,751 We used to measure units of energy in terms of horsepower. 606 00:37:25,752 --> 00:37:28,999 One horse could do the work of ten men. 607 00:37:33,585 --> 00:37:39,998 A small tractor could do the work of forty horses. 608 00:37:39,999 --> 00:37:42,500 It would take 450 horses or more 609 00:37:42,501 --> 00:37:47,998 to get the same work done as just one semi-truck. 610 00:37:47,999 --> 00:37:48,999 And unlike horses, 611 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,998 trucks can work day and night, in any weather. 612 00:37:52,999 --> 00:37:59,584 The flow of fossil fuel has turbo-charged our society. 613 00:37:59,585 --> 00:38:02,751 (Nathan Hagens) So, to just say, 614 00:38:02,752 --> 00:38:07,166 We have the science now to realize that these fossil slaves, 615 00:38:07,167 --> 00:38:09,709 they don't complain, they don't sleep, 616 00:38:09,710 --> 00:38:12,083 they're tireless, they're super strong, 617 00:38:12,084 --> 00:38:13,876 but they poop and they breathe, 618 00:38:13,877 --> 00:38:17,751 and their breath is causing our biosphere to warm up, 619 00:38:17,752 --> 00:38:18,998 and our oceans to acidify. 620 00:38:18,999 --> 00:38:23,124 Let's keep them in the ground'? It's not quite so simple. 621 00:38:23,125 --> 00:38:26,998 If you consider the power that's in fossil fuels, 622 00:38:26,999 --> 00:38:30,458 Ninety percent of the work done in human economies 623 00:38:30,459 --> 00:38:34,998 is done by fossil slaves. 624 00:38:34,999 --> 00:38:39,291 The average American consumes 220,000 625 00:38:39,292 --> 00:38:40,998 kilocalories, every day. 626 00:38:40,999 --> 00:38:44,417 We don't think about that, we only think about the 3,000 627 00:38:44,418 --> 00:38:49,998 or 3,500 of food that we eat. 628 00:38:49,999 --> 00:38:55,458 But our energy footprint is almost 100 times more than that, if you consider 629 00:38:55,459 --> 00:38:56,998 our buses, and our airplanes, 630 00:38:56,999 --> 00:38:59,998 and all the hospitals, and the Disney Lands, and the NASCARs, 631 00:38:59,999 --> 00:39:06,584 and in all the various things that we buy that are imported around the world. 632 00:39:06,585 --> 00:39:08,124 (Wesley Clark) t's what people invest in, 633 00:39:08,125 --> 00:39:11,250 and a lot of pension funds, and a lot of 634 00:39:11,251 --> 00:39:14,542 the institutions that humanity depends on - 635 00:39:14,543 --> 00:39:15,501 of course they gravitate toward oil. 636 00:39:15,501 --> 00:39:16,459 Of course they gravitate toward oil. 637 00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:20,584 Renewable energy, although it's mature and it's getting very cheap, 638 00:39:20,585 --> 00:39:23,291 it's not going to replace this 639 00:39:23,292 --> 00:39:27,083 infrastructure, and this civilization. 640 00:39:27,084 --> 00:39:29,998 We have a very limited amount of time to 641 00:39:29,999 --> 00:39:32,375 transition to a low-carbon economy, 642 00:39:32,376 --> 00:39:35,793 but it's very naive to just say, let's keep it in the ground 643 00:39:35,794 --> 00:39:37,709 and keep everything else running. 644 00:39:37,710 --> 00:39:38,998 (Ugo Bardi) [italian accent] 645 00:39:38,999 --> 00:39:42,751 'Can solar energy power our society 646 00:39:42,752 --> 00:39:43,834 as it is today?' 647 00:39:43,835 --> 00:39:46,876 then you already have the answer. 648 00:39:46,877 --> 00:39:48,333 It is not possible. 649 00:39:48,334 --> 00:39:51,166 If you want to switch from 650 00:39:51,167 --> 00:39:52,291 oil and gas and coal 651 00:39:52,292 --> 00:39:56,960 and to move to solar energy, then you have to change a lot of things. 652 00:39:56,961 --> 00:39:59,834 Our food system right now is an energy sink. 653 00:39:59,835 --> 00:40:04,751 We use 10 to 12 fossil-calories to produce 1 food-calorie. 654 00:40:04,752 --> 00:40:10,960 Uh right now, we have around 100 trillion dollars worth of machinery on the planet 655 00:40:10,961 --> 00:40:14,458 that uses gasoline or diesel fuel. 656 00:40:14,459 --> 00:40:18,751 So, for one barrel of oil, which we pay $50 for, 657 00:40:18,752 --> 00:40:24,998 we have thousands of fossil slaves standing behind us. 658 00:40:24,999 --> 00:40:27,709 (Wesley Clark) The American inventory 659 00:40:27,710 --> 00:40:28,376 of automobiles, 660 00:40:28,377 --> 00:40:33,041 250, 270 million cars and light trucks on the road, 661 00:40:33,042 --> 00:40:37,751 you're talking about more than a decade 662 00:40:37,752 --> 00:40:38,998 and about more wealth 663 00:40:38,999 --> 00:40:42,124 than the gross domestic product in a year to replace it. 664 00:40:42,125 --> 00:40:46,375 So, you're not going do these, make these changes over night. 665 00:40:46,376 --> 00:40:49,793 [italian accent] You see, there is a parameter 666 00:40:49,794 --> 00:40:52,709 in evaluating these kinds of things, 667 00:40:52,710 --> 00:40:56,626 which is called energy return on energy invested. 668 00:40:56,627 --> 00:40:58,834 Energy doesn't cost dollars. 669 00:40:58,835 --> 00:41:01,918 I mean, it does, but it really costs energy. 670 00:41:01,919 --> 00:41:04,083 Oil's the biggest industry on the planet. 671 00:41:04,084 --> 00:41:07,500 So, it sets the pace, in terms of inflation. 672 00:41:07,501 --> 00:41:11,458 So, if you raise the price of oil, all the other prices go up, until 673 00:41:11,459 --> 00:41:15,166 people have accommodated, and they can still afford to buy, 674 00:41:15,167 --> 00:41:17,999 pay the extraction cost for oil. 675 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,417 So, it's not like we're running out of oil, 676 00:41:22,418 --> 00:41:23,042 or coal or gas, 677 00:41:23,043 --> 00:41:26,960 it's that it's getting more costly, in energy terms, 678 00:41:26,961 --> 00:41:30,751 Because it's more costly, it has less benefits 679 00:41:30,752 --> 00:41:31,793 to the rest of society. 680 00:41:31,794 --> 00:41:36,250 The 1930's, the Beverly Hillbilly oil just bubbling under the ground? 681 00:41:36,251 --> 00:41:40,250 We've used all that. 682 00:41:40,251 --> 00:41:45,417 Net energy, which is the energy left after we've paid the energy cost 683 00:41:45,418 --> 00:41:47,834 of finding and extracting it, 684 00:41:47,835 --> 00:41:50,291 that energy is declining now. 685 00:41:50,292 --> 00:41:56,291 We don't realize the scale and the stakes of what's happening. 686 00:41:56,292 --> 00:41:57,751 (Joseph Tainter) When we take on debt, 687 00:41:57,752 --> 00:42:01,998 we are promising to repay it, with future energy. 688 00:42:01,999 --> 00:42:04,542 The fossil fuels will not last forever, 689 00:42:04,543 --> 00:42:05,998 they cannot last forever. 690 00:42:05,999 --> 00:42:09,998 The energy potential in one barrel of oil 691 00:42:09,999 --> 00:42:11,458 is equal to a human being 692 00:42:11,459 --> 00:42:16,998 working 40 hours a week or four and a half years. 693 00:42:16,999 --> 00:42:22,124 [italian accent] You have to think to the future, 694 00:42:22,125 --> 00:42:26,208 in order to have a harvest of renewable energy. 695 00:42:26,209 --> 00:42:30,793 'Do not eat your seed corn,' is an old saying. 696 00:42:30,794 --> 00:42:31,999 'Do not eat your seed corn,' 697 00:42:38,710 --> 00:42:41,500 (Jeff Bridges) Wise farmers know 698 00:42:41,501 --> 00:42:46,124 there will be nothing left to plant for future harvest. 699 00:42:46,125 --> 00:42:48,417 Will future generations look back at today 700 00:42:48,418 --> 00:42:53,834 and view much of the energy we're burning to have been wasted? 701 00:42:53,835 --> 00:42:59,998 Are we eating our seed corn? 702 00:42:59,999 --> 00:43:04,751 So many of us have come to expect the level of comfort and convenience 703 00:43:04,752 --> 00:43:12,166 unprecedented in our biological past. 704 00:43:12,167 --> 00:43:15,417 We need to redefine our expectations. 705 00:43:15,418 --> 00:43:17,584 Not as what we will lose, 706 00:43:17,585 --> 00:43:21,709 but what we might gain, by preparing for something different. 707 00:43:21,710 --> 00:43:22,961 But what we might gain, 708 00:43:26,125 --> 00:43:29,998 'Oh, fossil fuels are bad? We need to keep them in the ground.' 709 00:43:29,999 --> 00:43:32,083 So, we've got this big divestment campaign 710 00:43:32,084 --> 00:43:36,751 where we stop investing in coal and oil and natural gas. 711 00:43:36,752 --> 00:43:38,999 But if we stop investing in the stocks, 712 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,542 as long as we continue to fly and drive and have infrastructure 713 00:43:43,543 --> 00:43:46,417 built around cheap transportation 714 00:43:46,418 --> 00:43:50,041 and global connectivity of supply chains, 715 00:43:50,042 --> 00:43:55,333 then some hedge fund will just buy those stocks back, 5 cents cheaper. 716 00:43:55,334 --> 00:43:57,250 [british accent] We can very easily 717 00:43:57,251 --> 00:43:59,793 for example when we think about oil, 718 00:43:59,794 --> 00:44:00,876 of addiction speech. 719 00:44:00,877 --> 00:44:03,626 'I'm leaving this bottle of whiskey in the cupboard, 720 00:44:03,627 --> 00:44:05,041 and I'm not going to touch a drop of it.' 721 00:44:05,042 --> 00:44:09,998 Which means that I'm still fixated on this whiskey, paradoxically. 722 00:44:09,999 --> 00:44:16,458 This is actually, of course, not really thinking differently. 723 00:44:16,459 --> 00:44:18,998 There's a bit of a hangover from this myth that 724 00:44:18,999 --> 00:44:20,998 things should be functioning smoothly 725 00:44:20,999 --> 00:44:24,793 and that smooth functioning is something real. 726 00:44:24,794 --> 00:44:26,084 [water crashing] 727 00:44:32,961 --> 00:44:35,500 (Paul Roberts) If you find yourself 728 00:44:35,501 --> 00:44:37,250 in a world where energy isn't cheap, 729 00:44:37,251 --> 00:44:39,751 you're going to have to unwind, somehow 730 00:44:39,752 --> 00:44:42,793 this massive global city system. 731 00:44:42,794 --> 00:44:47,375 You look back in history to when this happened before, I mean, the Roman Empire, 732 00:44:47,376 --> 00:44:51,333 one of the reasons it fell was it was no longer able to bring in 733 00:44:51,334 --> 00:44:54,998 food and supplies to Rome and the other big city states, 734 00:44:54,999 --> 00:45:01,291 and cities no longer were habitable. They just didn't function anymore. 735 00:45:01,292 --> 00:45:02,998 So, what happens this time around? 736 00:45:02,999 --> 00:45:06,999 [vehicles rushing by] shwoo, shwoo... shwoo 737 00:45:10,125 --> 00:45:14,542 And in the past, it's been conflict 738 00:45:14,543 --> 00:45:18,041 that has brought human progress, 739 00:45:18,042 --> 00:45:20,793 at a tremendous cost of slaughter. 740 00:45:20,794 --> 00:45:22,834 [whistling] 741 00:45:22,835 --> 00:45:26,083 World War I brought forth radio and airplanes. 742 00:45:26,084 --> 00:45:29,250 World War II gave us nuclear energy. 743 00:45:29,251 --> 00:45:32,998 Space race between the United States and the Soviet Union 744 00:45:32,999 --> 00:45:34,876 and the Cold War that gave us 745 00:45:34,877 --> 00:45:36,834 uh, communication satellites and 746 00:45:36,835 --> 00:45:39,375 global positioning and many other things, and 747 00:45:39,376 --> 00:45:41,998 now we're where we have to work collectively. 748 00:45:41,999 --> 00:45:45,626 We can't work against each other, we have to work with each other, 749 00:45:45,627 --> 00:45:51,124 we have to work with each other with the view of the future, 750 00:45:51,125 --> 00:45:56,999 not against each other in the present. 751 00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:00,918 [british accent] The trouble is not so much in 752 00:46:00,919 --> 00:46:08,919 it's in terms of how we think about the world we live in. 753 00:46:08,999 --> 00:46:10,998 [british accent] Well here we have a human brain. 754 00:46:10,999 --> 00:46:16,751 When you see it in reality, it seems a bit disappointing, doesn't it? 755 00:46:16,752 --> 00:46:18,960 It's very small for what it does, 756 00:46:18,961 --> 00:46:23,998 what we're capable of, and to think it all comes out of 757 00:46:23,999 --> 00:46:26,998 it's quite remarkable. 758 00:46:26,999 --> 00:46:30,667 (Jeff Bridges) Let's take a moment to imagine 759 00:46:30,668 --> 00:46:37,584 where everything in existence, at all scales, has equal value. 760 00:46:37,585 --> 00:46:41,626 From skyscrapers and trees, to humans, 761 00:46:41,627 --> 00:46:45,998 Cola, cups, and orangutans, 762 00:46:45,999 --> 00:46:48,458 shoes, and suitcases, 763 00:46:48,459 --> 00:46:51,124 vessels, water, 764 00:46:51,125 --> 00:46:54,500 diamonds, and dragonflies, 765 00:46:54,501 --> 00:46:56,751 even time itself. 766 00:46:56,752 --> 00:47:00,876 If we can imagine everything is intrinsically equal, 767 00:47:00,877 --> 00:47:05,291 then we'd know that what we perceive as reality 768 00:47:05,292 --> 00:47:09,998 comes from the value judgements that exist in our minds. 769 00:47:09,999 --> 00:47:11,239 Comes from the value judgements 770 00:47:15,999 --> 00:47:22,250 [british accent] If everything exists in the same way, 771 00:47:22,251 --> 00:47:23,375 If it's true that 772 00:47:23,376 --> 00:47:26,291 even just by existing I am killing a huge 773 00:47:26,292 --> 00:47:29,998 then I have to figure out what kinds of life forms I'd like to kill 774 00:47:29,999 --> 00:47:32,667 and I have to be rather conscious and explicit about it, 775 00:47:32,668 --> 00:47:37,250 and being conscious and explicit about stuff is an incredible drag. 776 00:47:37,251 --> 00:47:41,998 There's always an unintended consequence of what you're doing, for example. 777 00:47:41,999 --> 00:47:44,667 [whirring] rrrrrrr 778 00:47:44,668 --> 00:47:46,542 [spraying] 779 00:47:46,543 --> 00:47:49,124 [gurgling] 780 00:47:49,125 --> 00:47:53,751 Reality is happening on a number of different scales, all at once. 781 00:47:53,752 --> 00:47:55,998 You can never get it completely right. 782 00:47:55,999 --> 00:47:59,998 So, we're confronted again with the notion of exploring 783 00:47:59,999 --> 00:48:02,041 various different shades of hypocrisy. 784 00:48:02,042 --> 00:48:04,918 [british accent] You know the famous study, 785 00:48:04,919 --> 00:48:05,585 Oh yeah. [british accent] 786 00:48:05,586 --> 00:48:06,667 [british accent] You know the famous study, 787 00:48:06,668 --> 00:48:07,998 or I can give you $50 in a week's time, 788 00:48:07,999 --> 00:48:10,417 you've always, people just kind of are almost, 789 00:48:10,418 --> 00:48:11,834 kind of, compelled to go for the short term. 790 00:48:11,835 --> 00:48:13,124 T-to go for the short term. Kind of, compelled 791 00:48:13,125 --> 00:48:14,250 Yeah, if you think about it, up to a point 792 00:48:14,251 --> 00:48:16,041 Yeah, if you think about it, up to a point 793 00:48:16,042 --> 00:48:17,000 Hm. Yeah, if you think about it, 794 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:17,501 Hm. 795 00:48:17,501 --> 00:48:18,209 Because you could be dead. 796 00:48:18,210 --> 00:48:19,291 That's right, you don't know who's gonna 797 00:48:19,292 --> 00:48:19,999 Right, so, uh, th-the 798 00:48:19,999 --> 00:48:20,877 Right, so, uh, th-the 799 00:48:20,878 --> 00:48:22,542 bird in the hand, worth two in the bush. 800 00:48:22,543 --> 00:48:23,626 Absolutely, so there is some rationality 801 00:48:23,627 --> 00:48:25,626 Absolutely, so there is some rationality 802 00:48:25,627 --> 00:48:27,751 Organisms that worried about 50 years from now 803 00:48:27,752 --> 00:48:32,166 were outcompeted by organisms that worried about 5 minutes from now. 804 00:48:32,167 --> 00:48:34,998 [bubbling] [splashing] 805 00:48:34,999 --> 00:48:39,584 (Oren Lyons) Our fate is in our own hands. 806 00:48:39,585 --> 00:48:41,584 No one, no one else. 807 00:48:41,585 --> 00:48:42,334 [wind sighing] No one, 808 00:48:42,335 --> 00:48:47,877 [wind sighing] 809 00:48:52,459 --> 00:48:58,584 (Jeff Bridges) How will we shape the future, 810 00:48:58,585 --> 00:49:05,166 What defines our identity? 811 00:49:05,167 --> 00:49:06,998 Are we our urges? 812 00:49:06,999 --> 00:49:07,999 Are we our urges? 813 00:49:12,961 --> 00:49:20,041 Are we our principles? 814 00:49:20,042 --> 00:49:24,584 Who are we? 815 00:49:24,585 --> 00:49:28,960 [irish accent] Who I am is really 816 00:49:28,961 --> 00:49:34,999 of my experiences with other people, 817 00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,998 Babies don't have a self concept, they don't 818 00:49:38,999 --> 00:49:40,793 have an idea of who they are. 819 00:49:40,794 --> 00:49:47,793 But as they interact with other people, they begin to create an image of themselves 820 00:49:47,794 --> 00:49:51,999 and a feeling of who they are, and thoughts about who they are 821 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,542 that's really picked up from 822 00:49:54,543 --> 00:49:58,626 the views and responses of other people 823 00:49:58,627 --> 00:50:03,041 [british accent] In this modern society, people spend 824 00:50:03,042 --> 00:50:07,667 objects and possessions and sometimes these have 825 00:50:07,668 --> 00:50:13,166 But it's almost as if we have to acquire things around us 826 00:50:13,167 --> 00:50:16,751 We use objects as an extension of our self. 827 00:50:16,752 --> 00:50:19,458 (Timothy Morton) [british accent] 828 00:50:19,459 --> 00:50:20,998 Desire is inevitable. 829 00:50:20,999 --> 00:50:24,626 Um, the kind of plastic products that consumerism makes 830 00:50:24,627 --> 00:50:29,208 out of desire might be optional, but desire is inevitable. 831 00:50:29,209 --> 00:50:34,041 That same drive is what makes it easy for Apple 832 00:50:34,042 --> 00:50:36,998 I mean, I guarantee you, you don't need the next iPhone. 833 00:50:36,999 --> 00:50:41,333 You don't even know what new features it will to have. And you won't know, 834 00:50:41,334 --> 00:50:43,793 until you see them. But you're pretty sure 835 00:50:43,794 --> 00:50:44,998 you'll like them when you see them. 836 00:50:44,999 --> 00:50:49,458 And that was the whole point of this notion of dynamic obsolescence. 837 00:50:49,459 --> 00:50:53,834 You would be allowed to feel, to achieve a certain emotional state, 838 00:50:53,835 --> 00:50:55,793 for a short period of time, and then almost as 839 00:50:55,794 --> 00:50:58,500 quickly as you'd achieved it, it would begin fading, 840 00:50:58,501 --> 00:51:03,208 and you'd have to have something else. 841 00:51:03,209 --> 00:51:04,667 We have a real love for 842 00:51:04,668 --> 00:51:07,667 a way to feel how we want to feel, faster. 843 00:51:07,668 --> 00:51:10,333 [plunk] [splashing] 844 00:51:10,334 --> 00:51:14,208 (Leonard Mlodinow) We may have a very developed 845 00:51:14,209 --> 00:51:17,998 with a lot of knowledge, cultural knowledge, 846 00:51:17,999 --> 00:51:21,998 but the way we think is still very much influenced 847 00:51:21,999 --> 00:51:25,585 that we developed millions of years ago. 848 00:51:32,084 --> 00:51:35,709 (Jeff Bridges) We humans aren't just like animals, 849 00:51:35,710 --> 00:51:37,124 we are animals. 850 00:51:37,125 --> 00:51:41,167 And as animals, we compete for mates. 851 00:51:45,585 --> 00:51:49,960 Organisms in the wild that have extra resources to display 852 00:51:49,961 --> 00:51:52,542 like flashy tails, or large antlers 853 00:51:52,543 --> 00:51:57,998 are advertising to their mates that, My genes are so good, 854 00:51:57,999 --> 00:52:00,834 I don't need to skimp and save, because, 855 00:52:00,835 --> 00:52:04,998 'I'm so strong, I have these amazing attributes.' 856 00:52:04,999 --> 00:52:08,208 The same phenomenon happens in human societies 857 00:52:08,209 --> 00:52:12,998 to impress members of the opposite sex. 858 00:52:12,999 --> 00:52:16,500 A lot of these displays require spending extra energy 859 00:52:16,501 --> 00:52:22,375 and natural resources that we don't really need to be genetically fit. 860 00:52:22,376 --> 00:52:30,376 But we respond to those cultural signals, as if those things really do matter. 861 00:52:30,543 --> 00:52:34,918 [irish accent] This question of status and of showing our status, 862 00:52:34,919 --> 00:52:36,124 I do believe that 863 00:52:36,125 --> 00:52:40,166 that's one of the most fundamental determinants of our behavior. 864 00:52:40,167 --> 00:52:41,333 [british accent] Those who know this best of all, 865 00:52:41,334 --> 00:52:42,918 [british accent] Those who know this best of all, 866 00:52:42,919 --> 00:52:46,667 and advertising people. Because when they sell us stuff, 867 00:52:46,668 --> 00:52:47,292 and it's designer, or, 868 00:52:47,293 --> 00:52:51,291 what they're tapping into is this preoccupation with what other people think. 869 00:52:51,292 --> 00:52:56,918 Because they understand, intuitively, that we're all animals seeking social status. 870 00:52:56,919 --> 00:52:58,399 Because they understand, intuitively, 871 00:53:02,919 --> 00:53:06,626 [british accent] We like things to be convenient, 872 00:53:06,627 --> 00:53:08,998 and, we like bags that have names on it. 873 00:53:08,999 --> 00:53:12,041 We like to drink out of bottles that we can throw away. 874 00:53:12,042 --> 00:53:16,584 We like styrofoam containers for our fast food. 875 00:53:16,585 --> 00:53:20,999 Plastic itself is something that is persistent through time. 876 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:24,998 It gets recycled, it gets recycled, it gets smaller, it gets smaller, 877 00:53:24,999 --> 00:53:30,709 and now it's right back to us and detectable in our blood stream. 878 00:53:30,710 --> 00:53:35,793 [whale whistles and groans] 879 00:53:35,794 --> 00:53:39,208 [water gurgling] 880 00:53:39,209 --> 00:53:41,751 [seal honking] 881 00:53:41,752 --> 00:53:43,709 (Renee Lertzman) We are out of alignment 882 00:53:43,710 --> 00:53:48,417 with what we hear and we understand, 883 00:53:48,418 --> 00:53:51,375 and the life that I am leading, 884 00:53:51,376 --> 00:53:55,500 including all the things I love, that might be really 885 00:53:55,501 --> 00:53:57,876 ecologically problematic, 886 00:53:57,877 --> 00:53:59,918 but that I loved them anyways. 887 00:53:59,919 --> 00:54:03,333 [british accent] So, we have this 888 00:54:03,334 --> 00:54:07,166 and we try to maintain that characterization 889 00:54:07,167 --> 00:54:13,998 only pay attention to information which confirms that bias. 890 00:54:13,999 --> 00:54:17,999 We'll deliberately reframe things that we've done 891 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:22,125 in order to keep the coherence of who we are. 892 00:54:24,999 --> 00:54:32,333 [cheering] 893 00:54:32,334 --> 00:54:35,751 Our brains are always creating these distortions. 894 00:54:35,752 --> 00:54:37,751 We have no direct contact with reality. 895 00:54:37,752 --> 00:54:39,584 One of the important qualities that we developed that helped us survive was group identity. 896 00:54:39,585 --> 00:54:43,834 One of the important qualities that we developed that helped us survive was group identity. 897 00:54:43,835 --> 00:54:47,960 And today, group identity still plays an important role in our life. 898 00:54:47,961 --> 00:54:52,333 It has an important unconscious effect on our attitudes and our actions. 899 00:54:52,334 --> 00:54:55,417 [british accent] So, we have this tendency always 900 00:54:55,418 --> 00:54:59,751 rather than accepting it ourselves. And this is part of the bias which creates 901 00:54:59,752 --> 00:55:05,876 or keeps us this coherence of this being a good person. 902 00:55:05,877 --> 00:55:09,542 (Jeff Bridges) So, we're all capable of 903 00:55:09,543 --> 00:55:11,998 of what is really going on in our world. 904 00:55:11,999 --> 00:55:15,208 And, there's no mechanism or voice inside us 905 00:55:15,209 --> 00:55:18,626 to signal the artificiality of that. 906 00:55:18,627 --> 00:55:21,041 We don't want to live in a state of anxiety, 907 00:55:21,042 --> 00:55:26,877 we want to believe that the things we enjoy doing will never change. 908 00:55:31,251 --> 00:55:34,751 Do we confuse what we need with what we desire, 909 00:55:34,752 --> 00:55:40,124 and what we desire, with what we need? 910 00:55:40,125 --> 00:55:43,998 [british accent] Desire is logically prior to need, actually. 911 00:55:43,999 --> 00:55:45,998 And need is really, just, like 912 00:55:45,999 --> 00:55:49,458 stabilized desire that's been turned, 913 00:55:49,459 --> 00:55:51,876 into something seemingly necessary. 914 00:55:51,877 --> 00:55:55,124 And so, I think we need to be a little bit careful when we talk about 915 00:55:55,125 --> 00:56:01,709 being in an ecological society, meaning our needs matching up with what we want. 916 00:56:01,710 --> 00:56:06,500 So, there's this constant dance between the inhibitory centers, that 917 00:56:06,501 --> 00:56:10,417 know what's good for us in the top of the brain, 918 00:56:10,418 --> 00:56:13,793 and the mid-brain area, for emotional impulse, 919 00:56:13,794 --> 00:56:17,626 which just wants to grab that yummy thing and have it now. 920 00:56:17,627 --> 00:56:22,458 So, let's say we're in a bakery. Everything looks so good, and our brain, 921 00:56:22,459 --> 00:56:27,458 which during evolution was designed to crave fat and sugar 922 00:56:27,459 --> 00:56:30,960 is going nuts. It just really wants one of those yummy things. 923 00:56:30,961 --> 00:56:35,918 But then, our pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that learns, 924 00:56:35,919 --> 00:56:37,793 the part of the brain that understands, 925 00:56:37,794 --> 00:56:40,166 says to us, 'You know, this is fattening, 926 00:56:40,167 --> 00:56:44,709 and you have that blood sugar problem, it's not so great for you.' 927 00:56:44,710 --> 00:56:48,626 And, the pre-frontal cortex has the ability 928 00:56:48,627 --> 00:56:50,876 to inhibit emotional impulse. 929 00:56:50,877 --> 00:56:52,960 And once we understand the true cost of 930 00:56:52,961 --> 00:56:56,751 the things we use and the things we do to the environment, 931 00:56:56,752 --> 00:56:59,584 the very same mechanism applies, 932 00:56:59,585 --> 00:57:02,960 and lets us pull back to the balcony of the mind, 933 00:57:02,961 --> 00:57:05,458 where we see everything is going on. 934 00:57:05,459 --> 00:57:07,709 Then we can make a better decision. 935 00:57:07,710 --> 00:57:11,041 This is the first step in changing our habits 936 00:57:11,042 --> 00:57:14,998 because without mindfulness, we don't even notice the choice points. 937 00:57:14,999 --> 00:57:18,876 We just blindly, spontaneously, automatically 938 00:57:18,877 --> 00:57:21,208 do that thing we've always done. 939 00:57:21,209 --> 00:57:23,751 Our old habits take us over. 940 00:57:23,752 --> 00:57:25,876 When there's uncertainty, 941 00:57:25,877 --> 00:57:28,834 when there's a sense of precarity, 942 00:57:28,835 --> 00:57:33,918 when there's a feeling of vulnerability and confusion, 943 00:57:33,919 --> 00:57:39,626 that's exactly when we are most susceptible, obviously 944 00:57:39,627 --> 00:57:44,667 to adhering to a message, a voice, a person 945 00:57:44,668 --> 00:57:48,458 who comes along and is able to meet 946 00:57:48,459 --> 00:57:52,500 those anxieties and those uncertainties 947 00:57:52,501 --> 00:57:55,542 with such confidence and certainty. 948 00:57:55,543 --> 00:58:01,500 And so, that's what we've seen replaying over and over again in politics. 949 00:58:01,501 --> 00:58:06,998 [cheering] 950 00:58:06,999 --> 00:58:11,166 I don't need to mention the obvious examples of what happens 951 00:58:11,167 --> 00:58:18,751 when the, you know, larger public's sense of fear 952 00:58:18,752 --> 00:58:19,752 is coopted. 953 00:58:19,753 --> 00:58:23,998 (Wesley Clark) About half the wealth in the country is held by 954 00:58:23,999 --> 00:58:24,999 and there are a lot of us out there, 955 00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:26,667 my parents were certainly one of them, and there are a lot of us out there, 956 00:58:26,668 --> 00:58:27,627 my parents were certainly one of them, 957 00:58:27,628 --> 00:58:30,083 who were rambling from day to day to survive. 958 00:58:30,084 --> 00:58:34,709 And they, in their lifetimes, in the 1930s, had actually 959 00:58:34,710 --> 00:58:36,417 because they couldn't earn a living. 960 00:58:36,418 --> 00:58:39,998 And so, most Americans haven't seen that, 961 00:58:39,999 --> 00:58:42,375 but some Americans still feel that way. 962 00:58:42,376 --> 00:58:46,998 And they feel the threat and the fear of unemployment, 963 00:58:46,999 --> 00:58:50,751 so they're focused near-term. 964 00:58:50,752 --> 00:58:55,998 [british accent] In any symbiotic relationship, 965 00:58:55,999 --> 00:59:03,291 and this could collapse at any moment. 966 00:59:03,292 --> 00:59:09,500 (Renee Lertzman) The desire to be rescued is based on a profound 967 00:59:09,501 --> 00:59:14,998 and deep sense of powerlessness. 968 00:59:14,999 --> 00:59:19,793 Open up a paper, or watch a conventional ecological documentary, 969 00:59:19,794 --> 00:59:23,667 and what you'll see are all kinds of facts designed 970 00:59:23,668 --> 00:59:26,998 to make you feel scared, and upset, and guilty. 971 00:59:26,999 --> 00:59:30,998 This is how we talk to ourselves about ecological disaster. 972 00:59:30,999 --> 00:59:33,751 Now the trouble is, that means that psychologically 973 00:59:33,752 --> 00:59:37,250 we're still putting ourselves before a time when it happened, 974 00:59:37,251 --> 00:59:41,041 somehow allowing ourselves the choice to go down that path or not. 975 00:59:41,042 --> 00:59:46,998 And the point is, we're already down the path. 976 00:59:46,999 --> 00:59:51,500 (Piers Sellers) [british accent] 977 00:59:51,501 --> 00:59:54,751 At first blush it sounds like a bit of a downer. 978 00:59:54,752 --> 00:59:58,793 So, one's natural reaction, if you hear bad news 979 00:59:58,794 --> 01:00:01,834 if someone else tells you, 'No, no, no, that's not true,' 980 01:00:01,835 --> 01:00:03,375 is to at least, sort of say,hope 981 01:00:03,376 --> 01:00:07,918 that the guy that is telling you that this is not going to happen, is right. 982 01:00:07,919 --> 01:00:12,124 For six years in congress, I said that climate change 983 01:00:12,125 --> 01:00:15,998 I really didn't know anything about it. 984 01:00:15,999 --> 01:00:18,876 Since I represented the reddest district 985 01:00:18,877 --> 01:00:20,998 in the reddest state in the nation, 986 01:00:20,999 --> 01:00:25,083 I knew that I needed to be opposed to it. 987 01:00:25,084 --> 01:00:26,458 And my son came to me. 988 01:00:26,459 --> 01:00:29,166 Voting for the first time, and just turned 18, 989 01:00:29,167 --> 01:00:31,542 he said, 'Dad, I'll vote for ya,' 990 01:00:31,543 --> 01:00:35,333 'But you're going to clean up your act on the environment.' 991 01:00:35,334 --> 01:00:37,417 Your child is sick. 992 01:00:37,418 --> 01:00:41,834 Ninety-eight doctors say, 'Treat him this way.' 993 01:00:41,835 --> 01:00:45,333 Two say, 'No, this other is the way to go.' 994 01:00:45,334 --> 01:00:47,667 I'll go with the two. 995 01:00:47,668 --> 01:00:49,667 You're taking a big risk for those kids. 996 01:00:49,668 --> 01:00:52,998 Some people think that what we have here is an information deficit. 997 01:00:52,999 --> 01:00:57,250 That if we just gave people more scientific information, 998 01:00:57,251 --> 01:01:00,542 showed them the science, then they would come around. 999 01:01:00,543 --> 01:01:04,998 We've got people that make a living and a lot of money 1000 01:01:04,999 --> 01:01:06,998 on talk radio and talk TV, 1001 01:01:06,999 --> 01:01:11,083 pronouncing all kinds of things. They slept at Holiday Inn Express last night, 1002 01:01:11,084 --> 01:01:12,709 and they are now experts on climate. Pronouncing all kinds of things. 1003 01:01:12,710 --> 01:01:14,250 And they are now experts on climate. 1004 01:01:14,251 --> 01:01:15,709 It's an identification problem. 1005 01:01:15,710 --> 01:01:20,083 It's, 'It doesn't look like my tribe, doesn't sound like my tribe,' 1006 01:01:20,084 --> 01:01:24,500 'doesn't sound like our war cry, doesn't sound like our song.' 1007 01:01:24,501 --> 01:01:26,709 [birdsong] 1008 01:01:26,710 --> 01:01:28,458 Too often it's presented, 1009 01:01:28,459 --> 01:01:29,751 climate science is presented 1010 01:01:29,752 --> 01:01:32,124 as if this is some kind of new religion, 1011 01:01:32,125 --> 01:01:34,542 and you gotta believe. 1012 01:01:34,543 --> 01:01:38,291 No, don't ask people to believe in climate science. 1013 01:01:38,292 --> 01:01:40,998 Just say, 'Here's some data. Now,' 1014 01:01:40,999 --> 01:01:44,998 'what does your faith tradition tell you about what to do with that data?' 1015 01:01:44,999 --> 01:01:50,375 In mine, it tells me that I'm a steward of this glorious creation. 1016 01:01:50,376 --> 01:01:53,793 Sometimes science turns out to be wrong. 1017 01:01:53,794 --> 01:01:55,751 But other times it turns out to be very right. 1018 01:01:55,752 --> 01:02:02,458 And the key to scientific endeavors, what we're here to discuss today, is openness, 1019 01:02:02,459 --> 01:02:04,417 access to the data, 1020 01:02:04,418 --> 01:02:08,626 and full, um, challenging of the data. 1021 01:02:08,627 --> 01:02:10,333 That's how we advance science. 1022 01:02:10,334 --> 01:02:13,250 I look forward to... [indiscernible speech] 1023 01:02:13,251 --> 01:02:13,919 Thank you. 1024 01:02:13,920 --> 01:02:17,998 [british accent] There have been major revolutions 1025 01:02:17,999 --> 01:02:22,500 for thousands of years it was thought that Earth was the center of the universe. 1026 01:02:22,501 --> 01:02:25,375 We now know that that's not true. And then of course, 1027 01:02:25,376 --> 01:02:29,876 there was also the idea the man is the pinnacle of the animal kingdom. 1028 01:02:29,877 --> 01:02:34,083 But now we discover, through natural selection and Darwinism, that we are 1029 01:02:34,084 --> 01:02:37,250 just one of a number of species that have existed. 1030 01:02:37,251 --> 01:02:39,542 And finally, if you think about the self 1031 01:02:39,543 --> 01:02:41,458 and the idea that we are individuals, 1032 01:02:41,459 --> 01:02:43,751 in control of all our actions and behaviors 1033 01:02:43,752 --> 01:02:47,998 that has been eroded away as we come to discover that this is, 1034 01:02:47,999 --> 01:02:49,918 in fact, is also not entirely true. 1035 01:02:49,919 --> 01:02:54,998 So, I think that the science has revealed the arrogance of the individualism, 1036 01:02:54,999 --> 01:02:57,998 the egocentrism that we have about our planet, 1037 01:02:57,999 --> 01:03:05,999 our species, and ourselves, is unwarranted. 1038 01:03:06,999 --> 01:03:08,083 (Jeff Bridges) Ecology. 1039 01:03:08,084 --> 01:03:13,417 It's a word derived from the Greek 'oikos', or 'household'. 1040 01:03:13,418 --> 01:03:20,999 It's the study of the relationships that interlink all the members of the Earth's household. 1041 01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:29,458 We can't think of ecology as only existing over there, beyond, 1042 01:03:29,459 --> 01:03:35,960 because it has no boundaries and is in a state of constant flux. 1043 01:03:35,961 --> 01:03:37,626 Ecology is intimate, 1044 01:03:37,627 --> 01:03:41,250 coming right up to our skin, and through it. 1045 01:03:41,251 --> 01:03:42,084 It's permeable, and borderless. 1046 01:03:42,085 --> 01:03:45,208 It's permeable, and borderless. 1047 01:03:45,209 --> 01:03:48,250 And, chaotic. 1048 01:03:48,251 --> 01:03:50,667 The internal and the external 1049 01:03:50,668 --> 01:03:56,208 are always entwined. 1050 01:03:56,209 --> 01:04:00,876 So, when we speak about sustainability, 1051 01:04:00,877 --> 01:04:04,125 what is it that we hope to sustain? 1052 01:04:16,668 --> 01:04:21,626 (Timothy Morton) [british accent] 1053 01:04:21,627 --> 01:04:23,960 Philosophy is everywhere. 1054 01:04:23,961 --> 01:04:30,876 Everything, in a way, was a dream in someone's head, in built space. 1055 01:04:30,877 --> 01:04:36,709 Thought isn't just something that's in here, thought is everywhere. 1056 01:04:36,710 --> 01:04:39,083 (Rich Pancost) The story that we live in right now 1057 01:04:39,084 --> 01:04:45,417 is that we grow the economy by consuming goods 1058 01:04:45,418 --> 01:04:49,542 and in particular, consuming goods 1059 01:04:49,543 --> 01:04:51,709 that exist in limited quantities. 1060 01:04:51,710 --> 01:04:55,998 We have the tendency as meaning-making, 1061 01:04:55,999 --> 01:04:57,542 story-making 1062 01:04:57,543 --> 01:05:04,166 people, creatures, to have characters, to have protagonists who are 1063 01:05:04,167 --> 01:05:06,124 the villains, and who are 1064 01:05:06,125 --> 01:05:08,918 the heroes and the rescuers, and 1065 01:05:08,919 --> 01:05:11,751 that's deep in our human psyche, 1066 01:05:11,752 --> 01:05:14,998 and that's how we tend to make sense of the world. 1067 01:05:14,999 --> 01:05:20,041 And the tendency, very understandably, is to 1068 01:05:20,042 --> 01:05:23,793 create villains, such as corporations 1069 01:05:23,794 --> 01:05:29,208 or oil industries, and to create heroes, the eco-warriors. 1070 01:05:29,209 --> 01:05:32,834 While that's understandable, what it's actually doing 1071 01:05:32,835 --> 01:05:39,542 is it's creating a bit of an exemption story where we as individuals 1072 01:05:39,543 --> 01:05:47,543 are somewhat exempt or somewhat out of the story. 1073 01:05:47,627 --> 01:05:52,291 There's a lot of criticism in our culture right now 1074 01:05:52,292 --> 01:05:58,291 and that without capitalism, we wouldn't be impacting things. 1075 01:05:58,292 --> 01:06:00,627 And that's partially true. 1076 01:06:05,501 --> 01:06:06,998 (Jeff Bridges) Underpinning this system 1077 01:06:06,999 --> 01:06:14,375 is the optimal foraging instinct that resides in our animal natures. 1078 01:06:14,376 --> 01:06:15,960 Wolves, for instance, 1079 01:06:15,961 --> 01:06:21,291 they're better off running down an elk than spending the same amount of time and energy 1080 01:06:21,292 --> 01:06:25,751 chasing a mouse, or a rabbit. 1081 01:06:25,752 --> 01:06:27,333 They're more evolutionarily fit 1082 01:06:27,334 --> 01:06:31,417 and have more calories to raise their offspring. 1083 01:06:31,418 --> 01:06:33,500 [howling] 1084 01:06:33,501 --> 01:06:35,998 The same dynamic is in humans. 1085 01:06:35,999 --> 01:06:40,998 We like to invest a little and get more in return. 1086 01:06:40,999 --> 01:06:47,083 We do this in stock markets, when we get a 20% discount on shoes, 1087 01:06:47,084 --> 01:06:49,918 a two-for-one cocktail at happy hour, 1088 01:06:49,919 --> 01:06:55,417 or a steal of a deal buying a house on some special foreclosure. 1089 01:06:55,418 --> 01:07:00,208 Capitalism isn't entirely good or bad. 1090 01:07:00,209 --> 01:07:06,250 Capitalism is in service of the super-organism. 1091 01:07:06,251 --> 01:07:09,999 Together we're functioning like a gigantic wolf pack, 1092 01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:16,834 hungry for more energy. 1093 01:07:16,835 --> 01:07:22,751 One of the many causes of war is actually the shortage of energy. 1094 01:07:22,752 --> 01:07:24,542 [explosion] 1095 01:07:24,543 --> 01:07:29,999 [engines burning] 1096 01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:33,333 [british accent] Energy is always flowing from, 1097 01:07:33,334 --> 01:07:36,998 a compacted stated to a less compacted state. 1098 01:07:36,999 --> 01:07:38,998 [explosion] 1099 01:07:38,999 --> 01:07:43,124 Entropy is how things are constantly running down to zero. 1100 01:07:43,125 --> 01:07:47,793 We can't actually create a machine that reverses entropy. 1101 01:07:47,794 --> 01:07:52,960 Entropy is why time seems to only be going in one direction. 1102 01:07:52,961 --> 01:07:59,998 Entropy is why you've never seen a broken glass reassemble as a perfect glass. 1103 01:07:59,999 --> 01:08:05,291 And if you're looking for the perfect ecological machine that will actually, fully 1104 01:08:05,292 --> 01:08:09,751 put the energy back in to the system that the machine has sucked out of it, 1105 01:08:09,752 --> 01:08:13,999 you're going to be waiting until after the end of the universe. 1106 01:08:21,999 --> 01:08:25,751 So, you always have to leave room in your analysis 1107 01:08:25,752 --> 01:08:29,041 of animals, and animals in the broad sense - 1108 01:08:29,042 --> 01:08:33,997 of thinking that we're always going to do the right thing, 1109 01:08:33,999 --> 01:08:37,792 all of our actions, our foraging strategies and everything else, 1110 01:08:37,794 --> 01:08:42,500 and we can extrapolate from there because if we had everything right, 1111 01:08:42,501 --> 01:08:43,292 there wouldn't be any problems. 1112 01:08:43,292 --> 01:08:51,292 There'd be no poverty, there'd be no climate change, there'd be no warfare. 1113 01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:54,626 Where you sit determines where you stand, 1114 01:08:54,627 --> 01:08:55,542 and if you're 1115 01:08:55,544 --> 01:08:59,667 if you're all tied up in any particular 1116 01:08:59,667 --> 01:09:05,997 and you see your future there, 1117 01:09:05,999 --> 01:09:08,500 There's no such thing as a free market. I hope 1118 01:09:08,501 --> 01:09:13,041 people can understand that, because if there were free markets, 1119 01:09:13,042 --> 01:09:15,417 you'd end up the way we ended up 1120 01:09:15,417 --> 01:09:17,834 in the late 1800s, 1121 01:09:17,835 --> 01:09:24,417 with a few very powerful trusts controlling all of America. 1122 01:09:24,417 --> 01:09:29,709 Without government helping us shape the market forces, 1123 01:09:29,710 --> 01:09:32,709 the market forces will be taken 1124 01:09:32,710 --> 01:09:37,626 by the very short-term requirements that are placed on them 1125 01:09:37,627 --> 01:09:37,999 by us. 1126 01:09:38,000 --> 01:09:41,667 By our need to go to the filling station and get the cheapest fuel. 1127 01:09:41,667 --> 01:09:46,250 By the need for the pension fund to get its 8% return, 1128 01:09:46,251 --> 01:09:47,417 no matter what it's investing in. 1129 01:09:47,417 --> 01:09:52,917 Really tough to earn the six or seven percent, or eight percent, per year 1130 01:09:52,919 --> 01:09:57,333 that were in those actuarial calculations when the pension funds were established. 1131 01:09:57,334 --> 01:10:03,166 So, it's not some foreign institution that makes us be short-term focused, 1132 01:10:03,167 --> 01:10:04,125 it's, it's us. 1133 01:10:04,126 --> 01:10:05,834 (White House Reporter) Why didn't the administration 1134 01:10:05,835 --> 01:10:09,584 anticipate the, uh, energy crisis several years ago? 1135 01:10:09,585 --> 01:10:12,998 Or formulate a positive action plan to do something about it? 1136 01:10:12,999 --> 01:10:18,083 (Wesley Clark) Have to bring a different perspective to this. 1137 01:10:18,084 --> 01:10:20,918 A couple of years ago, I asked a member of congress. 1138 01:10:20,919 --> 01:10:23,998 'What's the toughest issue you're dealing with? 1139 01:10:23,999 --> 01:10:25,250 Right now?' 1140 01:10:25,251 --> 01:10:26,209 And she said, 1141 01:10:26,210 --> 01:10:31,998 Federal subsidies for seashore flood insurance, 1142 01:10:31,999 --> 01:10:35,667 because we've always subsidized it, and, 1143 01:10:35,668 --> 01:10:37,542 the cost of the subsidies is going way up, 1144 01:10:37,543 --> 01:10:44,834 and people insist on buying these homes that are subject to tidal erosion and flooding, 1145 01:10:44,835 --> 01:10:47,041 'and to destruction, ultimately.' 1146 01:10:47,042 --> 01:10:52,998 There isn t transparent accountable pricing for all the impacts 1147 01:10:52,999 --> 01:10:55,998 of the burning of fossil fuels. 1148 01:10:55,999 --> 01:11:01,960 The markets aren't working right. And once those costs are revealed, 1149 01:11:01,961 --> 01:11:05,458 and put at the meter, and put on the pump, 1150 01:11:05,459 --> 01:11:10,834 then consumers will make choices that are in their self-interest. 1151 01:11:10,835 --> 01:11:15,876 We'll be making transportation fuel on our roofs. 1152 01:11:15,877 --> 01:11:20,041 Of course, I'm not saying that we get to Nirvana and we don't have any war. 1153 01:11:20,042 --> 01:11:22,417 One of the causes of war would be less, 1154 01:11:22,418 --> 01:11:25,542 because energy would be more abundantly available 1155 01:11:25,543 --> 01:11:29,999 and more distributed around the world. 1156 01:11:30,000 --> 01:11:34,918 (Jeff Bridges) If we're going to live up to our name, 1157 01:11:34,919 --> 01:11:36,083 which means wise man, 1158 01:11:36,084 --> 01:11:39,998 we'll have to understand our subconscious motivations, 1159 01:11:39,999 --> 01:11:45,250 our unconscious desires and justifications, 1160 01:11:45,251 --> 01:11:51,667 and the true cost of energy. 1161 01:11:51,668 --> 01:11:54,291 (Timothy Morton) [british accent] 1162 01:11:54,292 --> 01:12:01,793 Decisions about how to live in the world that people in the past made. 1163 01:12:01,794 --> 01:12:03,041 It may be technically true 1164 01:12:03,042 --> 01:12:06,584 that we don't know everything about where our food came from. 1165 01:12:06,585 --> 01:12:10,124 We tell ourselves it's difficult, but just read the back of the packet. 1166 01:12:10,125 --> 01:12:14,208 It tells you what it is, and you can figure out where it came from. 1167 01:12:14,209 --> 01:12:19,998 On Google. 1168 01:12:19,999 --> 01:12:26,998 From what countries do the raw materials 1169 01:12:26,999 --> 01:12:28,998 Hey there you go! 1170 01:12:28,999 --> 01:12:32,333 Oh here's... how 'bout this, the commodity chain. 1171 01:12:32,334 --> 01:12:34,501 [explosions] 1172 01:12:42,919 --> 01:12:45,667 (Timothy Morton) [british accent] 1173 01:12:45,668 --> 01:12:48,458 Turn on certain parts of our brain, 1174 01:12:48,459 --> 01:12:50,291 or inspire certain kinds of attitude, 1175 01:12:50,292 --> 01:12:54,876 or inculcate certain kinds of response, so however we want to talk about it, 1176 01:12:54,877 --> 01:12:58,998 we could think of the kind of fire that consumerism lights up in us 1177 01:12:58,999 --> 01:13:02,751 with all of the desires, as a kind of gateway to more desires 1178 01:13:02,752 --> 01:13:09,626 that might be actually more interesting and more in sync with other life forms. 1179 01:13:09,627 --> 01:13:13,999 [british accent] When you think about the universe 1180 01:13:14,000 --> 01:13:21,918 well that simply changes your whole perspective about what it is to be alive. 1181 01:13:21,919 --> 01:13:24,250 All living systems require energy. 1182 01:13:24,251 --> 01:13:27,208 As individuals, if we think more strategically 1183 01:13:27,209 --> 01:13:29,998 about how we're using the planet's energy, 1184 01:13:29,999 --> 01:13:32,793 life would be better for every living thing. 1185 01:13:32,794 --> 01:13:38,500 [british accent] You know, individual behavior can emerge 1186 01:13:38,501 --> 01:13:41,998 Emergence is, sort of, interactive. 1187 01:13:41,999 --> 01:13:46,333 We don't need 24/7 access to energy, 1188 01:13:46,334 --> 01:13:50,083 we need 24/7 access to feelings. 1189 01:13:50,084 --> 01:13:54,998 If we can just approach each other 1190 01:13:54,999 --> 01:14:00,291 that comes way too often when we come to environmental topics, 1191 01:14:00,292 --> 01:14:03,083 and say, 'Alright, we're looking for something to work.' 1192 01:14:03,084 --> 01:14:06,793 One of the important aspects of the evolution of cooperation 1193 01:14:06,794 --> 01:14:09,291 is the development of complex moral emotions. 1194 01:14:09,292 --> 01:14:13,166 So, sympathy, empathy, compassion, and these are the key. 1195 01:14:13,167 --> 01:14:19,250 I think this is vital to our understanding of the human condition. 1196 01:14:19,251 --> 01:14:21,458 The morphological adaptations that we have 1197 01:14:21,459 --> 01:14:24,998 are simply reflections of where our ancestors arose on the planet. 1198 01:14:24,999 --> 01:14:27,500 How much sun did they get? How much oxygen was in the air? 1199 01:14:27,501 --> 01:14:30,960 These determined the shapes of their skulls, the color of their skin. 1200 01:14:30,961 --> 01:14:35,626 But it has nothing to do with the inherent essence of what it means to be human. 1201 01:14:35,627 --> 01:14:42,083 Because we're all the same species. 1202 01:14:42,084 --> 01:14:45,542 It's been a pretty wonderful journey for mankind, but 1203 01:14:45,543 --> 01:14:46,998 but boy, what a wonderful 1204 01:14:46,999 --> 01:14:51,041 set of issues to have to wrestle with, going forward. 1205 01:14:51,042 --> 01:14:54,250 We don't even have to get to Alpha Centauri 1206 01:14:54,251 --> 01:14:56,626 to find these issues and learn about ourselves. 1207 01:14:56,627 --> 01:15:00,124 It's about how do we look at long-term problems? 1208 01:15:00,125 --> 01:15:05,960 Can we embody the wisdom that we feel is inherent here, 1209 01:15:05,961 --> 01:15:11,998 and move into the future, wisely? 1210 01:15:11,999 --> 01:15:14,124 In our council at Onondaga, 1211 01:15:14,125 --> 01:15:16,542 when we look into the future, 1212 01:15:16,543 --> 01:15:21,250 we address ourselves and say, 'Swyonisu.' 1213 01:15:21,251 --> 01:15:23,458 Across the fire. 1214 01:15:23,459 --> 01:15:26,291 Swyonisu. 1215 01:15:26,292 --> 01:15:31,166 And I asked one of the old chiefs, my uncle, I said, 1216 01:15:31,167 --> 01:15:33,709 'What does that actually mean?' 1217 01:15:33,710 --> 01:15:35,998 He says, 'It means the leaders.' And I said, 1218 01:15:35,999 --> 01:15:39,793 'No, what's the real, literal translation?' 1219 01:15:39,794 --> 01:15:46,998 He says, 'It means, 'You Who Look Far in the Future.'' 1220 01:15:46,999 --> 01:15:48,998 [nasa] We have a lift off. 1221 01:15:48,999 --> 01:15:51,998 Houston... [indiscernible voice] 1222 01:15:51,999 --> 01:15:54,041 The Eagle has landed. 1223 01:15:54,042 --> 01:15:59,333 (Jeff Bridges) Astronaut Neil Armstrong, 1224 01:15:59,334 --> 01:16:04,998 when he returned from one of mankind's greatest engineering achievements, stated, 1225 01:16:04,999 --> 01:16:10,250 'I felt the successful lunar landing might inspire men around the world,' 1226 01:16:10,251 --> 01:16:13,999 to believe that impossible goals are possible. 1227 01:16:14,000 --> 01:16:20,083 'That there really is hope for the future of mankind.' 1228 01:16:20,084 --> 01:16:23,333 We are living in the future's past. 1229 01:16:23,334 --> 01:16:28,083 The relative odds of future outcomes change every second. 1230 01:16:28,084 --> 01:16:35,998 The world we all live in is not larger than the sum of its parts. 1231 01:16:35,999 --> 01:16:39,998 Each part is neither the center or the edge. 1232 01:16:39,999 --> 01:16:44,709 It's a bustling world, a household of beings, 1233 01:16:44,710 --> 01:16:48,626 colleagues, both human and non-human, 1234 01:16:48,627 --> 01:16:50,876 animate and inanimate, 1235 01:16:50,877 --> 01:16:52,960 over which we have influence, 1236 01:16:52,961 --> 01:16:57,166 but, in turn, influence us. 1237 01:16:57,167 --> 01:17:03,667 Physical realities exist, regardless of our desires. 1238 01:17:03,668 --> 01:17:07,751 Seemingly insignificant actions taken collectively 1239 01:17:07,752 --> 01:17:10,668 have led us to this moment. 1240 01:17:15,166 --> 01:17:19,500 Everything is a system of relationships. 1241 01:17:19,501 --> 01:17:23,041 And it's not easy to see the connections. 1242 01:17:23,041 --> 01:17:27,291 The connections between the paint on a barn, 1243 01:17:27,291 --> 01:17:29,998 the indifferent asphalt, 1244 01:17:29,999 --> 01:17:31,666 a press conference, 1245 01:17:31,668 --> 01:17:38,416 or to see the invisible links between human expectations, 1246 01:17:38,418 --> 01:17:42,709 human vulnerability, 1247 01:17:42,710 --> 01:17:46,166 human memory, 1248 01:17:46,166 --> 01:17:52,333 and the fragility of life itself. 1249 01:17:52,334 --> 01:17:56,998 No, it requires effort. 1250 01:17:56,999 --> 01:17:59,960 Energy comes in many forms. 1251 01:17:59,961 --> 01:18:06,208 It's both the means and the ends of all our pursuits. 1252 01:18:06,209 --> 01:18:11,918 All of us held in the arms of the atmosphere. 1253 01:18:11,919 --> 01:18:17,998 We don't have to be poets, scientists, superheroes, or saints. 1254 01:18:17,999 --> 01:18:22,584 Each of us can think about how we think. 1255 01:18:22,585 --> 01:18:26,416 Could the solution we're looking for be inside us? 1256 01:18:26,418 --> 01:18:27,918 We're humankind. Could the solution we're looking for 1257 01:18:27,919 --> 01:18:30,998 We're humankind. 1258 01:18:30,999 --> 01:18:36,666 Ingenuity is in our DNA, and we can visualize. 1259 01:18:36,668 --> 01:18:39,876 What kind of future would you like to see? 1260 01:18:39,877 --> 01:18:41,208 What are you willing to contribute towards creating that future? 1261 01:18:41,209 --> 01:18:45,083 What are you willing to contribute towards creating that future? 1262 01:18:45,084 --> 01:18:48,876 Ask yourself, 'What am I willing to do?' 1263 01:18:48,877 --> 01:18:52,793 And not something that requires more effort than you're willing to make, 1264 01:18:52,794 --> 01:18:56,998 and not some small contribution that just scratches the guilt itch 1265 01:18:56,999 --> 01:18:58,999 but doesn't get the job done. 1266 01:18:59,000 --> 01:19:00,375 No. Ask yourself, 1267 01:19:00,376 --> 01:19:04,834 What am I willing to contribute, that comes natural to me? 1268 01:19:04,835 --> 01:19:09,375 Something that I can sustain until the challenge has been met. 1269 01:19:09,376 --> 01:19:11,998 Something that fits into my life. 1270 01:19:11,999 --> 01:19:14,998 My profession, my hobbies. 1271 01:19:14,999 --> 01:19:19,500 Fits in with my relationships. 1272 01:19:19,501 --> 01:19:24,166 Something that's a part of who I am. 1273 01:19:24,166 --> 01:19:30,834 Yeah, you know, each of us is unique. Each of us has a gift. 1274 01:19:30,835 --> 01:19:34,333 A strength that we can direct towards creating 1275 01:19:34,334 --> 01:19:38,998 this world that we'd like to see in our future. 1276 01:19:38,999 --> 01:19:44,998 That we'd like to see in our kids' and descendants' future. 1277 01:19:44,999 --> 01:19:48,751 We love our kids, right? 1278 01:19:48,752 --> 01:19:56,333 A quote from the religious philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, comes to mind: 1279 01:19:56,334 --> 01:19:58,918 'After mastering the winds, 1280 01:19:58,919 --> 01:20:02,834 'the waves, the tides, and gravity, 1281 01:20:02,835 --> 01:20:08,124 'we shall harness for God the energy of love. 1282 01:20:08,125 --> 01:20:15,124 'And then, for a second time in the History of the world, 1283 01:20:15,125 --> 01:20:20,334 man will have discovered fire.'