Must See Videos
Analysis is kind of a spooky concept: it's hard to define, and there's no four step process. It's a habit of mind, related to creativity. It involves often both the classic Western scientific technique of breaking things down into smaller units (but beware the "sin" of reductionism, in which important aspects get left out. General Systems Theory was begun by a rebellion when Von Berthalannfy realized you can't understand life with the tools of physics alone). So analysis must also be synthetic, putting things together most people think are unrelated. This is often done via metaphor. Analysis is what you're spending all this time and money to learn; it's the method your hero used.
Advertising & the End of the World is a brilliant Big Picture analysis of how the culture of consumption drives eco-degradation. 2010 Update (not as entertaining): Adverstising & the Perfect Storm: Global Warming, Peak Oil & Consumer Debt presented by Sut Jhally, Umass and Founder/Exec Director of the Media Education Foundation (MEF).
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (book) by Elizabeth Kolbert, (video interview), as well as [audio interview). Also an extended video talk see Wildlife. *** 2/14.
Excellent video overview of our current status: Human growth has strained the Earth's resources, but as Johan Rockstrom reminds us, our advances also give us the science to recognize this and change behavior. His research has found nine "planetary boundaries" that can guide us in protecting our planet's many overlapping ecosystems. TEDtalk. This LongNow talk builds on Rockstrom. 3/12. Rio Summit talk 6/12 (audio). We overshot earth capacity a while back.
Environmental History
"A Fierce Green Fire" video documentery traces the history of the modern environmental movement, chronicling dramatic battles like the Sierra Club's fight against dams in the Grand Canyon, Greenpeace's campaign to save whales and recent efforts to combat climate change. San Francisco-based director Mark Kitchell, who also made the Academy Award-nominated "Berkeley in the Sixties," (audio interview). **
Earth Days is a fantastic history of the American Environmental Movement. ***
Essential Readings
Joanna Macy is an "eco-philosopher, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology (short video definition). A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with four decades of activism. She has created a ground-breaking theoretical framework for personal and social change, as well as a powerful workshop methodology for its application." Video on Great Turning. Coming Back to Life : Practice to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World / Joanna Macy, Molly Young Brown 1998 Location McH Stacks GF80 .M33 1998. Excerpt:Macy, J. and Brown, M. provide a good introduction as well, relating systems thinking to spiritual practices. *** (login required). 2010 Bioneers keynote video.
Donella Meadows archive of her articles, one of the best being the 12 Leverage Points. *** See also her 2008 book Thinking in Systems: A Primer Table of Contents. A summary of the conclusion: Dancing With Systems. Meadows was also part of a team of three scientists from MIT in 1972 who created a computer model that analyzed global resource consumption and production. Their results shocked the world and created stirring conversation about global 'overshoot,' or resource use beyond the carrying capacity of the planet. Now, preeminent environmental scientists Donnella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows audio interview 2004 have teamed up again to update and expand their original findings in The Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Global Update. summary pdf.
