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    Whole Earth Discipline
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    Whole Earth Discipline
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    Whole Earth Discipline
    Ebook463 pages8 hours

    Whole Earth Discipline

    By Stewart Brand

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The green movement used to protect the earth from mankind; now they need to protect mankind from the earth. In Whole Earth Discipline, Stewart Brand argues that in order to do this, they urgently need to abandon much conventional environmental wisdom, and embrace new science and engineering. Cities are actually greener than the countryside, he argues, and urbanization should be encouraged; we must invest massively in nuclear energy; and genetic engineering has the potential to stimulate a second 'Green Revolution'. Combining rigorous thinking and blazing advocacy, this is a powerful and persuasive challenge, and a wake-up call to everyone who cares about the future of our Earth.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtlantic Books
    Release dateOct 1, 2010
    ISBN9780857892096
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Whole Earth Discipline

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      "Whole Earth Discipline" outlines the past, present and future developments of the environmental movement. It specifically focuses on what technologies and practices need to be adopted in order for humanity to survive climate change and its next billion citizens. The book finds Brand at his finest; not only does he bring his usual depth of scholarship and brevity of prose but, as he says early on, this time it's personal. Brand also relates, in bits and pieces, his own successes and failures as a figurehead of the greens since the 1970s."Whole Earth Discipline" is about solutions, not problems. As such, it skips over proclamations of climate doom or political gridlock; most of its time is spent discussing how science and engineering might just give us a shot at surviving the next century... maybe. And as such, it's essential reading for us all.
    • 5/5
      I am unsure about doing reviews of a subject field in which i am only an interested amateur, but no one else has reviewed this book here.It is well written, easy enough for the educated laity and carefully reaserched. one of the major themes is the importance of research done without bias and he details not just the horrendous anti science bias of the Bush administration but the anti science bias of many of the "Green" NGO's.What is, is and no amount of saying it isn't is going to help. Climate change is, and now what are we going to do, We need to be ecopragmatist, Turquoise, Brand describes some of the efforts that are taking place now and some that might take place, from his individual effort with a hoe to remove an invasive species, to the return of the mammoth to the plains of North America. There are also a number of very interesting books mentioned.many of which are going on my wish list. Brand also gives excellent footnotes on a website, something i have never noticed before. I grew up with "never trust anyone over 30" now i believe never trust anyone who doesn't use footnotes.He also admits his mistakes,
    • 5/5
      Nicely written, well researched, a vision of how to deal with climate change. His points are far beyond any ideologic paradigms with which he deals with practical examples and great scientific data. He shows that nuclear power was green, cities were green and biotech/nano was green as well, and he's got the data to prove it. As Robert Anton Wilson wrote: "Everything you know is wrong." And once again Stewart Brand comes along and makes us think. Not bad at all! A great read and call for action!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book for a lot of reasons, but perhaps the thing I loved best about it is how Brand examined his convictions and compared them to the latest and best factual evidence he could find and changed his mind. And that's what science means to me, that continual re-evaluation of things we think we know. The ability to change one's belief system so profoundly at Brand's age is a thing of beauty, and I admire him for it.

      I found the subjects he covers in this book to be very interesting. His arguments are convincing. I was already pretty pro-gene manipulation before reading this, but I had retained my knee-jerk 1970s ere bias against nuclear power. It's one of those perception bending books. No doubt some of Brand's positions will need to be re-thought in the future, but he's up for that. I had never really thought about cities and how they work, so that part was fresh for me, too.

      I loved the concept that we really don't need to plan for things that last a thousand thousand years (nuclear waste storage, f'rinstance), but rather we should trust future generations a little more. We need to come up with a perfectly safe and doable hundred year plan, and let engineers engineer new and better solutions between now and then. Technology will step up to that plate. It's hubris to think that we know better than our children's children's children will.

      The more you know, the less you fear. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Stewart Brand a mix of ecologist and futurist. He's not an environmentalist though he is often mistaken for one. He put out the Whole Earth Catalog (1968-1985) which won a National Book Award in 1972. He also helped found The Clock of the Long Now Foundation, an effort to get humanity to ponder 10,000 years. He's been involved in numerous projects and debates. His most famous quote is, " We are as gods and have to get good at it." Therefore the subtitle.In Whole Earth Discipline, Brand posits that cities, including cities with huge slums, are easier on the environment than dispersed populations. Cities breed innovation and efficiency, reduce poverty, lower birth rates, and reduce pressure on the land left behind. There is ugliness and squalor but for many there is also opportunity. Many others have started to change their views from a pastoral forty-acres-and-a-mule ideal into cityscapes as less harmful. Over fifty percent of the World's population now live in cities and if present trends continue that number may reach eighty percent later in the 21st century.Next up is nuclear energy. Some Greens have become advocates of nuclear energy, after decades of opposition (including Brand), because of the idea that Global Climate Change possibilities out trump not using nuclear energy. The storage of waste problem is being looked at differently also. Instead of perfect storage for thousands of years being sought the focus is on good enough storage for 175 years. Future technology possibilities and the studies on life after the Chernobyl accident have changed some minds. It's still not a common stance in environmental circles though.Then comes genetic engineering, as in food crops. The ethics of the Precautionary Principle, which is more common in Europe than anywhere else, is brought up. If there is a chance of something going badly wrong- like superweeds- then shut down not only implementation but also research. Brand is not thrilled with locking out science. One argument against 'green-goo' overrunning the Earth is that evolution has tried and continues to try every strategy out there. It would have already happened if it was possible. GE crops, like all other food crops and pretty flowers that everyone likes, are wimps. Without humans looking out for their interests they would get creamed in the evolutionary battles. The Americas, Asia, NZ, Australia, and parts of Africa practice GE foodstock. Eastern Europe is wanting in leaving Western Europe alone on this issue but even there there is pressure to slowly change farming practices. We'll see. Organic farming does not stop gene flow. It still happens but is more happenstance than directed. Brand's writing style is almost conversational and is easy to follow. He quotes many of the people involved in such issues, both from speeches and their books. He pulls up interesting ones and many factiods of all kinds. That keeps the flow of the book moving and keeps it from becoming ponderous. This book doesn't drill deep into the science, ethics, and philosophy of these issues but covers them from a current affairs, topical overview. Some parts made me think, I can see it that way, while other parts made me think, I'm not sure about that. For a manifesto it was a good one. One nitpick- The footnotes are online not in the book. I hope that doesn't become a trend.
    • 1/5
      Sorry, I'm not going to read this book. I started. I probably agree with him, at least about 2 of his 3 points (urbanism, nuclear power), and probably disagree on genetic engineering. But his attitude is just too snarky, too easy to put down the opposition as not only misguided but practically evil. I took a look in the index for references to Herman Daly, ecological economics, peak oil, and vegetarianism -- didn't find any. I checked his references to oil: he appears to be completely ignorant of the whole oil depletion problem. His theory evidently is that climate change is the problem and that once we fix it it's back to business as usual. I could excuse the lack of interest in vegetarianism, for the time being, on the grounds that this is an "obscure" topic. But anyone who wants me to take them seriously has to address peak oil and ecological economics at least.So, not going to read it.
    • 4/5
      Stewart Brand is the author of the Whole Earth Catalog. He brings up some rather controversial ideas among environmentalists. Nuclear power is green. Cities are green. Population is beginning to level off. Genetic engineering is green.He emphasizes the idea that science should guide environmental thinking and that we need to have an open mind with regards to saving the earth. A lot of what he says makes sense, but I'm sure makes a lot of mainstream environmental groups uncomfortable.
    • 4/5
      A man after my own heart. I'd love to chomp down on GM vegie burgers while working the controls of a nuclear power station. No, no sarcasm: I really do think that Stewart is on the right path here. He flays various environmental organisations for their backward views and shows them to be packed full of pathetically irrational and hypocritical ideologues.
    • 5/5
      Many of us who grew up with the Whole Earth Catalog hold a special reverence for its founder and editor Steward Brand. Trained as an ecologist, this book is his Ecopragmatist Manifesto. He takes surprising positions on several issues long considered sacred to environmentalists. These well-researched and well-presented ideas include:+ Climate change is happening faster than previously predicted. Bolder solutions are required encompassing mitigation, adaptation, and amelioration. + Cities are Green: “you need a little bit less of everything for each person.” Compact and dense habitation decreases commuting distances, infrastructure size, and resources required for living. Cities significantly increase the carrying capacity of the world. Squatters live in vibrant communities; they walk everywhere, obtain food locally, and recycle everything+ “Cities accelerate innovation; they cure overpopulation, and while they are becoming the Greenest thing that humanity does for the planet, they have a long way to go.” Increasing cell phone use connects people instantly across strata. Urban living leads families to plan for fewer children.+ “Coal plants are factories of death. Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as all the other fossil fuels combined.” OK, no surprises there, but Brand goes on to advocate “New Nukes” as the solution: “Nukes are Green; new Nukes are even more so.”+ Nuclear waste can be safely handled, stored and disposed of. Consider a 175-year long planning horizon initially, and expect replanning during that time. Nuclear waste is minuscule in size—one Coke-can’s worth per person-lifetime of nuclear generated electricity. Coal waste is massive—68 tons of solids and 77 tons of carbon dioxide per person-life of coal-generated electric. Use the WIPP, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant as a model for nuclear waste disposal.+ “Opposition to nuclear energy is based on irrational fear fed by Hollywood-style fiction.” Shift thinking from the Absolute Evils of: safety, cost, waste storage, and proliferation, to considering alternatives measured by: baseload, footprint, portfolio, and government-scale. “Reactor safety is a problem already solved.”+ “Nuclear energy has done more to eliminate existing nuclear weapons from the world than any other activity.” Create an international fuel bank to safely provide nuclear fuel to countries so they have no need to develop nuclear-refining capabilities. Move forward with the GNEP, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.+ “The problem is not that nuclear is expensive. The problem is that coal is cheap.” Tax carbon, rationalize subsidies, and streamline licensing for Nuclear Power. Develop microreactors to reduce capital costs and locate generation near consumers.+ “I daresay the environmental movement has done more harm with its opposition to genetic engineering that with any other thing we’ve been wrong about. We’ve starved people, hindered science, hurt the natural environment, and denied our own practitioners a crucial tool.” Genetic Engineering provides a safe and laser-focused tool to: increase crop yield, increase nutritional value, increase shelf-life, reduce the need for pesticides, and reduce toxins.+ “Microbes run the world, it’s that simple.”+ “Ecological balance is too important for sentiment. It requires science.”Because these ideas represent the best and most recent thinking from Stewart Brand they deserve our attention. Because they represent significant shifts from traditional environmental thinking, they deserve our scrutiny.
    • 4/5
      Whole Earth Discipline is an eye-opening book, whose calm tone belies its urgency. Most pages contain something worth knowing that is not well-known. Brand's "strongly stated and loosely held" opinions are conveyed in writing that is casual but at a high intellectual level. Brand is no romantic; rather he is a tough old bird (or fox [227]), an engaging if cantankerous―sometimes snide and petulant―rationalist devoted to above all science (which he considers "the only news" [216]). He coolly contemplates mass die-offs and challenges many sacred cows of environmentalism, but he can also be chirpy and gleeful in a childlike way. Brand's cheerful American optimism ("If we make the right moves at the right time, all may yet be well" [276]) is appealing but naïve; the former Merry Prankster never acknowledges the authoritarianism that would be practically necessary to institute the approaches he recommends. The book is less of a manifesto than its title suggests, and Brand never defines ecopragmatism, a term borrowed from Daniel Farber's 2000 book. Footnotes are on a website (but only up to page 138 as of July 2010). Brand's admission of past mistakes earns him credit for candor, but weakens the confidence of the reader in his good judgment. Brand's embrace of nuclear energy is less convincing than his embrace of urbanization and genetic engineering. On cultural issues he is disappointing, ignoring religion (except that of Native Americans) and on the basis of a single book engaging in a shallow diatribe against "romanticism," which he does not define. Thus the author is not without his biases and blind spots―they seem, in fact, integral to his techno-optimism. He does not discuss the institutional capture of government by multinational corporations, rejects without discussion critiques of capitalism and nationalism as not germane, and never mentions militarism or imperialism. He mentions Peak Oil only once, dismissively, and has almost nothing to say about the War on Terror, 9/11, or the Project for a New American Century. Though he often writes in the first person, this is not an intimate book; the reader does not get close to the author. Despite these critical remarks, the book certainly merits attention, and Brand's list of recommended readings are worth the price of the volume in itself.