As I woke up this morning, I was wondering about morality.
It seems that morality is all about acting for the long term common good. A moral person cultivates the discipline to overcome short term destructive habits (even though they may be pleasurable) in favor of long term prosperity and deeper happiness.
Our concepts about morality change as we learn and mature. In the 1950s and 60s, driving and burning fuel and fertilizing monoculture crops were all good things. Now our culture is learning that those behaviors are causing huge problems for the future of ourselves individually and our entire civilization. Suddenly those behaviors are the ultimate immorality.
You and I have not substantially changed our fuel consumption patterns. We talk about it, and make gestures toward improving, but the bottom line is not really better. We are not going to allow our grandkids to label us as immoral, so we have to change.
Contemplate this...
Global warming and peak oil are bunk. We don't have to reduce our usage by 90% like experts say. We only have to share better at current levels of usage. Because we are Americans and deserve more than most people, we get to use 150% of the amount of fossil fuels per person compared to the rest of the world. That still means we have to cut down our fuel consumption by a factor of 3.6. That is a 63% reduction from our current levels.
Homework Exercise: Seriously practice using only 27% of the fuel you are used to.
How will you do it?
Later we can contemplate how even this level is not yet near moral.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Storm warnings
Lately I have been making a career of learning about the convergence of peak oil, global warming, and economic depression.
Each is real.
Each is big.
Each is coming to a head very soon.
The convergence of the three is mind boggling.
That is exactly why most people and virtually all governments ignore it.
As people around me start to grasp how real it is, they ask what they can do personally to survive. After contemplating what an individual can do to help, I eventually realized that there is one philosophy that applies to individuals, families, communities, and to civilization as a whole...
The more we know about how to live well without large amounts of water, fuel and store bought food, the more resilient we will be.
Each is real.
Each is big.
Each is coming to a head very soon.
The convergence of the three is mind boggling.
That is exactly why most people and virtually all governments ignore it.
As people around me start to grasp how real it is, they ask what they can do personally to survive. After contemplating what an individual can do to help, I eventually realized that there is one philosophy that applies to individuals, families, communities, and to civilization as a whole...
The more we know about how to live well without large amounts of water, fuel and store bought food, the more resilient we will be.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Truffle power
My goodness!!!!!!!!!
That was the best meal any of us have ever had.
Neil and Tori and Jeanne and Lynn and I were trying to figure out how to freeze the moment; how to savor the incredible experience for just a little while longer.
The back story...
Last week I was mindlessly wondering out loud what a truffle really tastes like. Before I knew it, Lynn had ordered a few truffles over the internet. Now we were faced with the imminent arrival of one of the most exotic and expensive foods in the world, and we had to figure out what to do with it.
They are a fungus, somewhat related to mushrooms, but they smell strongly, like a male pig in rut. With my level of experience, I might have put them in a pizza. Neil came up with the idea of challenging some of the finest chefs in the area to make a wonderful meal with our truffles. Chef Tim Anderson of Iven's on the Bay said yes.
Tonight the five of us showed up for a 5 course meal centered on truffles. The soup was served in a tiny but slightly tall shot glass. No spoon, you drink it. Upon tasting it, we were immediately and unanimously blown away; transported to new world by a subtle exotic and powerful taste experience.
Each of the five courses managed to bowl us over with dish licking, shell scraping tastes.
When the chef showed up, we gave him a standing ovation.
WOW!
That was the best meal any of us have ever had.
Neil and Tori and Jeanne and Lynn and I were trying to figure out how to freeze the moment; how to savor the incredible experience for just a little while longer.
The back story...
Last week I was mindlessly wondering out loud what a truffle really tastes like. Before I knew it, Lynn had ordered a few truffles over the internet. Now we were faced with the imminent arrival of one of the most exotic and expensive foods in the world, and we had to figure out what to do with it.
They are a fungus, somewhat related to mushrooms, but they smell strongly, like a male pig in rut. With my level of experience, I might have put them in a pizza. Neil came up with the idea of challenging some of the finest chefs in the area to make a wonderful meal with our truffles. Chef Tim Anderson of Iven's on the Bay said yes.
Tonight the five of us showed up for a 5 course meal centered on truffles. The soup was served in a tiny but slightly tall shot glass. No spoon, you drink it. Upon tasting it, we were immediately and unanimously blown away; transported to new world by a subtle exotic and powerful taste experience.
Each of the five courses managed to bowl us over with dish licking, shell scraping tastes.
When the chef showed up, we gave him a standing ovation.
WOW!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Searching for how to give more deeply
Flowers and candy and store bought cards are a nice way to open a relationship. They are pleasant and state clearly that you have romantic intents.
In terms of personal relationship, they are safe and cheap. They cost you little personal effort for the huge payback they create. What's not to like?
Showering your love with commercialized safe and cheap tokens is like putting candy sprinkles on an ice cream cone. It is fun for a snack, when your dish is sweet and fat.
The love of my life is more like truffles, fillet mignon, fresh salad, finely seasoned garden vegetables.
She is delicious. She is nourishing. She is good for me.
She deserves better than safe, cheap, commodity tokens.
She deserves my time, my attention, my deepest essence.
Dear Lynn,
I give to you a physical token,
a hand made embodiment of my time and attention.
I give to you my written words,
a deeply felt attempt to condense my love for you and make it more tangible.
I share with you my karma,
a lifetime of good luck by design and effort.
Please be my valentine.
Love, Paul
In terms of personal relationship, they are safe and cheap. They cost you little personal effort for the huge payback they create. What's not to like?
Showering your love with commercialized safe and cheap tokens is like putting candy sprinkles on an ice cream cone. It is fun for a snack, when your dish is sweet and fat.
The love of my life is more like truffles, fillet mignon, fresh salad, finely seasoned garden vegetables.
She is delicious. She is nourishing. She is good for me.
She deserves better than safe, cheap, commodity tokens.
She deserves my time, my attention, my deepest essence.
Dear Lynn,
I give to you a physical token,
a hand made embodiment of my time and attention.
I give to you my written words,
a deeply felt attempt to condense my love for you and make it more tangible.
I share with you my karma,
a lifetime of good luck by design and effort.
Please be my valentine.
Love, Paul
Saturday, February 09, 2008
10 secrets
I really liked these 10 secrets that I stumbled on at God's Thumb.
Secrets for Success and Inner Peace
Secrets for Success and Inner Peace
The First Secret:
Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.
The Second Secret:
Don’t die with your music still in you.
The Third Secret:
You can’t give away what you don’t have.
The Forth Secret:
Embrace silence.
The Fifth Secret:
Give up your personal history.
The Six Secret:
You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.
The Seventh Secret:
There are no justified resentments.
The Eighth Secret:
Treat yourself as if you already are what you’d like to be.
The Ninth Secret:
Treasure your Divinity.
The Tenth Secret:
Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Grading on a curve
I am male.
I am hardwired to appreciate curves.
In addition, I specialize in seeing flow; seeing trends.
Even so, I am surprised at how much a curve on a graph can affect me.
A good scary curve in a graph can excite me, and haunt me.
Here is an example (from Wikipedia)
Notice the change in the slope in the last decade. That offends my sense of future.
Another set of curves that speaks volumes can be found here. (Please follow link. He won't let me copy it.)
Notice that the human population curve over 1 million years is absolutely square. Even when zoomed in to the last 1000 years, the curve is extremely close to square. Just follow that upslope and ask how long we can keep this up.
Nothing; no budget, no bacteria, no human population can continue to grow at these rates. Anything growing this fast and this continuously is likely to crash, like hitting a brick wall.
I am hardwired to appreciate curves.
In addition, I specialize in seeing flow; seeing trends.
Even so, I am surprised at how much a curve on a graph can affect me.
A good scary curve in a graph can excite me, and haunt me.
Here is an example (from Wikipedia)
Notice the change in the slope in the last decade. That offends my sense of future.
Another set of curves that speaks volumes can be found here. (Please follow link. He won't let me copy it.)
Notice that the human population curve over 1 million years is absolutely square. Even when zoomed in to the last 1000 years, the curve is extremely close to square. Just follow that upslope and ask how long we can keep this up.
Nothing; no budget, no bacteria, no human population can continue to grow at these rates. Anything growing this fast and this continuously is likely to crash, like hitting a brick wall.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Some math to digest our record budget
3.1 Trillion Dollars!
How do we make personal sense of such large numbers?
3.1 trillion / 301,139,947 = 10,294
The US budget divided by the US population = $10,294 per citizen
$58,480 / 3.14 = 18,624
The median family income divided by the average family size = $18,624 dollars income per family member.
10,294/18,624 = .55
The federal budget equals 55% of the median family income. This is on top of state and local taxes.
Of course, rather than pay that immediately we are charging it (along with interest) to our kids.
Our record budget is 63% larger than 2001, Bushes first year in office. It again includes more money for military while eliminating 151 domestic programs including some education, health and job-training.
Does anyone else see some alarming trends here?
How do we make personal sense of such large numbers?
3.1 trillion / 301,139,947 = 10,294
The US budget divided by the US population = $10,294 per citizen
$58,480 / 3.14 = 18,624
The median family income divided by the average family size = $18,624 dollars income per family member.
10,294/18,624 = .55
The federal budget equals 55% of the median family income. This is on top of state and local taxes.
Of course, rather than pay that immediately we are charging it (along with interest) to our kids.
Our record budget is 63% larger than 2001, Bushes first year in office. It again includes more money for military while eliminating 151 domestic programs including some education, health and job-training.
Does anyone else see some alarming trends here?
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Achieving Grateness
Last night, I overheard Nathan mention that he was grateful for how his life is going. That got my mind wandering down paths about how important it is to be grateful. It sets you in a frame of mind to be accepting and happy. Karma opens opportunities you otherwise might have missed.
After writing the above, I looked up "grateful"...
The root word "grate" is an obsolete adjective that used to mean "agreeable, thankful, pleasing". It has the same Latin roots as "graceful and grace", which originally meant "God's favor or help".
People naturally want to help a grateful person.
A grateful person is naturally happier.
Life long accumulation of help and opportunities grows exponentially like compound interest.
To a student of life, it seems obvious that to achieve greatness, one must first achieve gratefulness.
After writing the above, I looked up "grateful"...
The root word "grate" is an obsolete adjective that used to mean "agreeable, thankful, pleasing". It has the same Latin roots as "graceful and grace", which originally meant "God's favor or help".
People naturally want to help a grateful person.
A grateful person is naturally happier.
Life long accumulation of help and opportunities grows exponentially like compound interest.
To a student of life, it seems obvious that to achieve greatness, one must first achieve gratefulness.
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