There’s no mystery what causes more forest fires than ever: our polluting, depleting behavior causing global warming. If your behavior causes fires like humanity has never seen before, you are extreme for causing extreme results, not me for behaving traditionally. Not flying is normal. Jesus didn’t fly. George Washington didn’t fly. Abraham Lincoln didn’t fly. Power grids are not normal. The Buddha never plugged into an electric grid, nor did[…] Keep reading →

Addiction leads you to believe that you’re getting more of the pleasure that the drug or behavior gives you. Gamblers feel like winners, and they do win sometimes, but they lose more overall. Meth users feel like they have more energy, and they do briefly, but they have less energy overall. In short: You tell me what you fear losing, and I’ll tell you what you’ll gain more of when[…] Keep reading →

I see American culture moving toward increasing isolation. Compared to any time in human existence, we spend more time alone. Our paltry amount of skin-to-skin contact between parents and infants might be considered child abuse in other cultures. We talk about visiting other cultures, but even when in-person, we generally look at them from the outside through curated experiences like going to zoos. All that visiting is homogenizing culture more[…] Keep reading →

If I claim that we’re addicted to comfort, convenience, flying, and disposable diapers, what’s the problem if we don’t realize it? If addiction isn’t that bad and ending it seems to make life worse, why not keep flying? Addiction leads to short-term thinking. We don’t think past the next hit when we expect one or past withdrawal if we don’t. We have trouble imagining a better life without those hits.[…] Keep reading →

“But why did everyone work so hard except to improve our lives,” asked a woman I spoke to about my having reduced my pollution. In her view, civilization may have had its ups and downs, but overall it’s led to progress. We’re living in the best times ever. The only better times will be the future, as long as we keep progressing. I believe she and most people view civilization[…] Keep reading →

This post is part 4 in a series including I’m continuing today the artistic representations of “What you fear losing when you stop an addiction is exactly what you’ll gain” or “You tell me what you fear losing when you stop polluting and I’ll tell you what you’ll gain” have simplified how I understand and express the emotional terrain people live in and have to navigate to act more sustainably.[…] Keep reading →

This post is part 3 in a series including “What you fear losing when you stop an addiction is exactly what you’ll gain” or “You tell me what you fear losing when you stop polluting and I’ll tell you what you’ll gain” have simplified how I understand and express the emotional terrain people live in and have to navigate to act more sustainably. I posted about how Martin Scorcese in[…] Keep reading →

This post is part 2 in a series including Do you remember the helicopter scene in Goodfellas? Henry Hill has a busy day delivering lots of things including guns, cocaine, and food. He has to do family things, meet his mistress, cook dinner, and all sorts of other things. He’s getting everything done, taking cocaine for energy. If you ask him, he’d say he was being super productive. Only he’s[…] Keep reading →

For years, when I mention not shopping Amazon.com, people tell me (often lecture me) that it saves people money. They have no choice but to buy from there. I agree Amazon has displaced many alternatives, but I see tons of Amazon deliveries every day and when I see what’s delivered, it’s nearly always something that will be in a landfill within weeks, maybe months. In my building, I see how[…] Keep reading →