Response to

[1] The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future (July 2014) by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

[2] Enter the Anthropocene — Age of Man (March 2011) by Elizabeth Kolbert

“While reductionism proved powerful in many domains, particularly quantum physics and medical diagnostics, it impeded investigations of complex systems. Reductionism also made it difficult for scientists to articulate the threat posed by climatic change, since many experts did not actually know very much about aspects of the problem beyond their expertise.“ ([1], p 14)

Assuming this tidbit is historically factual today:

• Why/how are scientific communities still so siloed decades after the invention of the internet which was originally specifically designed for the purpose of sharing scientific research?
  • From time to time I will come across a discussion regarding the difficulties of finding and acquiring quality research documentation amidst the ever-growing volume of content available (example)
  • They are still isolated via research funding / govt sponsorship and/or bureaucratic standards
    • “Even scientists who had a broad view of climate change often felt it would be inappropriate for them to articulate it, because that would require them to speak beyond their expertise, and seem to be taking credit for other people’s work.“([1], p15)
  • The problem described here is actually of communication between scientists and the rest of the population rather than between scientists internally
    • “…these so-called holistic approaches still focused almost entirely on natural systems, omitting from consideration the social components.“([1], p15)
    • “What I hope is that the term ‘Anthropocene’ will be a warning to the world.“ ([2], Paul Crutzen, chemist)
• How can a useful breadth and depth of knowledge be attained by reasonable means?
  • Systems science
    • I’m reminded of Donella Meadows’s Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System essay. I think the social aspect of the idea of natural systems promoted by the IPCC (mentioned in [1], p 15) are a key leverage point for intervening in these systems, which is why the IPCC “had trouble speaking in a clear voice.“ ([1], p 15).

Other thought-provoking quotes:

“The pattern of human population growth in the twentieth century was more bacterial than primate…” ([2], E.O. Wilson, biologist)

“…human biomass is already 100 times larger than that of any other large animal species that has ever walked the Earth.” ([2])