Monthly Archives: July 2020

The Wonderful, Messy Process of Self-Organization

pedestal left after statue of slave trader was removed in Bristol, UK; image from NPR taken by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP We humans seem to like order, and there are several ways of achieving it. We are inclined to prefer simpler, easier-to-understand … Continue reading

Posted in Collapse Watch, How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 2 Comments

A Canadian Sorry

drawing by Elliot Keeler  Perhaps uniquely, Canadians say “sorry” almost automatically when something goes wrong; it does not (often) imply an admission of guilt, or of remorse. In fact, this is so Canadian that our lawyers had to craft (I … Continue reading

Posted in Creative Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 4 Comments

Changing Things That Don’t Make Sense

I coined Pollard’s Law of Complexity nearly 20 years ago, to try to sum up what I thought was the most important practical learning from my years of study of complexity theory. Here’s how I worded it: POLLARD’S LAW OF … Continue reading

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Collapse Happens Slowly… and Then Very Suddenly

David Ehrenfeld, in Beginning Again (1994), describes our civilization as a ragged flywheel, over-built, patched and rusty, spinning faster and faster and beginning to rattle and moan as it comes apart: There goes a chunk — the sick and aged along with … Continue reading

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Links of the Month: July 2020

cartoon by the late Dana Fradon, in The New Yorker, way back in 1976 One of the signs of social collapse is, ironically, the simultaneous emergence of autocratic demagogues and a soaring distrust of perceived ‘leaders’ of all kinds — … Continue reading

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No Shame, No Blame — Just Lame

Forecast CoVid-19 death curve for British Columbia. Sources: Historical data: BC CDC; 270 additional excess deaths probably attributable to CoVid-19 in March & April per Statistics Canada; Forecast per UW/IHME as at July 14; they assume the next complete shutdown … Continue reading

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Evolution’s Misstep

another ramble about radical non-duality Radical non-duality is not a theory or an idea or a state. It’s a description of an utterly different sense of reality that is (apparently) obvious to those who do not share the perception of … Continue reading

Posted in Illusion of the Separate Self and Free Will, Our Culture / Ourselves | 2 Comments

There Is No Trade-Off

The mainstream and social media, and most politicians and corporations, keep telling us that as long as CoVid-19 is with us we have to find a delicate balance between looking after our collective health (ie saving lives) and salvaging the … Continue reading

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Freedom Fighters

[This article is an attempt to convey an appreciation and support for the Black Lives Matter movement and other struggles against systemic racism and oppression, within the context of the ongoing global struggle for freedom, justice and sanity we all … Continue reading

Posted in Collapse Watch, How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 3 Comments