Book Teaser: Aliens of Our Creation
Notes for an upcoming book that I’m writing. (Started: 2022-07-13)
Draft TOC
A draft of a previous TOC for the book can be found here. The book is being reorganized to follow the structure of the “Thoughts on Aliens of Our Creation” article. Maybe Part I will be a copy of the article.
Preface
Why this book? We are in the middle of a Sixth Extinction event. Millions of species on this planet are disappearing. Humans could be included. The equatorial region of the planet could become almost uninhabitable for most humans by 2060{dickie-01}. More than 15 minutes of exposure to temperatures above 87.8oF (31oC), with 100% humidity, is fatal for humans.{huber-01}{cassella-01} At 0% humidity 122oF (50oC) is likely fatal.{bendix-01} That is our range of habitability. For mammals, especially ones with technology, it is much easier to stay warm than it is to stay cool.
It is obvious that it can be too hot or too cold for mainstream life, but not so obvious is the fact that the ocean becomes a desert when its surface temperature rises above about 12oC [54.6oF]; when this happens, a stable surface layer of warm water forms that stays unmixed with the cooler, nutrient-rich waters below. This purely physical property of ocean water denies nutrients to the life in the warm layer, and soon the upper sunlit ocean water becomes a desert. This may be one of the reasons why Gaia’s goal appears to be to keep the Earth cool.{lovelock-01:p16}
Clearly, humans are causing climate change.
But we have more problems than warming the planet. Even if the temperature is controlled by reducing CO2, there are many other ecological problems caused by humans: deforestation, desertification, disruption of water cycles, plastic pollution, insect decline, fishery collapses, and mineral and fuel resource depletion. The list goes on and on. “It is no accident that the ruins of the world’s oldest civilizations are mostly in deserts now. It wasn’t desert before that.”{yunkaporta-01:loc615}
Our human institutions seem to be unwilling to address these problems with real solutions. And there seems to be nothing that individuals can do; we seem to be helpless under the powerful fictional entities that “we” have created.
We are probably long past many tipping points and we are unlikely to stop the planetary changes we have put in motion.{michaels-02} But we can try to lessen the impact.
We can show future generations how to live with the planet that created us. How we learned to control and avoid creating destructive social/economic systems.
The longer we hold off collapse, the harder the fall. Will we wait until every last bit of oil, coal, and trees is used? Or could we control the downsizing? “Impossible,” our civilization requires continual growth. That is a great example of the problem; we have no effective controls over the organizations and systems that make change impossible.
The smallest human-powered unit is a community, not individuals. However, tight, effective communities have been hobbled. It is time to relearn how to build communities and reclaim our government. At the same time, large organizations can be reformed or broken up with non-violent actions to remind them they exist for humans, not themselves.
Book Structure
Main Parts
The book is organized in BLUF format (Bottom Line Up Front).
Part I. Conclusions gives some brief conclusions about the major problems. The problems are only briefly described, and the conclusions or solutions are only briefly described, with no backup. (Note: this Part might be removed or replaced with the essay posted in multiple places.)
Part II. Details give even more details and discussion, with many quotes from the sources.
Here is a synopsis of the main points in this book:
A. Alien Entities—We have created large fictional entities that control us more than we control them. They are not alive, and they have no human morals.
B. You Do Not Matter—Individuals have very little effect on changing large organizations. There are really only two paths for individuals to have an impact: be a leader at the top or be part of other organizations large enough to control them. But who controls the controllers?
C. Controlling Organizations – Remind the organizations of their purpose, which is mainly to serve humans cooperatively with life on this planet. If they will not change, break them up, or replace them.
D. Social Limits—The communication and governing processes depend on an organization's size. For example, majority voting is usually destructive to small communities, while consensus processes will paralyze larger organizations.
E. Community—Fifty to 150 people is a basic unit size for humans. Healthy communities are how large organizations are controlled. However, large organizations and related systems have fragmented things so that there are very few “true” communities. There are ways of creating and maintaining communities, and many of the techniques can also be used in large organizations.
F. Leader, Follower, Observer—Leaders are important, but we need good ones! Followers are important, too, and their duty is to keep the leaders in line.
Bibliography
So far, there are over 310 books, articles, organizations, videos, and websites. A draft of the bibliography can be found here.