Technology and Wealth: The Straw, the Siphon, and the Sieve | Frankly 119

Technology and Wealth: The Straw, the Siphon, and the Sieve | Frankly 119

In this week's Frankly, Nate explores the relationship between technology and wealth when viewed through a global biophysical lens. He uses the visualization of a straw, siphon, and sieve to describe how technology enables the acceleration of physical resource extraction and the concentration and filtering of resulting 'wealth' towards the human species. Running contrary to the commonly-held idea that technology automatically creates monetary wealth (and therefore prosperity), this episode asks listeners to view real wealth as the underlying stocks and flows that make life on Earth possible – whether in the form of forests, social trust, or entire functioning ecosystems.

Nate also discusses the ways that technologies have been deployed to rearrange natural systems around narrow, growth-centric priorities throughout much of human history. Utilizing examples regarding agriculture, finance, and artificial intelligence, he suggests that tools effective at small scales might behave very differently when applied globally – setting us on the path to overshoot that we find ourselves walking today.

If technology reflects human priorities, what does current innovation and development reveal about what we currently value? What would it mean to shift towards prioritizing life-giving flows within natural systems and away from accelerating the liquidation of Earth's stocks? Finally, how can societies and individuals begin to distinguish between innovation that serves to borrow from our future versus genuine progress toward a more stable world?

(Recorded December 25, 2025)

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Hylo channel and connect with other listeners

Jaksot(362)

Goldilocks Technology - A Preliminary Checklist | Frankly 69

Goldilocks Technology - A Preliminary Checklist | Frankly 69

(Recorded August 5 2024) As a problem-solving species, technology is an embedded part of the human experience – we assess, innovate, invent and adapt. But as we move out of the anomalous era we have j...

9 Elo 202419min

Biomimicry: Applying Nature's Wisdom to Human Problems with Janine Benyus

Biomimicry: Applying Nature's Wisdom to Human Problems with Janine Benyus

(Conversation recorded on June 25th, 2024) Although artificial intelligence tends to dominate conversations about solving our most daunting global challenges, we may actually find some of the most p...

7 Elo 20241h 36min

Overshoot and Its 7 Fundamental Drivers | Frankly 68

Overshoot and Its 7 Fundamental Drivers | Frankly 68

(Recorded July 23 2024) Description In this week's Frankly, (coincidentally released the day after Earth Overshoot Day), Nate breaks down seven factors contributing to humanity's increasing overshoot...

2 Elo 202415min

Planetary Boundaries: Exceeding Earth's Safe Limits with Johan Rockström

Planetary Boundaries: Exceeding Earth's Safe Limits with Johan Rockström

(Conversation recorded on June 19th, 2024) Show Summary: While the mainstream conversation about our planet's future is heavily dominated by the topic of climate change, there are other systems whi...

31 Heinä 20241h 32min

The Ecology of Communication: Moving Beyond Polarization in Service of Life | Reality Roundtable 10

The Ecology of Communication: Moving Beyond Polarization in Service of Life | Reality Roundtable 10

(Conversation recorded on June 14th, 2024) Show Summary: There's a growing understanding of the need for biodiversity across ecosystems for a healthy and resilient biosphere. What if we applied the...

28 Heinä 20241h 48min

The Solutions that can be Named are not the Solutions | Frankly #67

The Solutions that can be Named are not the Solutions | Frankly #67

Recorded July 23 2024 In this week's Frankly, Nate addresses the common desire for solutions to the human predicament - and why the championing of "solutions" is less clear-cut than we might perceiv...

26 Heinä 202422min

Indigenous Wisdom: Resilience, Adaptation, and Seeing Nature as Ourselves with Casey Camp-Horinek

Indigenous Wisdom: Resilience, Adaptation, and Seeing Nature as Ourselves with Casey Camp-Horinek

(Conversation recorded on June 12th, 2024) Show Summary: As we move through difficult cultural transitions and rethink our governance systems, it will be critical that we listen to voices that are ...

24 Heinä 20241h 34min

The Reality Party | Frankly #66

The Reality Party | Frankly #66

Recorded July 16 2024   Description   Following the attempted assassination of former United States President Donald J. Trump, Nate reflects on the dysfunctional social dynamics which have brought man...

19 Heinä 202414min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

tiedekulma-podcast
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
rss-poliisin-mieli
docemilia
radio-antro
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-ammamafia
rss-sosiopodi
utelias-mieli
ihanat-ipanat
mielipaivakirja
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
rss-bios-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa