Towards Individual Wisdom & Restraint

Towards Individual Wisdom & Restraint

In this Earth Day presentation, recorded earlier this year, Nate offers nine broad paths for individuals to cultivate resilience in an increasingly uncertain and unstable period of human history. From the intellectual & ecological to the spiritual & psychological, these ideas might be considered waypoints for navigating the human predicament, and - in aggregate - help build 'scout teams' of humans working on the upcoming cultural transition away from infinite material expansion.

How do we slow down and reject the "hustle culture" that prioritizes gains in efficiency, wealth and consumption over all else? How do we maximize the positive impacts and minimize the negative effects we have on the environment around us? What should we do today to plant the seeds of a future we'd like to see, or would like generations beyond us to see?

Changing the future starts with changing our relationship with today. This may first require being more reflective and realistic about our own relationship with the human predicament - and embracing the uncertainty of what's ahead. Perhaps if we're able to redefine 'individual sovereignty' in these hyper individualistic times, towards different attitudes, rituals and behaviors, we can act as seeds of something helpful to the future of humanity and the biosphere.

(Recorded April 24th, 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 Discord channel and connect with other listeners

Jaksot(357)

Terror Management Theory: How Existential Dread Has Shaped the World with Sheldon Solomon

Terror Management Theory: How Existential Dread Has Shaped the World with Sheldon Solomon

Many of us wrestle with the unsettling truth that everyone – including ourselves and those we love – will one day die. Though this awareness is uncomfortable, research suggests that the human capacity...

29 Loka 20251h 46min

The Three Most Important Words We're Taught Not to Say

The Three Most Important Words We're Taught Not to Say

In this week's Frankly, Nate considers the ways in which our social species overvalues false-confidence rather than the more honest and inquisitive response of "I don't know." He invites us to conside...

24 Loka 202526min

Challenging Monopoly Power: Why Local Business is Better for People, the Planet, and Your Wallet with Stacy Mitchell

Challenging Monopoly Power: Why Local Business is Better for People, the Planet, and Your Wallet with Stacy Mitchell

Monopolistic business practices have been illegal in the United States for more than a century. Yet, monopoly power continues to accelerate in our modern commercial landscape. Large, powerful corporat...

22 Loka 20251h 27min

What Sloths Teach Us About the Superorganism

What Sloths Teach Us About the Superorganism

In this week's Frankly, Nate reflects on the multiple metaphors brought to mind via a single photograph, which depicts a sloth climbing a barbed wire fence in Costa Rica. Beyond evoking compassion for...

17 Loka 202517min

Will Coral Reefs Be Gone by 2050? How Bleaching, Acidification, and Ocean Heating are Killing Coral Reefs with Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Will Coral Reefs Be Gone by 2050? How Bleaching, Acidification, and Ocean Heating are Killing Coral Reefs with Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Twenty-five years ago, a landmark paper warned that the world's coral reefs could vanish by 2050. Now, halfway to that projected date (and amid ever more frequent coral bleaching events), that grim pr...

15 Loka 20251h 30min

Is the U.S. Electric Grid Stable? Policy, Renewables, and Who Is Responsible If The Grid Fails with Meredith Angwin

Is the U.S. Electric Grid Stable? Policy, Renewables, and Who Is Responsible If The Grid Fails with Meredith Angwin

For many people in the modern world, electricity powers everything we do. Yet we take for granted how power flows in the background, seemingly always accessible to us just by flipping a switch. In fac...

8 Loka 20251h 24min

Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries

Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries

To view the graphs Nate is referring to in this episode, please click here. --- In this week's Frankly, Nate returns from New York City Climate Week with fresh reflections on the disconnect between o...

3 Loka 202521min

Moral Ambition: Redefining Success for the Global Good with Rutger Bregman

Moral Ambition: Redefining Success for the Global Good with Rutger Bregman

The overarching definition of success today often looks like the accumulation of stuff – money, cars, property, clothing – anything that signals wealth. This means that success is also synonymous with...

1 Loka 20251h 15min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-poliisin-mieli
utelias-mieli
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-laakaripodi
rss-opeklubi
docemilia
sotataidon-ytimessa
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
mielipaivakirja
rss-vaasan-yliopiston-podcastit
rss-mental-race
rss-ylistys-elaimille