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 a species that's on the receiving end of human intervention into its ecosystem, the image raises larger ideas about the response of animals, including humans, to artificial cues and novel environments. Just as the sloth mistakes a fence post for the safety of a tree, modern humans mistake consumption, speed, and certainty for meaning.

Moving beyond just the image, Nate unpacks the word "sloth" itself as one of the original seven deadly sins, offering a reimagining of what today's seven moral failings might be in the context of a global economic superorganism. Apathy, righteousness, and anthropocentrism might be today's major vices, which each have consequences for the environment and our relationship to it.

Can we stand our ground locally against the global superorganism? How can we begin to reclaim agency and compassion – both for ourselves and the ecosystems we are inextricably a part of? Do our instincts no longer serve us in a world so rapidly and radically changed?

(Recorded October 13th, 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(356)

The Things We Take for Granted | Frankly 118

The Things We Take for Granted | Frankly 118

In this week's Frankly, Nate shares reflections on what we take for granted in life at multiple scales: from personal health to meaningful work to relative ecological stability. The things that keep o...

9 Tammi 22min

How We've 'Drugified' Our Entire Existence: Dopamine & Addiction In the Digital Age with Anna Lembke

How We've 'Drugified' Our Entire Existence: Dopamine & Addiction In the Digital Age with Anna Lembke

Dopamine: the most famous neurotransmitter that regulates pleasure, motivation, and (perhaps most importantly) addiction. When examining  why our society is hooked on consuming more and more of everyt...

7 Tammi 1h 36min

Behavioral Thermodynamics Part 1: Beyond the 4th Law?

Behavioral Thermodynamics Part 1: Beyond the 4th Law?

In this week's Frankly, Nate takes thermodynamics out of the physics classroom, utilizing its principles to explain the invisible forces behind growth, competition, and complexity in our world. Compet...

19 Joulu 202530min

End of Year Reflections: Four Years of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

End of Year Reflections: Four Years of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

In this week's episode, Nate reflects on four years(!) of the podcast by answering listener-submitted questions, which cover a broad range of topics related to The Great Simplification. He invites sub...

17 Joulu 202527min

Sunk Cost and the Superorganism | Frankly 116

Sunk Cost and the Superorganism | Frankly 116

In this week's episode, Nate unpacks the pervasive behavioral pull of sunk cost as a force shaping our material reality, identities, and collective expectations about the future. Past investments – in...

12 Joulu 202523min

Fighting for a Livable Future: Exploring Frontier Climate Interventions with Kelly Erhart

Fighting for a Livable Future: Exploring Frontier Climate Interventions with Kelly Erhart

While current conversations about global heating tend to center around a few well-established pieces of science, we don't often hear about the scientists and leaders working at the frontier of what is...

10 Joulu 20251h 6min

Inflation, Deflation, & Simplification: The 8 Things That Influence Prices | Frankly 115

Inflation, Deflation, & Simplification: The 8 Things That Influence Prices | Frankly 115

In this week's Frankly, Nate explores how the prices we encounter in our daily lives are influenced by not only how much money is in the system, but also by resource depletion, technology, affordabili...

5 Joulu 202526min

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: How Artificial Superintelligence Might Wipe Out Our Entire Species with Nate Soares

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: How Artificial Superintelligence Might Wipe Out Our Entire Species with Nate Soares

Technological development has always been a double-edged sword for humanity: the printing press increased the spread of misinformation, cars disrupted the fabric of our cities, and social media has ma...

3 Joulu 20251h 40min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

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