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(357)

7 Realities - No Matter Who Wins

7 Realities - No Matter Who Wins

With the upcoming election, citizens of the USA once again align our beliefs and dreams with our 'favored'' political party, while often showing disdain and ridicule for the opposition. There is an un...

4 Marras 20229min

Betsy Taylor: "Finding Hope in Nature-Based Solutions"

Betsy Taylor: "Finding Hope in Nature-Based Solutions"

In this episode, Nate is joined by environmental and social activist Betsy Taylor. She and Nate have a wide ranging conversation about climate, consumption, culture, nuclear war, agriculture and the f...

2 Marras 20221h 22min

7 Shades of Jekyll and Hyde | Frankly #14

7 Shades of Jekyll and Hyde | Frankly #14

Its nigh Halloween. Monsters (in costume) and revelry. As humans - we each possess a rational, caring 'Dr. Jekyll' and an atavistic, emotional, reactive 'Mr. Hyde'. This brief (15 minute) reflection s...

30 Loka 202215min

Daniel Schmachtenberger: "Bend not Break #4: Modeling the Drivers of the Metacrisis"

Daniel Schmachtenberger: "Bend not Break #4: Modeling the Drivers of the Metacrisis"

In this fourth installment of conversations with Daniel Schmachtenberger, we dive deeper into the nuances of humans using energy, materials and technology. Human's ability to develop and use tools is ...

26 Loka 20222h 6min

The Quiet Part Out Loud | Frankly #13

The Quiet Part Out Loud | Frankly #13

Of all the challenges facing our culture, the fact that humans use social sorting mechanisms to solve physical world problems looms as perhaps the greatest. This Frankly is a reflection on the possibi...

21 Loka 202211min

Marty Kearns: "Building Networks in Uncertain Times"

Marty Kearns: "Building Networks in Uncertain Times"

On this episode, Nate is joined by Marty Kearns, a civic organizer and networking specialist. He and Marty discuss why both networks and communities will be critical to the coming challenges we face. ...

19 Loka 20221h 17min

The Speed Bump | Frankly #12

The Speed Bump | Frankly #12

Despite the improved standard of living that modern finance has enabled, it has also created an unsustainable economic system rife with systemic risk. Recent trends in debt, monetary inflation, intere...

14 Loka 202222min

Mary Evelyn Tucker: "Religion, Ecology, and the Future"

Mary Evelyn Tucker: "Religion, Ecology, and the Future"

This week, religious scholar Mary Evelyn Tucker unpacks the entanglement of religion and ecology from an academic perspective. She and Nate discuss what the roots of environmental ethics in religions ...

12 Loka 20221h 2min

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