On 14 Mar 1999 03:45:13 +0100 naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de (Christian
Weisgerber) writes:
>Terry Donaghe <tdonaghe@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Humans with our technology have done great damage to our planet (or
>at
>> least parts of it). The left-greenies (Al Gore comes to mind)
>suggest
>> that we should rethink our reliance on technology as a possible
>> solution. Us Extropians know that that's hogwash.
>
>BTW, how much environmental change is actually due to
>industrialization?
>Stone Age Polynesians turned Easter Island into a desert. What about
>the
>deforrestation of much of Europe?
>
>--
>Christian "naddy" Weisgerber
>naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de
>LinuxTag '99 - 26./27. Juni, Uni Kaiserslautern -
>http://www.linuxtag.org
>
There are examples of environmental damage caused by pre-industrial civilizations, such as over-grazing in Spain. Population and economic activity per capita are now much higher than in the pre-industrial age, so the potential for environmental damage today is larger. But modern technology and scientific understanding can be used to intelligently manage impact on the environment. So we are better off with technology than without it, but only if we use it wisely. A return to pre-industrial technology would require a drastic drop in population from its present level of about 6 billion.
Ron Kean
.
.