Crying Wolf, Squawking Chicken

For a half century, doomsters have predicted the end of the world. On the opposite pole, climate change deniers increasingly seem psychotic. But optimists still hold sway: that human ingenuity can solve what selfsame ingenuity created. When does a cliffhanger become a tragic fall – or a last-minute miracle salvation?

Collective Attention

Less than a year ago, an alarmed and alarming 16-year-old captured the world’s attention when she declared “entire ecosystems are collapsing; how dare you look away.” Then came covid-19 – and people looked away. “Everybody’s got such a short attention span,” remarked American musician Bob Dylan.

Megaprojects

Men have long admired grandeur of their own making. Industrialization magnified the scale which could be attempted. As the hoary proverb goes: the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Gender

Sexism is a problem irrespective of culture. A distinction between the genders emerges as a natural consequence of early cognitive development and upbringing.

Migration

Humans have always been migratory creatures. Since prehistory, communities empathically accepted immigrants. In post-modern times, men ridden with the mental disease of unbounded self-absorption have had no moral qualms in denying the desperate a home.