Meaning is a perceived property of the universe that makes one bit of matter more significant than another.
Author: Ben Harack
I'm an aspiring omnologist who is fascinated by humanity's potential.
Epidemic of ‘news’ that is not actually news
Our news media today is full of things that are not actually news. What are they and why is this so?
The dangers of news media speed
We have an ever-accelerating journalism cycle that is making mistakes, shortening our attention spans, presenting opinion as news, and trivializing our political debates. Media literacy is the only reliable cure, and we all need to learn it. Fast.
Tim Jackson: Towards a more human economic system
Entire dimensions of human experiences, cares, and thoughts are underserved by the current economic model, but it is within our power to change that.
RSA Animate on what motivates us
The first time I saw the RSA Animate video on motivation, I was impressed and fascinated. This was the first video I had ever seen done in this style. I was absolutely transfixed for the whole ten minutes, riveted by the literal ‘illustration’ of ideas. The combination of a well-delivered speech with excellent contextual visual representation blew me away.
Tony Robbins on inspiration and accomplishment
Tony Robbins gave a blockbuster talk at TED on the subject of what motivates people. One of the most interesting occurrences we have ever seen happened in this talk, when Tony ran off the stage to high-five Al Gore. This happened right after Tony asked the audience to list things that were excuses for failing to […]
Media we find worthwhile
The Vision of Earth team has decided to begin briefly reviewing media that we find compelling, interesting, or useful. A lot of media exists that has enriched our lives immensely. This project is an effort to share that richness with you the reader.
Is nuclear fission power renewable?
The long term supply for nuclear fission fuels on the planet earth is estimated to last several thousand years at current consumption levels, assuming that we adopt reprocessing as well as develop and implement breeder reactors.
Progress and potential of renewable energy
The intent of this publication is an ongoing investigation of the progress and potential of renewable energy in our world. Our goal is to collect the best writing and news on the subject of renewable energy projects and policies. We have observed that humanity is innovating rapidly as the energy security of the future becomes a global priority. Current trends indicate that the age of coal will end before we run out of coal.
Solar power from photovoltaic panels
Photovoltaic solar power is the technical term for solar panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity. This is in contrast to techniques that capture solar energy in other ways, or for different uses. Other techniques include hot water heating, interior temperature control, and concentrated heat for electricity production.
Voluntary and collaborative sustainable development
We believe that voluntary collaborative efforts towards SD are more effective than personal or involuntary efforts towards SD, and this article is intended to describe the major reasons why.
What is the ladder of economic development?
The ladder of development is a useful concept that we first found in Jeffrey Sachs’ excellent book ‘The End of Poverty’. This concept provides a useful framework for the discussion of economic development with regards to poverty reduction. This is a conceptual tool, not necessarily a framework for understanding all of economics.
How do we define poverty?
Every country has people living in poverty. Here we will distinguish between people living in extreme poverty, moderate poverty, and relative poverty1 . A person in relative poverty has consistent access to the basic necessities of life, while those in extreme or moderate poverty do not. Extreme Poverty People in extreme poverty are the poorest people in […]
Renewable Energy Review Blog Carnival
Vision of Earth is the host of the newly created renewable energy review. This is a blog carnival attempting to look at the development of renewable energy in the world today. Submitted articles will be judged on their quality, accuracy, and relevance. Once enough high-quality submissions are accumulated for a publication, our editors will write a brief review piece, linking to these novel contributions. We intend to comment meaningfully on the developments in renewable energy in our world.
Software used to create Vision of Earth
Vision of Earth is a WordPress blog. We started out using the Tarski theme for WordPress. Earlier this year we converted the Arras Theme when we did a full update and redesign of the site. We decided to go with more of a website approach than a blog approach to design. Instead of the most recent post and a menu, as in a blog style, we have a large part of the page dedicated to our best and most foundational works.
Reservoir hydro resources on the Canadian prairies
We have been captivated for a long time by the intriguing possibilities inherent in combining Manitoba’s extensive hydro resources with Saskatchewan’s high-quality wind power. A number of other groups in Saskatchewan have been lobbying for greater interconnection between the two power grids to take advantage of the natural synergy that exists between wind power and reservoir-based hydro power.
Publicly Administered Green Energy Futures
Our goal is to keep our physical power infrastructure publicly owned, but gain some of the advantages of the private sector. The key to our recommendation is voluntary public investment from the people of Saskatchewan. In order to stimulate new renewable energy construction, we recommend that SaskPower open up renewable energy projects for direct public investment.
Personal and social change for a green energy future
The question is: what can we do to be more in harmony with the environment? The answers we present here are intended to be practical pieces of an answer to that question.
Publicly Owned Renewable Energy
We want the ability to directly support the development of renewable electricity generation. We don’t just mean buying GreenPower from sources that already exist. We want to be able to choose to put our money out there so that these things can actually happen. We want to support projects that haven’t yet been built, or even started.
Is most radiation from nuclear power?
Nuclear power is a tiny fraction of our total radiation dose. Nuclear power is legally obligated to keep its radioactive emissions incredibly low. Even people who live close to nuclear power plants will receive from them only a fraction of the dose that they receive naturally from their environment. Human-made sources account for about 20% of the dose to humans, with nuclear power composing less than 1% of the total dose. Coal is responsible for a larger portion of radioactive dose than nuclear is. This is a point missed by most people involved in the world discussion about energy sources.