the great simplification
a theory proposed by nate hagens and the institute for energy and our future. it states that we're heading towards a great simplification of our lifestyles and societies in the near (50-100-year) future, driven primarily by our unconscious use of the energy and materials of our planet and construction of extremely fragile and complicated supply chains/civilizational systems (and therefore we're quickly heading towards shortage/depletion and exponentially-increasing risks of collapse).
it's also the name of the podcast nate hagens hosts around the topic.
an amazing introduction to the subject: A Systems Approach Towards a (More) Sustainable Future: An Invitation to Academia.
context
the video above is one the #top3 videos i've watched in 2024. it really opened my eyes to the material/energetic layer that permeates all aspects of our lives, and how the "green"/energy transition isn't happening at all and isn't hinting that it will anytime soon. we have a major "energy blindness" as a society. there are certain almost dogmatic climate tribes defending their viewpoint as the only valid one, and if we want to survive and thrive while stewarding a 8-billion person civilization, it seems that we need a wide range of new approaches to enable a major phase shift in how we see and handle our energy use.
it goes beyond the common climate change narrative that's often about CO2 emission, biodiversity loss, coral preservation, etc, and present an outlook looking at the many different interconnected variables. in a sense, it's similar to the degrowth narrative, yet way less climate-centric, and more considering of the whole set of systemic effects (mass migration, AI risk, cultural breakdown, etc).
(eye-opening content that's making me reconsider the ethics of all of our technology development and lifestyles. for related terms, see: civilizational collapse, permacomputing, regenerative lifestyles... proceed at your own peril)
a few relevant quotes/excerpts:
77 percent of agricultural land (some 40 million square km [15.4 million square miles]) is used for grazing by cattle (https://www.britannica.com/animal/cattle-livestock), sheep (https://www.britannica.com/animal/domesticated-sheep), goats (https://www.britannica.com/animal/goat), and other livestock (https://www.britannica.com/animal/livestock). This massive conversion of forests, wetlands (https://www.britannica.com/science/wetland), graslands (https://www.britannica.com/science/grassland), and other terrestrial ecosystems has produced a 60 percent decline (on average) in the number of vertebrates (https://www.britannica.com/animal/vertebrate) worldwide since 1970.