E77| Nate Hagens on Energy Blindness, Climate & the Future of Growth (Commons Series III)
A dialogue on humanity’s deep relation with energy in the context of fossil fuels, growth, climate, and meaning in life, with energy expert Nate Hagens.
-
00:00 – Introduction
02:40 – The What & Why of Energy Blindness & Overview of the Great Simplication
20:05 – On polarisation regarding critical subjects and how Nate meets this in the context of his life and work
36:50 – On the Future of Energy, Limits To Growth, Realities of Climate Change & Alex Epstein
55:50 – On the relation between blind growth, the deep commons of value and exchange, and meaning in life
1:07:20 – On personal self-relating with systemic pattern, and looking to the future
-
Nate is a well-known speaker on the big picture issues facing human society and currently teaches a systems synthesis Honors seminar at the University of Minnesota ‘Reality 101 – A Survey of the Human Predicament’ Nate is on the Boards of Post Carbon Institute, Bottleneck Foundation, IIER and Institute for the Study of Energy and the Future. Previously, he was lead editor of The Oil Drum, one of the most popular and respected websites for analysis and discussion of global energy supplies and the future implications of the upcoming energy transition.
Nate’s presentations address the opportunities and constraints we face after the coming peak of global economic growth. On the supply side, Nate focuses on the interrelationship between debt-based financial markets and natural resources, particularly energy with and the unique (and so far unplanned for) risks from the coming ‘Great Simplification’. On the demand side, Nate addresses the evolutionarily-derived underpinnings to status, addiction, and our aversion to acting about the future and offers suggestions on how individuals and society might better adapt to the coming decades. Ultimately, Nate’s talks attempt to provide a framework for people who would like to participate in shaping the future.
Nate has appeared on PBS, BBC, ABC and NPR, and has lectured around the world. He holds a Masters Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. Previously Nate was President of Sanctuary Asset Management and a Vice President at the investment firms Salomon Brothers and Lehman Brothers.
Watch Nate’s The Great Simplification Podcast on YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@thegreatsimplification
Access The Great Simplification Hub @ https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/
Nate recommended sharing this short clip in accompaniment with this podcast here: https://youtu.be/lgoD9q3A5RU
-
APPLE PODCASTS | OVERCAST | SPOTIFY | RSS | SOUNDCLOUD | GOOGLE PLAY | YOUTUBE
-
Voicecraft conversations expand how the world is known.
We create media that seeks to add value to the commons, with interests in the fundamental dynamics of psyche, culture, and nature.
Voicecraft is comprised of a media & events platform, academy, and participatory membership network: cultivating culture in participation with open hearts and dedicated minds.
Support this project
This project is fueled by support on Patreon. If you appreciate the work, please consider becoming a Patron. Patrons nominate a monthly amount to contribute, in USD.
Or, make a one time donation using the button below.
Participate
You can learn about the Voicecraft Network here. If scheduled, below you’ll find a selection of online & in-person events which explore similar themes to the Voicecraft podcast, in the same spirit of participation.
Of those who have experienced psychedelics, few would say they didn't leave a lasting impression. The intention of this session is to explore how these experiences have shaped us personally, how we relate to psychedelics now, and the highest potential we see for their role in modern culture.
More from the Voicecraft Podcast
What if the feminine also calls for war? Exploring the primal, cultural, and psychological dimensions of war through the interplay of masculine and feminine energies. Pamela von Sabljar, Adriana Forte, Simon van der Els and Tim Adalin continue Voicecraft’s series exploring the meaning of the feminine and masculine.
Continuing Voicecraft’s private and public exploration of the deep philosophy of technology and design, in consideration of the needs of vitality and life. For those with serious interest in thinking through the creation of structures that support thriving—and who want to incorporate more than just thinking in that process.
Welcoming Eric Harris-Braun, pioneering co-founder of Holochain and other software technologies, alongside Forrest Landry, philosopher and master craftsman. They’re joined by Voicecraft members Tom Lyons in the opening position, and the philosopher Daniel Garner of O.G. Rose.
An exploration into the meaning of conversational alchemy, embodiment, friendship and polymathy. This dialogue connects Voicecraft members O.G. Rose (philosopher), Simon van der Els, (shamanic practitioner and microbiology PhD), and community builder Tom Lyons.
What makes men and women different? Pamela von Sabljar joins Tim Adalin to continue Voicecraft’s exploration into the energetic, cultural, scientific and metaphysical depths and context of this question and its related implications.
Pamela is a new breed of speaker, facilitator, and mentor working at the evolutionary edge. She practices dialoguing, sensing, creating, and leading from this ever-emergent edge. She calls this Living from Eros.
What makes change possible? How does the way we think about communication.. influence the technologies.. which influence our social horizons?
Welcoming the pioneering thinker behind the concept of ‘Grammatics’, co-founder of Holochain Eric Harris-Braun, alongside Tim Adalin and founder of the Infinite Reality Engine, Josh Field.
In what way do ideas shape the appearance of reality? How can metaphysics open or close us to deeper participation with nature? Renowned philosophers of mind Bernardo Kastrup and Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes join Tim Adalin for a dialogue informed by Kastrup’s analytic idealism, and Sjöstedt-Hughes’ thinking on Bergson, Whitehead, Huxley, Spinoza, and others.
An opening to questions, blind spots, and revelations of sexuality, biology, culture, psychology, nature, politics and metaphysics, drawn together by the meaning of the masculine and the feminine.
In this follow up to 'Is The Earth Enough?', Layman Pascal, Cadell Last, Sean Kelly and Simon van der Els extend the conversation with reference to the concepts of the Anthropocene, Global Brain, and the Noosphere. They consider the influences upon humanity, and our influences in turn, on this hyperconnected Earth.
Why do we value stories, and how do stories transmit value? Marc Gafni joins Tim Adalin for a dialogue on the philosophy of story, risk, and trust in the context of personal and cultural transformation. Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker and social activist, holding a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, as well as Orthodox rabbinic ordination.
Is the Earth enough? And are we worthy of the Earth? Layman Pascal, Cadell Last, Sean Kelly and Simon van der Els drop in to the Voicecraft nexus to meet these questions. This episode marks a new format for Voicecraft, where voices are invited to shape a dialogic response to a pre-recorded question or catalyst.
Daniel Garner of O.G. Rose joins Tim Adalin for a dialogue on critical tensions and opportunities facing the project of cultural shamanism associated with Voicecraft and the Liminal Web. O.G. Rose is a writer, philosopher, and author of Belonging Again: An Address, which explores the conditions of possibility for the realisation of ‘a sense of freedom and beauty among Global Pluralism without retreating or proving naïve.’ Daniel is a core contributing member to the Voicecraft Network.
Welcoming paleontologist-futurist Michael Garfield for a dialogue working with themes of wiser innovation, collective intelligence, network philosophy, and the complexity of thinking across across silos of specialist disciplines and cultural logics in the face of evolution, exponential technology and existential risk.
What does it mean to be conscious? What is the relationship between consciousness and the unconscious? What is the connection between consciousness and conscience? Recorded live in Melbourne for August's Underground Philosophy, Cameron Duffy (philosopher, counsellor and independent researcher) joins Tim Adalin for a dialogue on the mystery of consciousness.
Is there hope for the internet and decentralised communications technology? This dialogue explores the existential context, shadow, and potential associated with emerging network coordination technologies, with civilisation theorist and political economist Michel Bauwens, regenerative entrepreneur and collective intelligence practitioner Ferananda Ibarra, and technology design philosopher and Infinite Reality Engine co-founder Josh Field.
A dialogue that relates with notions of God, choice, difference, intuition, belonging, confession, and more, with Jordan Hall, Forrest Landry and Joey S. Robinson II.
Alex Ebert joins Tim Adalin for a dialogue exploring the political, social, psychological and metaphysical dynamics of the Overton window, the present limits of socially acceptable policy and opinion. Alex is an incidental musician and philosopher.
Matthew Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher, writer, teacher, and philosopher applying process-relational thought across the natural and social sciences, as well as to the study of consciousness. O.G. Rose is a writer, philosopher, and author of Belonging Again: An Address, which explores the conditions of possibility for the realisation of ‘a sense of freedom and beauty among Global Pluralism without retreating or proving naïve.’ This was recorded as a live podcast recording for the Voicecraft Network.
Relating with the generative edge of socio-cultural organisation, working with the contextual lenses of evolution, biology, capital, politics, philosophy, technology, anthropology, and more, w/ Cadell Last, Simon van der Els, Valeria Ferreira, Jurnee Manu and Tim Adalin.
Guy Sengstock is a philosopher, founder of Circling and a master of dialogic practice. He returns to the podcast for a dialogue which drew on themes of generativity, instability, beauty, power, relational intelligence, and the relationship between enlightenment and economics.
A living inquiry into the relation between praxis, ecology, authority and ultimacy, with award-winning lecturer and renowned thinker John Vervaeke. The dialogue begins with reflection on the evolution and self-correction of John’s work over recent years.