Stewart Brand coined the term "personal computer" and was one of the first to envision what digital technology would become. He knows it got messy. He thinks tech can clean itself up.
...Mr. Brand opened the original "Whole Earth Catalog" by writing, "We are as Gods and we might as well get good at it." In his 2007 book, "Whole Earth Discipline," he modified his call to arms: "We are as Gods and HAVE to get good at it." His book endorsed nuclear power, genetically modified crops, dense cities and geoengineering.
The book was greeted by many environmentalists with outrage, and many still view him as a turncoat.
Nonetheless he has held fast to his view that nuclear power will be necessary to make the transition away from fossil fuels. At the same time, he acknowledges that he has been surprised by the rapid progress being made in other sustainable technologies. Solar got better faster than he ever expected, he said, as did battery capacity. In the end, for Mr. Brand it remains a question of perspective.
Not long ago he tweeted: "Interesting: how much bad news is anecdotal and good news is statistical. (And how invisible the statistical is.) Still, if only one of the two can be good news, I would rather it be the statistical. It accumulates toward qualitative change that lasts." nyt
...Mr. Brand opened the original "Whole Earth Catalog" by writing, "We are as Gods and we might as well get good at it." In his 2007 book, "Whole Earth Discipline," he modified his call to arms: "We are as Gods and HAVE to get good at it." His book endorsed nuclear power, genetically modified crops, dense cities and geoengineering.
The book was greeted by many environmentalists with outrage, and many still view him as a turncoat.
Nonetheless he has held fast to his view that nuclear power will be necessary to make the transition away from fossil fuels. At the same time, he acknowledges that he has been surprised by the rapid progress being made in other sustainable technologies. Solar got better faster than he ever expected, he said, as did battery capacity. In the end, for Mr. Brand it remains a question of perspective.
Not long ago he tweeted: "Interesting: how much bad news is anecdotal and good news is statistical. (And how invisible the statistical is.) Still, if only one of the two can be good news, I would rather it be the statistical. It accumulates toward qualitative change that lasts." nyt
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