Try guessing the common glue that connects the following topics often covered on this blog in recent years:

1. The Sixth Mass Extinction is a scary prospect
2. Space colonization is a fantasy
3. Agriculture and subsequent inventions spell bad news
4. Meat-brains are not all that impressive
5. Dualism drives a sense of separateness

A clue to the glue is that one word will do. And it’s not in the title, exactly. Have I spoiled the challenge with too many hints? Well, in any case, the word is: ecology.

Obviously, the first item is an ecological concern. The second is borne of total ecological ignorance. The third marks a turning point in our ecological relationships—from embedded participants to would-be masters. Our most consequential mental shortcoming is believing we can invent replacements for ecology that have long-term sustainable potential. And the last gets at the philosophical (metaphysical) underpinning that accompanies our ecological estrangement.

This post highlights yet another failure on the ecology front that has overlap bearing on these themes. That failure is the EcoSphere aquaria. An EcoSphere is a desktop curio containing a small, sealed community of life meant to sustain itself for long periods. And it does, sort-of: for a whole hundred-thousandth of timescales relevant to ecology and evolution. Yay? Only 99.999% more to go! You’re almost there!

Views: 975