This page serves to put the Metastatic Modernity video series (introduced here) in one convenient place, in chronological order. Each entry has a title, a one-line description of the content, the embedded video (can also click at lower left to watch on YouTube where comments and chapter navigation appear), and a link to the associated complementary write-up.
An aside on quality: it improves somewhat during the course of the series. I used a platform called Prezi, and through Episode 5 recorded using the browser interface, limited to 720p. I then switched to using their desktop app, which got me 1080p but worked my laptop hard enough that the fan noise became an issue. I started using an external microphone a few episodes later, so that by Episode 11 the A/V quality is sorted out. Please bear with me…
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Episode 1: Stage IV
What is modernity and what does this series aim to do?
The companion write-up is Metastatic Modernity Launch.
Episode 2: Cosmology
Astrophysical perspective on our insignificance
The companion write-up is MM #2: Cosmology.
Episode 3: Early Life
The tremendous problem-solving upon which we utterly rely today
The companion write-up is MM #3: Early Life.
Episode 4: Evolution
Simple, elegant, and subtle in the context of a co-evolved community
The companion write-up is MM #4: Evolution.
Episode 5: Our Biological Inheritance
Almost everything we are is gifted by ancestry
The companion write-up is MM #5: Our Biological Inheritance.
Episode 6: Accidental Tourists
We aren’t the pinnacle, purpose, or destiny of evolution
The companion write-up is MM #6: Accidental Tourists.
Episode 7: Ecological Nosedive
Documenting the explosive start of the sixth mass extinction.
The companion write-up is MM #7: Ecological Nosedive
Episode 8: Timeline
Putting modernity into context as a flash in terms of relevant timescales.
The companion write-up is MM #8: Timeline
Episode 9: Recipe for Disaster
How did we fall into this trap? Who’s idea was it? This is weird.
The companion write-up is MM #9: Recipe for Disaster
Episode 10: Just Ditch the Bad?
Can we keep the nifty parts and just jettison the ill effects?
The companion write-up is MM #10: Ditch the Bad?
Episode 11: What About Renewables?
Won’t we solve the problems via technology?
The companion write-up is MM #11: Renewable Salvation?
Episode 12: Human Supremacy
How we became such narcissists and why it’s deeply problematic
The companion write-up is MM #12: Human Supremacy
Episode 13: A Species out of Context
A terminal departure from our evolved, ecological context
The companion write-up is MM #13: A Species out of Context
Episode 14: Cancer Diagnosis
Humans are a victim of this self-terminating disease, and at great risk
The companion write-up is MM #14: Cancer Diagnosis
Episode 15: What Now?
A difficult transition looms. What to expect and how we might react
The companion write-up is MM #15: What Now?
Episode 16: Recap and Mythology
Tying it all together toward a unified outlook, and throwing in our cultural mythologies for contrast
The companion write-up is MM #16: Recap and Mythology
Episode 17: Being Human
Establishing who we really are, valuing the truly important
The companion write-up is MM #17: Being Human
Episode 18: What Can I Do?
How might we put our good intentions and wishes into practice?
The companion write-up is MM #18: What Can I Do?
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