Progonosis of a failing organism

We have understanding of how organisms, including human beings, operate as they grow to maturity then senescence leads to inevitable demise. Of course, medical people have much greater understanding of the detail including the role of the multitude of cells that control operations in the organism. The mechanism is an extraordinary extremely complex operation that has evolved naturally. It is a phenomenon that we tend to take for granted except in the relatively rare cases when the program goes wrong to a small extent. Cancer is a localized mutation that causes a degree of concern while the vast majority of cells in the organism get on with their prescribed job during their short lifetimes.

This behavior of organic organisms is common knowledge. However, the existence of a vast inorganic organism having many similar characteristics is not widely help. James Lovelock has over the years provided sufficient argument to convince knowledgeable people that the ecosystem is a gigantic inorganic organism with operation controlled by the interaction of a host of organic and inorganic processes. It has been given the name, Gaia. Its operation is similar in some respects to that of natural biological organisms. A wide range of natural processes emulate the role of cells in biological organisms.

Civilization is also a vast organism we can call Tityas, the delinquent son of Gaia. It is growing rapidly as its multitude of human beings use a variety of tools to act like cells. But, unlike the cells in natural organisms, these cells are not programmed to carry out specialized constructive operations. Many of them do but there are sufficient rogues to foster irrevocable obesity of the organism. Intangible money flow is the life blood of this organism even though it is often contaminated by greed. The cells in under developed regions of this organism are vainly striving to attain healthy operations while those in over developed regions continue their cancerous malfeasance. The organism is entering its senescence with few cells operating benignly. The inevitable demise of civilization will entail a die off of much of the population coupled with disintegration of much of the infrastructure that provides them with goods and services.

The only treatment for the disease this organism is suffering from is for the Earth's Lodgers' Activity Management (ELAM) movement's large dose of understanding influencing the operation of a high proportion of the cells of Tityas. Is there hope of this treatment eventuating?

A dose of reality every day

Every day:

•  twenty four hours go by as time passes in the natural operational cycles, day/night, summer/autumn/winter/spring.
•  more people are born than die in processes that happen naturally
• all people, organisms and plants age due to irrevocable natural processes
• the inanimate structures of civilization also irrevocably age due to irrevocable natural processes,  largely forms of friction
• so do cars, trucks, ships and airliners as they use up irreplaceable fuel produced from the global store of crude oil for operation
• water recycles naturally through evaporation and precipitation in the hydrological cycle but large amounts are contaminated by industrial processes
• but systems of civilization use up aquifer water (such as the Great Artesian Basin) unsustainably 
• carbohydrates are produced using carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis stage in plants of the natural carbon cycle
• carbon dioxide is produced from carbohydrates in the respiration stage in animals in the natural carbon cycle 
• the carbon cycle was roughly in balance for eons before technological systems started using fossil fuels so now the emission rate is  much greater than the absorption rate
• hydrocarbons are converted in fossil fuel combustion in temporary systems made of irreplaceable materials to increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere sufficiently to change the climate and acidify and warm the ocean unnaturally
• hydrocarbons in fossil fuels are produced naturally at high pressures at such a slow rate that this does not influence the operation of civilization 
• the combustion of coal in aging power plants irreversibly emits gaseous, liquid and particular pollutants contributing to global warming, ocean acidification and harming organisms, including humans
• many millions of barrels of oil out of the crustal store are destroyed in a variety of manners, many of which are not very useful
• nitrogen cycles unnaturally in temporary plants to produce artificial fertilizers and naturally in biological  processes.
• phosphorus is so necessary in food production that its declining availability will increase starvation
• vast amounts of soil nutrients are flushed out from cities to contaminate waters
• all energy flows end up as waste heat after doing useless or useful positive work in natural and technological processes
• various forms of friction do negative work in transforming useful material to irrevocable waste during operations
• but friction also enables birds and airplanes to fly
• hearts pump blood against friction
• unexpected climatic events such as floods, droughts, storms, heat waves, cold spells, wild fires, sea level rise are growing evidence of climate change
• creation of fiat money increases the capability of people to continue their ravishing of the natural life support systems only so long as the value of the money is not irrevocably degraded by continuing inflation 
• society is  beguiled with the temporary availability of all forms of electronic gadgets for business, computing, obtaining information, banking, online shopping, communication and socializing.
• physical scientists continue using the latest technology to advance the frontiers of knowledge of how nature works, so illustrating how little was previously understood, while continuning to not take the impact of fundamentals into account
• social scientists continue to speculate on the behavior of all levels of the human race without understanding the limitations imposed by physical reality

 These activities will continue tomorrow and every day as long as natural forces allow society and its technological infrastructure to get away with freely degrading the eco systems and divesting natural material wealth. Society is so entranced with the power of fiat money that they will continue to ignore physical reality until it is too late to power down comfortably.