Predicting the Environment’s Future Based on Its Past
Though I agree with very few of conservative columnist George Will’s conclusions, I find him to be one of the most impressive intellectuals in our world today. And occasionally, he will let out with something that really resonates with me, like the fallacy of predicting that the future will be a continuation of the past. As he points out, “The future always looks like the past – right up to the point it looks like something different.”
Personally, I see this as inconsistent with some of his conservative principles, and a justification for an abrupt change in some of our practices that are so aggressively depleting our natural resources and destroying our environment. If you believe that the future could look markedly different from the past, doesn’t that mean that we could be on the precipice (as our scientists almost uniformly tell us) of a network of environmental disasters that will have devastating effects for humanity and all life forms?
I was sitting at the train station, writing blog posts, and I happened to overhear one side of a cell phone conversation of the guy sitting next to me, who, before the phone rang, was working on his laptop as well. Apparently, the young son of a close friend or relative had hit his head on a kitchen counter and needed to be taken to the hospital. I couldn’t help notice how calm, helpful, and encouraging the man next to me was in his approach.
Whenever possible, I like to take the train as opposed to renting a car. It’s normally less expensive, it’s more sustainable, and affords me the opportunity to read, write, and talk to people.
It appears that our client Vision Motors may have succeeded in securing the capital it needs to begin soon manufacturing its uniquely attractive design of light-duty battery-electric trucks. That will mean an important new set of responsibilities for me. Vision’s CEO Brooks Agnew and I have become friends and colleagues over the last couple of years, and Brooks has repeatedly asked me to act as the company’s chief marketing officer. In fact, he’s often quipped during our phone calls, “Hey, Craig, I turned down someone else for the marketing job today; I told ‘em, ‘No, sorry, that position’s reserved for Craig Shields.’” I’m flattered. 
