The title of this SOS Memo is the same as the name of the final chapter of our book:
Jolted into Thinking Differently.
So what's it going to take to make that happen in time for us to avoid the extinction of Homo sapiens? As I type this sentence, I am reminded of a famous quote by Steve Jobs -- one that I use in all of my public talks.
As for the fact that many people think I may have become a little bit "crazy" these days, I take it as a compliment. And, to be sure, I don't ever intend to stop. That's because once we discover the most important topic in the history of humanity -- we must never stop doing all that we can to figure out a solution to humankind's most serious problem.
As for the possible demise of our species, I doubt that very many of the world's adult population -- roughly six billion people -- EVER think about it very much. But if we're going to have a chance of maximizing the chances for our longterm survival as a species, the days of ignoring the elephant in the room is over.
That is the precise reason we wrote
Outcry and that is what I talk about in all of my public presentations, whether I am addressing a handful of people or thousands. Since the Covid-19 era began, I have been doing a lot of "virtual" presentations -- and my largest one to date is coming up soon, on August 15.
Here is my first slide for that presentation:
As you can see, my presentation will be part of a three-day virtual
Plant-Stock conference from August 14-16. This event began as an outdoor event at the Esselstyn family farm in the Hudson Valley of New York in 2011.
It takes its name from the famed Woodstock event of 1969 that took place just 21 miles from the farm. Plant-Stock has always been an outdoor gathering under a big tent -- until this year -- because of Covid, it has morphed into a virtual event.
The silver lining in all of this is that many more people will be able to experience this conference at a mere fraction of the cost of traveling to upstate New York for three days.
There are 19 Speakers. In addition to the Esselstyn family including Rip, Caldwell, Ann and Jane, here are the images of fifteen more, including yours truly:
As you can see in the image below, the theme for this year's conference is"
Science. Inspiration. Activation!
The total 3-day conference price is $97 -- no matter how many people you can crowd around your desk-top computer screen or your screen-mirroring giant TV. I encourage you to sign up soon and then watch all of the sessions in the luxury of your own home.
Complete access to video recordings of all sessions is available for one year -- so that you can continue enjoying and learning from these sessions at your convenience.
Weekend Schedule for August 14-16
Friday from 5 pm to 9 pm
Saturday from 9 am to 7:30 pm
(I am on at 2:30 pm on Saturday)
Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm
For all conference details and sign-up information, click this link:
For a preview of all of my slides for August 15:
The Bottom Line.
As stated in the title of this SOS Memo, if we are to survive longterm as a species, it really is all about learning to think differently -- a process as suggested below, that may require us to eventually be...
With that in mind, I want to share with you a few paragraphs that appear in the Epilog of Outcry.
In September of 2018, I posted one of my "bite
-
size" blogs (BSBs) entitled, "Creative Idea for Saving Our Civilization." Since then, I have posted almost one hundred more, changing the
name from
bite-size blogs
to SOS Memos in April of 2019. Throughout the past eighteen months, I have always strived to make it abundantly clear that these blogs are aimed at
sparking the global conversation
regarding the urgent need to totally reinvent our entire civilization
-
to the extent necessary to satisfy Mother Nature.
In the pages ahead, we have only included the Memos that are relevant to the evolving vision of how we can possibly reinvent the way we live
-
soon enough, and to the extent necessary, to prevent the near-term extinction of our species. Some of the scientists covered in Chapter
Four don't believe that we have a chance of saving ourselves, while others are a bit more
optimistic about our chances. Consider us as members of that second group.
That's because we have always felt that if a way of life could be en
visioned, that it is possible for it to become a reality. And if that vision is based on technology that is available today in 2020, then we think our chances are even better.
Want to share this SOS Memo with others using email or social media, just copy this link and send it along to them.
Jolted into Thinking Differently. A Necessity.
In closing today, while it may sound a bit self-serving, we sincerely believe that the more people who read
Outcry
-- the more people will be talking about our sustainability dilemma that we all face together. And as soon as that
conversation
becomes widespread enough and loud enough -- we will be well on our way to learning how to live in harmony with nature indefinitely.
