Nate’s talk (The Great Simplification)

18/04/2024

Nate Hagens is a figure in discussions of energy, sustainability, and human behavior. He holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont and teaches courses on energy and the environment at the University of Minnesota. He is also the Director of the Institute for the study of Energy & our Future.

Nate is known for his interdisciplinary approach, drawing from economics, ecology, and psychology to understand the complex interactions between humans and the environment. He highlights the role of energy in shaping human societies and that our current economic and social systems are unsustainable in the long term due to their reliance on finite resources. His work covers wide topics, including energy depletion, ecological overshoot, and the psychological barriers to addressing these challenges. He speaks to raise awareness about the need for a more holistic and sustainable approach to human development.

Nate presented his work and research to the Auroville community in a series of 6 talks. He started with a brief introduction to his talk, followed by 5 presentations and Q&A sessions with the attendees.

The topics of the talks were as follows

Behavioral roots of global challenges

Energy, tech, money, & the human ecosystem

Systems ecology and the environment

The superorganism and the future

A Framework for Responses

The full video presentation of each talk can be found by clicking on the respective topic.

Written by Gwjwn