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About me:: I've been a photojournalist and a computer scientist (working in datacom R&D during the bubble and the Tech Wreck), and am now a Canadian federal public servant. I became marginally aware of The Mess in the early '70s, but put that on hold to become part of it for the next 30 years.

I woke up to it fully three years ago when I discovered the convergence of Peak Oil and climate change. Since then I've expanded my awareness of the problem set to include all the usual suspects, and codified it into what I call the 3E Crisis of Energy, Ecology and Economics.

After a 2-year depression brought on by the recognition of the inherently insoluble nature of The Mess, I've arrived at a personal point of equilibrium. This process has been mediated by the tenets of Deep Ecology, the writings of Dan Quinn, Russ Hopfenberg, our own George Mobus, and Alan Watts.

Despite my reductionist background, I've found much personal value in Buddhist teachings (especially Zen) and even their modern re-interpretation by the likes of Eckhart Tolle and Ram Dass.

While these teachings do not lend themselves to the search for quantifiable solutions, I'm convinced that they are an essential part of any healthy personal approach to The Mess. That's because they promote personal equilibrium and the development of wisdom, and also because they incorporate what I see and the bedrock worldview of this process -- the awareness that life is a web and that we are a part of it, rather than apart from it.

In terms of the goals of this group, I haven't done much formal work in that direction. However, the contacts I've made though my web site and other real and virtual encounters have made it abundantly clear that most people are not making sense of the situation, and this needs to be addressed as priority one. Communities and tools that promote this are critical at this juncture, but part of me is still unconvinced that we have enough time left to make a difference. Having said that, we clever monkeys must keep constantly busy working on something, and promoting the growth of wisdom, understanding and compassion looks to be one of the noblest of undertakings -- no matter how much or how little time we have.

Web site:: http://www.paulchefurka.ca

Comment Wall (3 comments)

At 1:30 on June 26, 2008, George E. Mobus said…: Paul!

Wow, I was about to get hold of you about this group! Did Ken Smail alert you? I think we need someone with their finger on the pulse of population issues to help guide that effort. Ken didn't feel he would be able to, John Feeney is also holding off till he sees where it is going. But it would be great if you jumped in on the matter.

Of course your breadth of knowledge can help out in many areas, but it would be nice for someone (like you!) to take charge of organizing the population challenge issue.

See you on-line.

George

At 20:44 on June 26, 2008, David Price said…: Hi Paul,

Thanks for joining: it's great to have you here.

If you haven't already done so, a couple of members whose profiles you might like to explore are: Andy Streich Mark Szpakowski (in addition to George below).

David

At 20:57 on June 30, 2008, Andy Streich said…: Hey Paul,

Like George, I was going to invite you to join. Your presence here is very welcome.

Andy