We're living through such an amazing era... intense problems birthing radical solutions. Case in point:

Hey all,

I was interviewed a few weeks ago on a net radio show called "All Things Health" on the subject of one of my latest passions -- biodegradable plastics. I recently started doing sales for the Beijing-based startup BDP Green Technology which produces compostable bags that safely dissolve back into the earth. Usable for shopping, trash, packaging and a variety of other uses, this technology is completely safe for the environment!

Click here for the archived show.

This one really blew my mind. Being a casual student of history I've always thought that the 20th century was the most barbaric on record. But Steven Pinker blows a hole thru that paradigm with a lot of chunky stats that you'll be chewing on for days.

An on-going, semi-written essay floating around in the circuitry of my cellphone deals with the new age philosophy about an impending "shift in consciousness" -- the notion that humanity could experience a 100th monkey shift into another realm of consciousness.

Most of the descriptions are left wanting and really never escape the new age circuit because they sound, well, new-agey. But I've been fascinated by this mime... wondering if it was just a fad that sells workshop tickets or if there's an underlying reality being described. That perhaps the rather large number of psychonauts, self-help gurus, fringe scientists, and undoubtedly brilliant futurists are really on to something.

Its profoundly obvious that the need for such a shift exists. For we're a little too paralyzed to deal with the parallel crises we're facing and like Einstein said, we can't solve a problem at the same level of consciousness at which it was created.

Along comes Jill Bolte Taylor.

I can't remember the last time I heard someone describe reality and consciousness so succinctly, gently waving back and forth between intuitive to intellectual. There's a lot to what she's saying that could be the missing key. Pure, simple recognition that all of our problems have been fostered by left brain perception.

And maybe, just maybe, if we allow ourselves to dance in the right a little bit more we can see the inherent Oneness of the universe and thereby put an end to all of the systems, habits and technologies that are tearing that Unity apart.

Enjoy:

Since I started doing some sales work with a new biodegradable plastics company here in Beijing, my mind has been a target for all things "clean tech".

So when a friend turned me on to his brother's blog -- The Future is Being Built Now -- I felt spurned to make a post, drop a link and twinkle some neurons on the subject.

We're at a critical juncture as a species.

Climate change has already started, we're creating the planet's sixth mass extinction event, clean water is running out and of course, to make matters worse, economic chaos is spreading like a virus on a warm petri dish.

On the other hand, we're also experiencing a massive surge in clean technology that can liberate us from the  earth-destroying methods of the past. Micro wind generators, electrolysis water (that will eventually eliminate all forms of toxic cleansers), paint on solar cells and of course, my current favorite, compostable plastic from starch... these are just a few of the new inventions reaching fruition right now.

Of course, we can't just kick back and wait for a new gizmo to wipe away all of the mess we've made, but its extremely exciting to be witnessing a real shift towards green technology. The future IS now and we all need to participate in advancing this civilization along to its next phase -- when the ape-man grows up and stops shitting where he eats.