Whales have long been one of the iconic images of the environmental movement. Intelligent, beautiful, and huge. We have always liked to dominate bigger-than-us species, and we have continued to treat whales with this type of domination. We just don't do it for their blubber now. In recent year much has been done to help change our views. Research and documentation has come a long way. Unfortunately we just lost a major battle today. Another hallmark environmental action has been taken by the Bush Administration which will have huge impact on our seas. This time it is directly affecting whales. Non discriminatory action against them mind you. All whales, big and small. We know that sonar and other loud noises in the water affect whales ability to "see" underwater. The supreme court doesn't see it that way though.
Anyone who has ever head a loud impact or noise underwater effect. An anti terrorist tactic used in the middle east by the Israeli army detonates explosives randomly in harbors, where enemy divers might be approaching. These explosions produce a impact with sound and cavitation that can kill. Sonar is deadly to whales. In the deep dark areas where they hunt for food, they rely on sound to guide them. Their deep dives are as technical as when a human does a deep decompression dive, requiring decompression stops. They don't just go up and down all day. An article reporting the supreme courts decision can be found here at CNN. My friend Dieter Paulmann's organization is one of the leaders in the fight to help protect whales. The Okeanos Institute has a wealth of information and images.
Cell Phone Societies
Throughout history technology has caused massive changes in the way society interacts. Some of these were subtle, others more drastic. The earliest changes may have been as simple as improved transportation methods allowing cultures and languages to interbreed. The steam engine and how it was applied to ships and trains is an excellent example of this. In our modern era we seem to be bombarded with new technologies on a regular basis, and our society seems to change just as quickly in response.
According to the recent voter polling statistics someone age 28 is still considered a younger generation member. This generation can still remember quite vividly the time when there was no internet. When Pagers became commonly available, and then cell phones took over the world. When we look at how these technologies affect our every day lives, it is amazing to think of how we possibly could have survived without them just a few short years ago. Anyone who checks their email in the morning prior to drinking coffee or brushing their teeth, is a testament to this. The profound implications of these actions can be seen throughout societies now all over the world. It seems that some of the fundamental aspects in the way we communicate are changing. No longer do we need to know friends or families schedules, because they can be reached anywhere anytime via cell phone. The amount of phone numbers we remember in our head, has also been reduced because the cell phone will remember for you.
Cell phones are the ultimate example of technologies impact on society. The cell phone went from being waved around in rap videos in the early nineties as a symbol of wealth and fashion, to a personal accessory now available individually to each member of families living below the poverty line. And not only in developed countries. When you see an 8 year old girl in Costa Rica toting a cell phone “so I can talk to my friends”, you know something is amiss. Especially when her home still has dirt floors and only recently upgraded the palm thatch roof to tin. What is so necessary about a personal cell phone to an 8 year old? There have always been symbols of wealth and social stature that trickle down through the classes as these objects become more available. Fabrics in past centuries, cars and televisions last century, and now cell phones. They aren’t just for rappers any more.
Cell phones are so new in our societies that the medical field still cannot say for certainty what effects they may have one the human body. A thorough study needs 10 - 15 years to complete, and that is more time that cell phones have been readily available to the public. In the mean time many “smaller” studies have been done. These studies have shown that cell phones are good, and bad. It just depends on the study. Currently the world is waiting for a ten year study to be completed soon which is being funded by a number of different groups in an effort to produce a non biased result. In the mean time Canada, England, Germany, Israel, Russia and other countries of note have issued warnings that cell phones should be limited in use by adolescents, and severely limited in use by children under age ten. The implications of all these signals bouncing around in the air is yet to be seen.
What can readily be seen now is how we interact differently than before because of the cell phone. To make this point a very simple example will be used: Two people carrying on a conversation are suddenly interrupted when the cell phone of one begins to ring. Without a second thought the conversation stops and the cell phone is answered by person A, thereby starting a second conversation. Person B is now conversation-less, but does not mind. Instead person B pulls out their phone and checks for messages. Once the conversation between person A and the caller finish, the original conversation can resume. The time this takes to happen is undefined.
Now lets play this scenario again, but instead of a cell phone caller, we interrupt the original conversation with an actual person who simply demands person A’s attention, while ignoring person B. Add a little bit of alcohol to the players, and it is easy to see how an argument or even a fight might in sue! This type of blatant interruption is considered rude on all counts. Yet it happens all the time now with cell phones. The cell phone has become such a important piece of equipment that people say they feel “naked” with out it. When it rings, there is no thought that it should be answered later, or consideration given to the people physically with you. It is simply a knee jerk reaction to answer, no matter what else is going on. This is now socially acceptable......
This addiction has already been identified as physically dangerous. Several U.S. states have outlawed talking on phones without a headset while driving. There probably is no one that has not seen or heard of an accident being caused by talking on a cell phone. The pinnacle example of this is a train conductor in L.A. who failed to do his job properly because he was texting, and caused a massive loss of life in the resulting accident. The changes that occur in a person when using a cell phone are readily observed. There is a tunnel vision effect that seems to take over, especially when texting. It seems certain external inputs to the brain get shut off, and all focus narrows down to the maximum 2D area of about 2”x4”. This brings to mind images from a zombie movie. Walking and chewing gum are easy. Walking and texting, thats tough. There are benefits to this form of social acceptance of the cell phone though.
There are applications that can be installed on your phone which allow you to call yourself. You can make the caller show up on your screen as anyone. My brother has Barack Obama, and Heidi Klum calling him all the time now. I needed this application desperately recently. While eating lunch at a restaurant bar, the guy next to me started to tell me about his life. It wasn’t a bad life, its just that his jokes would finish with a outburst that was half laugh and half spit. I was thoroughly disgusted by this man. I could not bring myself to be rude and ask him to refrain from speaking, but a fake phone call would have effectively removed me from the situation without a confrontation. The applications costs $0.99, I would have paid anything at that moment to have had it. “Sorry I have to go, Heidi Klum’s calling me.”
As a society we love our toys and strive to stay up to date with the newest ones. Anyone who attempted to enter a MAC store in the weeks following the release of the new 3G iphone this summer saw how serious a matter this is. Security guards were at stores keeping the peace, and restricting access. Supply was unable to meet the demand, and major newspapers covered the story on the front page. This phone has created a cult following unlike anything before it. Most of these people are technically savvy, so it only goes with reason to say that they have had several cell phones prior to the iphone. Probably more. So what happens to all the old phones?
In the U.S. we produce over 2.6 million tons of electronic waste a year. only about 12% of this waste got recycled in 2005. With over 400,000 cell phones being thrown out every day in the U.S. it is easy to see some of the environmental issues at stake. These electronics contain batteries, heavy metals, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), just to mention a few of the hazards that are readily absorbed into our environment. If you don’t know what all these items and chemicals do when exposed to the environment, a quick crash course describes them simply with words like toxic and carcinogen. Obviously the cell phone culture has a heavy environmental impact. This culture is growing. The 8 year old girl in Costa Rica is a testament to that. A good visual that is honestly mind blowing was produced by artist Chris Jordan. If you haven’t seen his work, you need to. It takes this article and pushes it into your mind with images that words cannot do justice. Consumerism, recycling, waste, and personal responsibility are words that will come to mind though.
According to the recent voter polling statistics someone age 28 is still considered a younger generation member. This generation can still remember quite vividly the time when there was no internet. When Pagers became commonly available, and then cell phones took over the world. When we look at how these technologies affect our every day lives, it is amazing to think of how we possibly could have survived without them just a few short years ago. Anyone who checks their email in the morning prior to drinking coffee or brushing their teeth, is a testament to this. The profound implications of these actions can be seen throughout societies now all over the world. It seems that some of the fundamental aspects in the way we communicate are changing. No longer do we need to know friends or families schedules, because they can be reached anywhere anytime via cell phone. The amount of phone numbers we remember in our head, has also been reduced because the cell phone will remember for you.
Cell phones are the ultimate example of technologies impact on society. The cell phone went from being waved around in rap videos in the early nineties as a symbol of wealth and fashion, to a personal accessory now available individually to each member of families living below the poverty line. And not only in developed countries. When you see an 8 year old girl in Costa Rica toting a cell phone “so I can talk to my friends”, you know something is amiss. Especially when her home still has dirt floors and only recently upgraded the palm thatch roof to tin. What is so necessary about a personal cell phone to an 8 year old? There have always been symbols of wealth and social stature that trickle down through the classes as these objects become more available. Fabrics in past centuries, cars and televisions last century, and now cell phones. They aren’t just for rappers any more.
Cell phones are so new in our societies that the medical field still cannot say for certainty what effects they may have one the human body. A thorough study needs 10 - 15 years to complete, and that is more time that cell phones have been readily available to the public. In the mean time many “smaller” studies have been done. These studies have shown that cell phones are good, and bad. It just depends on the study. Currently the world is waiting for a ten year study to be completed soon which is being funded by a number of different groups in an effort to produce a non biased result. In the mean time Canada, England, Germany, Israel, Russia and other countries of note have issued warnings that cell phones should be limited in use by adolescents, and severely limited in use by children under age ten. The implications of all these signals bouncing around in the air is yet to be seen.
What can readily be seen now is how we interact differently than before because of the cell phone. To make this point a very simple example will be used: Two people carrying on a conversation are suddenly interrupted when the cell phone of one begins to ring. Without a second thought the conversation stops and the cell phone is answered by person A, thereby starting a second conversation. Person B is now conversation-less, but does not mind. Instead person B pulls out their phone and checks for messages. Once the conversation between person A and the caller finish, the original conversation can resume. The time this takes to happen is undefined.
Now lets play this scenario again, but instead of a cell phone caller, we interrupt the original conversation with an actual person who simply demands person A’s attention, while ignoring person B. Add a little bit of alcohol to the players, and it is easy to see how an argument or even a fight might in sue! This type of blatant interruption is considered rude on all counts. Yet it happens all the time now with cell phones. The cell phone has become such a important piece of equipment that people say they feel “naked” with out it. When it rings, there is no thought that it should be answered later, or consideration given to the people physically with you. It is simply a knee jerk reaction to answer, no matter what else is going on. This is now socially acceptable......
This addiction has already been identified as physically dangerous. Several U.S. states have outlawed talking on phones without a headset while driving. There probably is no one that has not seen or heard of an accident being caused by talking on a cell phone. The pinnacle example of this is a train conductor in L.A. who failed to do his job properly because he was texting, and caused a massive loss of life in the resulting accident. The changes that occur in a person when using a cell phone are readily observed. There is a tunnel vision effect that seems to take over, especially when texting. It seems certain external inputs to the brain get shut off, and all focus narrows down to the maximum 2D area of about 2”x4”. This brings to mind images from a zombie movie. Walking and chewing gum are easy. Walking and texting, thats tough. There are benefits to this form of social acceptance of the cell phone though.
There are applications that can be installed on your phone which allow you to call yourself. You can make the caller show up on your screen as anyone. My brother has Barack Obama, and Heidi Klum calling him all the time now. I needed this application desperately recently. While eating lunch at a restaurant bar, the guy next to me started to tell me about his life. It wasn’t a bad life, its just that his jokes would finish with a outburst that was half laugh and half spit. I was thoroughly disgusted by this man. I could not bring myself to be rude and ask him to refrain from speaking, but a fake phone call would have effectively removed me from the situation without a confrontation. The applications costs $0.99, I would have paid anything at that moment to have had it. “Sorry I have to go, Heidi Klum’s calling me.”
As a society we love our toys and strive to stay up to date with the newest ones. Anyone who attempted to enter a MAC store in the weeks following the release of the new 3G iphone this summer saw how serious a matter this is. Security guards were at stores keeping the peace, and restricting access. Supply was unable to meet the demand, and major newspapers covered the story on the front page. This phone has created a cult following unlike anything before it. Most of these people are technically savvy, so it only goes with reason to say that they have had several cell phones prior to the iphone. Probably more. So what happens to all the old phones?
In the U.S. we produce over 2.6 million tons of electronic waste a year. only about 12% of this waste got recycled in 2005. With over 400,000 cell phones being thrown out every day in the U.S. it is easy to see some of the environmental issues at stake. These electronics contain batteries, heavy metals, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), just to mention a few of the hazards that are readily absorbed into our environment. If you don’t know what all these items and chemicals do when exposed to the environment, a quick crash course describes them simply with words like toxic and carcinogen. Obviously the cell phone culture has a heavy environmental impact. This culture is growing. The 8 year old girl in Costa Rica is a testament to that. A good visual that is honestly mind blowing was produced by artist Chris Jordan. If you haven’t seen his work, you need to. It takes this article and pushes it into your mind with images that words cannot do justice. Consumerism, recycling, waste, and personal responsibility are words that will come to mind though.
Wild Cronicles - Ben Horton
National Geographic has finally finished their Wild Chronicles episode about my Brother Ben. It recaps our stay there on the island and some of the patrols we did around the island filming and documenting with the rangers and coast guard. My brother has lectured all over the U.S. about this trip and even at the T.E.D. Conference last year in Africa. Watch Video Bens Website
The Starbucker Identity Crisis
Walking through LAX airport is always an interesting experience. The airport security checkpoints are positively some of the worst in the world, but once you pass them, a whole new world awaits you that makes the harassment worthwhile. The “cultural overflow” in L.A. permeates the waiting areas - silicon implants and “alternative “ lifestyles coexisting amongst suited business travelers and in fashion hippie backpackers. Each character seems to fit into a well defined stereotype of society. It may not be necessarily politically correct to view LAX patrons this way, but it seems to be working.
In front of me an apparently lesbian couple sit who appear to be hard rockers by virtue of their appearances, tattoos, dark ripped clothing, jewelry with crosses, skulls, spikes and the accompanying piercings seem far left of mainstream. But then they surprise me for a moment. A couple of starbucks cups and a blackberry appear and suddenly these two just don’t seem to be in their respective stereotypical places. They seem quite out of place. The society challenging rebel yell of their appearances was clashing in a major way with the apparently mainstream “accessories” they sported. I know it is my own stereotype that is apparently wrong, yet it gets me thinking about a subject I have been dwelling on for some time.
As I walked down the hallway to get to my gate, I passed two starbucks in the last 100 meters before my gate. Two. It wasn’t one Starbucks and then another coffee company competitor. There were two Starbucks. It seems odd to me that we need two of these stores so close to each other. I can understand the reasoning behind one in each terminal. Or maybe one on either end of the terminal. But these were practically next to each other. The question arising from this observation was quite obvious. Do we need two? In cities from Washington D.C. to Hong Kong I have experienced that a starbucks can literally be found on almost every block. Down town in most cities you can see a sign for one from almost any vantage point. I used to severely go out of my way to avoid supporting such a “mega corporation” and search out the little guys shops, trying to support the local business. But after learning that Starbucks does indeed try and remain environmentally conscious, I feel better about purchasing from them. But that brings up another Question.
Are we really just slaves to advertising? I have to admit, walking by the first Starbucks I did not feel the need to buy a $4 designer coffee. After all I had just spent $12 on a salad and water. But, as I passed the second, the subconscious, lingering thought patterns evoking the coffee impulse buy, that I suppressed while passing the first Starbucks, came out in force. I actually had to think, “I really don’t need a coffee”. Indeed, it is not a well disguised fact that advertising often has as much or more to do with the purchase of a product, than does the quality of the product. This is what bothers me.
By and large we have become a society which is pushed and pulled by advertising. The product doesn’t really matter. It just needs to be average. The advertising on the other hand needs to be exceptional. It needs to include catch phrases like green, MPG, hybrid, digital, and high definition. These are phrases that are currently being stuck on everything. Not to mention maverick and change. The MPG and hybrid ones are driving me crazy. I looked up the Chevy Tahoe hybrid the other day to see what advantages it had for the environment. 21 and 22 MPG for highway and city travel. Thats the new more fuel efficient Tahoe. It really is a bad joke! Yet just because it carries the word hybrid along with it, the consumer can feel good about trading in their old SUV for an SUV hybrid, without really gaining anything other than a new vehicle. I see some serious issues here.
Our economy has crashed recently because of greed. The finger of blame has been pointed in many directions, but no one seems to look at the four fingers pointing at ourselves. Why do we need designer coffee on every corner? Why don’t Ford, Audi, and Volkswagen (to mention a few) bring the 50 plus MPG cars they sell overseas into America? They say we like power more than fuel efficiency. We like appearance over taste. It is sad, but true. In the mean time our wasteful and excessive spending has brought our economy to a halt. Thats ironic because it is actually what sustained it for a long time. It was part of the image of “the American Dream”, but it itself was not sustainable. Rather, it just isn’t reasonable. At this point it would be easy to talk about America as the great wasteful consumer of the world. But that is to deep and depressing for this article. Instead I think of my characters in LAX.
I see how hard it is to not fit inside a pre-packaged identity box. The stereo types of rocker, businessmen, hippie, or jock all describe the superficial details. But the core details are determined by our regional advertising campaigns. Want food? Eat this. Want to drive? You need this. Like music? Buy it here and listen like this. Actually, you need to like music and listen like this to this. Sure, we can change the colours of our clothes, hair, cars and ipods, but we aren’t really that different than the person sitting next to us even though appearances sometimes say we are. Advertising campaigns often target an individual by offering the feeling of an independent identity. How many H2 Hummer owners do you know who actually take them off the pavement, much less offroading? They probably would be just as well off with a Volkswagen TDI Golf which gets almost 70 MPG. You can even Get a Golf TDI Hybrid if you need the word hybrid to make you feel good, and bump the MPG up over 70. But you would have to buy it overseas, and we don’t sell them here because it would not sustain the oil industry. Thus we would not have to buy so much foreign oil, or possibly be in Iraq. Again, I am treading on a subject which resembles thin ice. I kind of like it though, so I will continue.
Lets go back to the two Starbuck terminal in LAX. A short while ago I decided to re-enter the patronage of Starbucks after a little education about their environmental policies. My decision was based on a system of fair trade and low waste policy worldwide in its simple form. I felt good about it. I didn’t mind becoming a Starbucker again. I felt like I wasn’t being green washed by advertising, but instead was making a conscious decision....... Something about the shear amount of these stores seems disproportionate to me though. I don’t mind waiting in line a few minutes for a coffee. I don’t need my own personal store simply to avoid that wait. After all, the time I save will probably just cause me to rack up a bill somewhere else. Is the low waste policy genuine, or does it simply reflect the global economies need to switch to a more green advertising scheme?
Full circle identity profiling. Thats what I have done in LAX. Or at least what I want to call what I have done. These many people who I attempted to stereo type, and who confused me, really are true individuals. We now live in a system that determines the majority of our decisions through subtle advertising. Yet, we still have to put all the pieces together individually. There are a million ways to do so. A skull necklace, tattoos and a blackberry. Ambercrombie and Fitch sweater, Dreadlocks and a well used backpack. The combination is surprising sometimes. I imagine that it goes against the advertising companies stereotypes too. Thats a beautiful thing.
In front of me an apparently lesbian couple sit who appear to be hard rockers by virtue of their appearances, tattoos, dark ripped clothing, jewelry with crosses, skulls, spikes and the accompanying piercings seem far left of mainstream. But then they surprise me for a moment. A couple of starbucks cups and a blackberry appear and suddenly these two just don’t seem to be in their respective stereotypical places. They seem quite out of place. The society challenging rebel yell of their appearances was clashing in a major way with the apparently mainstream “accessories” they sported. I know it is my own stereotype that is apparently wrong, yet it gets me thinking about a subject I have been dwelling on for some time.
As I walked down the hallway to get to my gate, I passed two starbucks in the last 100 meters before my gate. Two. It wasn’t one Starbucks and then another coffee company competitor. There were two Starbucks. It seems odd to me that we need two of these stores so close to each other. I can understand the reasoning behind one in each terminal. Or maybe one on either end of the terminal. But these were practically next to each other. The question arising from this observation was quite obvious. Do we need two? In cities from Washington D.C. to Hong Kong I have experienced that a starbucks can literally be found on almost every block. Down town in most cities you can see a sign for one from almost any vantage point. I used to severely go out of my way to avoid supporting such a “mega corporation” and search out the little guys shops, trying to support the local business. But after learning that Starbucks does indeed try and remain environmentally conscious, I feel better about purchasing from them. But that brings up another Question.
Are we really just slaves to advertising? I have to admit, walking by the first Starbucks I did not feel the need to buy a $4 designer coffee. After all I had just spent $12 on a salad and water. But, as I passed the second, the subconscious, lingering thought patterns evoking the coffee impulse buy, that I suppressed while passing the first Starbucks, came out in force. I actually had to think, “I really don’t need a coffee”. Indeed, it is not a well disguised fact that advertising often has as much or more to do with the purchase of a product, than does the quality of the product. This is what bothers me.
By and large we have become a society which is pushed and pulled by advertising. The product doesn’t really matter. It just needs to be average. The advertising on the other hand needs to be exceptional. It needs to include catch phrases like green, MPG, hybrid, digital, and high definition. These are phrases that are currently being stuck on everything. Not to mention maverick and change. The MPG and hybrid ones are driving me crazy. I looked up the Chevy Tahoe hybrid the other day to see what advantages it had for the environment. 21 and 22 MPG for highway and city travel. Thats the new more fuel efficient Tahoe. It really is a bad joke! Yet just because it carries the word hybrid along with it, the consumer can feel good about trading in their old SUV for an SUV hybrid, without really gaining anything other than a new vehicle. I see some serious issues here.
Our economy has crashed recently because of greed. The finger of blame has been pointed in many directions, but no one seems to look at the four fingers pointing at ourselves. Why do we need designer coffee on every corner? Why don’t Ford, Audi, and Volkswagen (to mention a few) bring the 50 plus MPG cars they sell overseas into America? They say we like power more than fuel efficiency. We like appearance over taste. It is sad, but true. In the mean time our wasteful and excessive spending has brought our economy to a halt. Thats ironic because it is actually what sustained it for a long time. It was part of the image of “the American Dream”, but it itself was not sustainable. Rather, it just isn’t reasonable. At this point it would be easy to talk about America as the great wasteful consumer of the world. But that is to deep and depressing for this article. Instead I think of my characters in LAX.
I see how hard it is to not fit inside a pre-packaged identity box. The stereo types of rocker, businessmen, hippie, or jock all describe the superficial details. But the core details are determined by our regional advertising campaigns. Want food? Eat this. Want to drive? You need this. Like music? Buy it here and listen like this. Actually, you need to like music and listen like this to this. Sure, we can change the colours of our clothes, hair, cars and ipods, but we aren’t really that different than the person sitting next to us even though appearances sometimes say we are. Advertising campaigns often target an individual by offering the feeling of an independent identity. How many H2 Hummer owners do you know who actually take them off the pavement, much less offroading? They probably would be just as well off with a Volkswagen TDI Golf which gets almost 70 MPG. You can even Get a Golf TDI Hybrid if you need the word hybrid to make you feel good, and bump the MPG up over 70. But you would have to buy it overseas, and we don’t sell them here because it would not sustain the oil industry. Thus we would not have to buy so much foreign oil, or possibly be in Iraq. Again, I am treading on a subject which resembles thin ice. I kind of like it though, so I will continue.
Lets go back to the two Starbuck terminal in LAX. A short while ago I decided to re-enter the patronage of Starbucks after a little education about their environmental policies. My decision was based on a system of fair trade and low waste policy worldwide in its simple form. I felt good about it. I didn’t mind becoming a Starbucker again. I felt like I wasn’t being green washed by advertising, but instead was making a conscious decision....... Something about the shear amount of these stores seems disproportionate to me though. I don’t mind waiting in line a few minutes for a coffee. I don’t need my own personal store simply to avoid that wait. After all, the time I save will probably just cause me to rack up a bill somewhere else. Is the low waste policy genuine, or does it simply reflect the global economies need to switch to a more green advertising scheme?
Full circle identity profiling. Thats what I have done in LAX. Or at least what I want to call what I have done. These many people who I attempted to stereo type, and who confused me, really are true individuals. We now live in a system that determines the majority of our decisions through subtle advertising. Yet, we still have to put all the pieces together individually. There are a million ways to do so. A skull necklace, tattoos and a blackberry. Ambercrombie and Fitch sweater, Dreadlocks and a well used backpack. The combination is surprising sometimes. I imagine that it goes against the advertising companies stereotypes too. Thats a beautiful thing.
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