Resources

Living in the Time of Dying

Facing the truth about climate change

If you make time for only one thing on this resources page, make it this 52-minute documentary! From the film’s website: “Why is acceptance of overshoot, abrupt climate change, and the inevitability of collapse vital for living meaningfully and vibrantly? How did we get here and what attitudes and actions make sense now? Michael Shaw explores these questions through interviews featuring: Author of ‘Deep Adaptation’, Professor Jem Bendell; Dharma teacher and author of ‘Facing Extinction’, Catherine Ingram; Journalist and author of ‘The End of Ice’, Dhar Jamail; and Elder, teacher, author, and Citizen of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, Stan Rushworth.”

Post-doom (Collapse & Adaptation) Primer

These three visually rich multi-media videos, created and narrated by Michael Dowd, are a “crash course” in understanding the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW of our global predicament, with special attention given to ecological overshoot, the rise and fall of anthropocentric civilizations, the religious roots of such boom and bust (progress and regress) societies, what is still possible, what is truly futile, and how to live life fully and love the life you live even at TEOTWAWKI: “The End Of The World As We Know It”. (Youtube playlist)

The first video, “COLLAPSE 101: THE INEVITABLE FRUIT OF PROGRESS” is a 75-minute distillation of decades of scientific and historical research into cosmic, biological, and human evolution, highlighting the key differences between pro-future (sustainable) cultures and anti-future (unsustainable) civilizations. Special attention is given to (A) the evidence regarding the rise and fall (boom and bust) of unsustainable civilizations, (B) what is inevitable, what is futile, and what is nourishing and meaningful given our predicament, and (C) why human-centered notions of “progress and development” have always (with no exceptions) resulted in societal and technological simplification (i.e., collapse).

The second video, “POST GLOOM: DEEPLY ADAPTING TO REALITY” is a 60-minute “hope beyond hope” roadmap for staying sane, sober, and inspired in the context of the already well underway collapse of industrial civilization now being exacerbated by Covid-19, abrupt climate disruptions, and an economic downturn that may soon surpass the Great Depression of the 1930s. This is the most practical and innately inspiring of the three videos and is guaranteed to add value to your life and relationships regardless of whether or not you watch the other two.

The third video, “SUSTAINABILITY 101: INDIGENUITY IS NOT OPTIONAL” is a 70-minute exploration of the fundamental differences between genuine sustainability (indigenous ingenuity) and faux, or delusional, “sustainability”. The three main sections deal with: (A) the nature of symbolic language and why true sustainability requires being “faithful” to both future generations and to our biophysical creator, sustainer, and end (the biosphere); (B) the evolutionary and ecological purpose of myth and the religious necessity of science; and (C) using Christianity as a case study, Dowd shows how any religious or philosophical tradition can become more pro-future by interpreting its core concepts in an ecocentric (life-centered) way.

RECOMMENDATION: Given the visually rich and multi-disciplinary nature of the information packed into these three programs, watching at normal speed and without multi-tasking (rather than merely listening or skimming) is advised.

Collapse 101: The Inevitable Fruit of Progress
• Where are we? • What lies ahead? • What causes ecocide?
1. The Big Picture — Understanding our predicament and our trajectory
2. What’s inevitable? futile? — Accepting reality, and avoiding frustration
3. Progressing Toward Ecocide?! — History’s Verdict Re Human-Centeredness
4. Problems vs. Predicaments — 5 Stages of Awakening / Post-doom Living

Post Gloom: Deeply Adapting to Reality
• Why integrity ain’t easy • Why death is necessary • The heart of post gloom

1. Our Human Condition — Culture Rules, Cognitive Biases, Social Instincts

2. Inescapable Temptation — Mismatched Instincts, Supernormal Stimuli

3. Evidential Inspiration — Cherishing Your Star-Stuff Nature and Mortality

4. What Can We Do? — Living Meaningfully and Courageously @ TEOTWAWKI

Sustainability 101: Indigenuity Is Not Optional
• Why naming reality matters • Fidelity to time & nature? • Ecocentric reframing

1. First Things First — Our name for ‘primary reality’ is a life or death issue

2. Sustainable = Faithful — The evo-eco purpose of religion and of science

3. Unnatural vs. Undeniable — Anti- vs. pro-future religious interpretations

Audio Playlists

Post-doom readings – Hundreds of hours of freely available audiobooks and essays. To learn about these authors and subjects, see HERE. To listen, the audio playlists are on Soundcloud HERE. Those wanting the convenience of having their audio files on a thumb-drive can see here.

SOUNDCLOUD PLAYLISTS: (A) All “Grace Limits / Deep Sustainability / Deep Adaptation” playlists, (B) Post-Doom Soul Nourishment, (C) Jem Bendell & Deep Adaptation, (D) Bodhi Paul Chefurka, (E) Barbara Cecil & Dahr Jamail, (F) William R. Catton, Jr, (G) RIP Homo colossus, (H) William Ophuls, (I) John Michael Greer, (J) Richard Heinberg, (K) Tim Watkins, (L) Edward (Teddy) Goldsmith, (M) Robert Hunziker and Britt Wray and Vicki Robin, (N) John Halstead, (O) Richard Adrian Reese, (P) Paul Kingsnorth, Dougald Hine, and Dark Mountain Project, (Q) Damaris Zehner, (R) Erik Lindberg, (S) William E. Rees, (T) Adam Sacks, (U) Ugo Bardi, (V) Meteorologist Nick Humphrey, (W) Max Wilbert and Adam Sacks, (Y) Walter Youngquist, and Why technology won’t save us or the environment, and, (Z) Dowd & Barlow’s two 2009-2016 podcasts: “America’s Evolutionary Evangelists” and “Inspiring Naturalism“, and Dowd’s two 2011-2015 podcasts: “Evolving Faith” and “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness“.

Latest tracks can be found below.

Collapse / Pro-Future Grace Limits / Deep Sustainability readings at TheGreatStory.org

Let’s Talk Collapse

A most helpful (and beautifully designed) single-page guide geared towards newcomers and those unfamiliar with collapse-awareness. It is a collection of the most relevant researchers, lectures, books, podcasts, and other resources as determined through an ongoing, collaborative sampling of the collapse community (r/collapse). It also serves as the wiki for the collapse subreddit community and others who are collapse literate. (AUDIO VERSION)

Visit

Courses

Reality 101 – Video series (also easily accessible HERE) by Nate Hagens and The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future (4.5 hours) the fundamentals of the human predicament.

Documentaries

There’s No Tomorrow: Energy and Limits to Growth: (2012: 35 min)

What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire (2011 – 2:05)

The Age of Stupid (2009: 1:29)

Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater (2018: 1:04)

Surviving Progress (2011: 1:22) A mind expanding documentary narrated by Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

Four Horsemen (2012 – 1:39)

Growing Pains: The Ecological Cost of an Insatiable Economy (2019: 48 min)

The Crisis of Civilization – Full Length Documentary (2012: 1:17)

Where Are We Going – Nate Hagens (2018: 1:18)

Blind Spot – Peak Oil and the Coming Global Crisis (2008 – 1:26)

Disobedience (2016 Full Movie: 41 min)

Final Warning Limits to Growth (2015: 42 min)

Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction (2010: 1:20)

The Cross of the Moment – by Jacob Freydont-Attie (2015: 1:24)

Climate Change Film: If You Love Your Children (2014: 22 min)

Lectures

The Human Predicament by Nate Hagens (2019)

2020-2030 — Navigating a Path Between Fantasy and Doom by Nate Hagens (2020: 35 min presentation, 35 min Q&A)

Impermanence & Death Resources

A Scientific Understanding of Impermanence and Death as Sacred – Inspiring, evidence-based video, audio, and text resources and rituals related to impermanence, mortality, and death, created by Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow.

Post-doom, Collapse-related Live Presentations