What President Trump Can Do With The American System 2.0 - Flipbook - Page 32
es powering a physical economy. Taking the history of the United States as an example, going
from the peak of a wood-powered economy (in
the early 1800s) to the peak of a coal-powered
economy (in the early 1900s) corresponded to a
doubling of the energy 昀氀ux-density of the U.S.
economy. The transition from coal to the peak of
an oil-and-gas-powered economy (in the 1970s)
nearly doubled the value again, while nuclear
昀椀ssion and fusion power promise further leaps
we haven’t come close to realizing yet.
Thus, with mankind, we have a new negentropic agent, acting to generate the highest levels
of energy 昀氀ux-density that we observe in the
universe (in terms of the developing systems
that determine the complexity of the universe),
objectively and empirically placing mankind at
the pinnacle of a creative and developing universe. How has mankind been able to do this? A
profound insight comes from the ancient Greek
legend of Prometheus, who freed mankind from
the tyranny of the oligarchical gods who sought
to suppress humanity by denying them access to
their own creativity. If we look back to Aeschylus’s telling of this legend in Prometheus Bound,
Prometheus brings all forms of knowledge to
mankind: astronomy, cooking, arts, agriculture,
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and so on. But, the legend of Prometheus centers around one speci昀椀c act—the stealing of 昀椀re
from the gods—and, across thousands of years,
Prometheus remains known as the 昀椀re-bringer.
In the context of our uni昀椀ed scienti昀椀c picture
of the universe, what is the signi昀椀cance of 昀椀re
under the control and use by mankind? It is the
昀椀rst expression of a negentropic agent managing
an external energy 昀氀ux-density to expand its capabilities to transform and expand its sphere of
in昀氀uence. We can look back to the mastery of 昀椀re
to accomplish tasks that improve the conditions
of life—providing warmth, cooking food, and
enabling improvements in tool-making. These
are activities that changed mankind’s ability to
exist, activities that changed mankind’s relation
to the natural world.
Rather than our relation to the natural world
being solely mediated by our biology and instincts (as with the animals), we see the emergence of the superior mediating factor of human
creativity. But, for human creativity to be expressed and sustained through society, requires
a level of 昀椀re (energy 昀氀ux-density), supporting a
unique and new form of material and energetic
relation with the natural world, called physical
economy. From the manufacturing of goods, to
What President Trump Can Do With the American System 2.0
