For My Kids When I Am Gone

Humans have universal languages. We have our differences, sure, but no matter how different our cultures, we all understand feelings. You can look at a painting or a photo and feel something. Watch a movie or hear a song, and the emotions resonate. Fashion, books, statues—these are all universal languages. They’re what make the human experience so special. When you experience them, you start to notice things you never saw before. For lack of a better word—and to avoid getting too “artsy-fartsy”—this is how I feel about energy.

Every day, we operate black boxes—devices whose inner workings we rarely understand, but whose results we rely on without a second thought. This concept is explored in Vaclav Smil’s book How the World Really Works. These devices, much like the universal languages I mentioned, are an essential part of our shared human experience. Energy, in particular, is universal. Everyone uses it—except perhaps the poorest billion living in slums in the developing world. You flip a switch, and the lights turn on. There isnt much comprehension past that. Few consider how or why, much less the larger system at play.

It’s in how we power our world that I find the universal languages—and, more importantly, the universal problems: human problems. I have a deep respect for the rural man—the farmer who cares for his land, who grows corn to feed people he’ll never meet, and generates power to illuminate streets he’ll never walk down. These outliers understand how fragile and precious our resources are. They know that every part of the ecosystem must work in harmony, but far too often, people struggle to grasp this.

We need all forms of energy: oil and gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric, hydrogen, geothermal, coal, nuclear. There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution, at least not with our current technologies. These sources are created all around the world—some places have more, others less—but every corner of the Earth contributes its natural resources. Whether these resources are used locally or shipped across the globe, the repercussions of their use are felt worldwide. It’s a delicate balancing act, one that impacts the planet on a global scale.

In a world woven together by generations of cultural shifts and interactions, why do we continue to fight over issues that could ultimately end this human experience as we know it? A painting, after all, is felt by people across the world, locked in a museum, on display for all to see. Perhaps issues like energy won’t truly be understood until they’re framed and painted, written and sung about—for future generations to know the cost of our actions, when corn no longer grows.

Check out: How the World Really Works – Vaclav Smil
https://books.apple.com/us/book/how-the-world-really-works/id1580661544