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Civalia
IS IT TOO LATE?The earth is suffering from mounting global problems; heating of the oceans, climate change, buildup of garbage and trash, annually occurring dead spots in the ocean, air pollution, overpopulation, loss of topsoil to name a few.
Are we humans the organism of these planetary diseases? Is there a reasonable and humane treatment for this malady? Is it already too late?
John Tantivy believes he has found the solution. Overcoming misconceptions about energy transformation and entropy, battling the economic chimera of infinite growth, addressing property laws contrary to physical reality, John and his friends set out to build a community in the Upper North Platte River Valley of Carbon Country, Wyoming.
But to sustain it, to create a self-sufficient community providing residents with satisfying, fulling lives, in harmony with the physical laws of the Universe, he must also create an underlying moral code. A Declaration of Life.
The result? Civalia. An intentional community design to maximize life satisfaction while at the same time addressing the root cause of the major, interlocking, environmental problems appearing in the world today.
Don’t believe it’s possible? Join John as he tackles the physics and economics necessary to overcome the biggest global challenge of our time and create a lasting solution.
Are we humans the organism of these planetary diseases? Is there a reasonable and humane treatment for this malady? Is it already too late?
John Tantivy believes he has found the solution. Overcoming misconceptions about energy transformation and entropy, battling the economic chimera of infinite growth, addressing property laws contrary to physical reality, John and his friends set out to build a community in the Upper North Platte River Valley of Carbon Country, Wyoming.
But to sustain it, to create a self-sufficient community providing residents with satisfying, fulling lives, in harmony with the physical laws of the Universe, he must also create an underlying moral code. A Declaration of Life.
The result? Civalia. An intentional community design to maximize life satisfaction while at the same time addressing the root cause of the major, interlocking, environmental problems appearing in the world today.
Don’t believe it’s possible? Join John as he tackles the physics and economics necessary to overcome the biggest global challenge of our time and create a lasting solution.
557 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 10, 2023
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 9, 2020
Sorry, I "added" this book with what is really a "review". I will echo that addition with some modification so that the book has a review.
First, here is what Amazon's synopsis is:
John Tantivy and his friends overcome their cultural legacies to ascertain the root of mounting global problems such as heating of the oceans, climate change, buildup of garbage and trash, annually occurring dead spots in the oceans, air pollution, overpopulation, and loss of topsoil, i.e. entropy buildup.Armed with this knowledge, they design and build a cooperative community intended to redress these problems, Civalia, in the Upper North Platte River Valley of Carbon County, Wyoming, south of the city of Saratoga. To complete Civalia, they must overcome misconceptions about energy transformations and entropy, as well as battling the economic chimera of infinite growth, property laws that are contrary to physical reality, and a predatory neighbor.The result is a growing collection of self-sufficient communities providing their residents with satisfying, fulfilling lives in harmony with the physical laws of the Universe.
Only 4 people (but not me) have reviewed the book on Amazon with an average of 4.7 stars.
My slightly edited review:
I wanted to see if others were enthused/confused by this book - I was surprised to see that there was no mention of it. The surprising part was that BookBub has had an ad for it for some time now as "A Roadmap for Averting Human Destruction of the Earth". Sounded worth a read.
It is a novel that reads like a diary about a couple of engineer/scientists that have discussed on and off for many years what the basic requirement for a sustainable Earth/human relationship would look like.
The "confusing" part for me was both the basic physics and the economics.
I am schooled as an engineer so I recognize all of the physical terms and some of the argument about "entropy", and Earth's radiant energy system (I did the programming for the CERES satellite instrument). Where I need a little more insight is how the entropy perspective explains our current global warming and what a sustainable human culture would look like, most specifically whether the "domain" size restriction would support Earth's current human population.
I am interested enough after reading this book to study that further.
On the economic issue-I'm pretty much adrift. I am a little careful when in comes to my personal finances; when it comes to CDO, CLO, and where the banks and Fed get their money from I do get it. Where did the big $$$$$ come from when the economy needed to be bailed out due to COVID-19??
The "enthused" part of this book for me comes from my love of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Most of my friends cannot understand what I see in AS; it is mostly the ethic that is based on rationality. I despise her economics which ignores the greed which I see as the primary driver in our economy (our corporate barons are NOT driven by the virtues espoused in John Galt's speech and practiced by the heros and heroines of AS business leaders); and I despise her politics which does not offer any regulation of greed (as opposed to innovation).
Civalia seems to offer a rationally derived ethic with a more consistent politic and economic structure.
There are appendices that explain the physics and economic aspects; most of the physics part I get - still that little part of entropy eludes me - the economics part: well I sure get that "positive feedback" might be an explanation for our bubble/bust economy but the practice in a "negative feedback" system eludes me.
AND, the fictional story kept me interested also. As is AS, the story is about applied rationality, most of the players are good people, the villains are bad, and the good guys win in the end. I would recommend this book to fans of Atlas Shrugged: the ethical system is more lived than explicit but much the same, the heroes are more realistic and less grandiose, the tragedy is less compelling but the outcome more possible.
I have never rated a book on GoodReads before and now that I see there is no place to offer a rating I'm wondering what will happen to this "review". I give it a rating of 4.5 stars.
First, here is what Amazon's synopsis is:
John Tantivy and his friends overcome their cultural legacies to ascertain the root of mounting global problems such as heating of the oceans, climate change, buildup of garbage and trash, annually occurring dead spots in the oceans, air pollution, overpopulation, and loss of topsoil, i.e. entropy buildup.Armed with this knowledge, they design and build a cooperative community intended to redress these problems, Civalia, in the Upper North Platte River Valley of Carbon County, Wyoming, south of the city of Saratoga. To complete Civalia, they must overcome misconceptions about energy transformations and entropy, as well as battling the economic chimera of infinite growth, property laws that are contrary to physical reality, and a predatory neighbor.The result is a growing collection of self-sufficient communities providing their residents with satisfying, fulfilling lives in harmony with the physical laws of the Universe.
Only 4 people (but not me) have reviewed the book on Amazon with an average of 4.7 stars.
My slightly edited review:
I wanted to see if others were enthused/confused by this book - I was surprised to see that there was no mention of it. The surprising part was that BookBub has had an ad for it for some time now as "A Roadmap for Averting Human Destruction of the Earth". Sounded worth a read.
It is a novel that reads like a diary about a couple of engineer/scientists that have discussed on and off for many years what the basic requirement for a sustainable Earth/human relationship would look like.
The "confusing" part for me was both the basic physics and the economics.
I am schooled as an engineer so I recognize all of the physical terms and some of the argument about "entropy", and Earth's radiant energy system (I did the programming for the CERES satellite instrument). Where I need a little more insight is how the entropy perspective explains our current global warming and what a sustainable human culture would look like, most specifically whether the "domain" size restriction would support Earth's current human population.
I am interested enough after reading this book to study that further.
On the economic issue-I'm pretty much adrift. I am a little careful when in comes to my personal finances; when it comes to CDO, CLO, and where the banks and Fed get their money from I do get it. Where did the big $$$$$ come from when the economy needed to be bailed out due to COVID-19??
The "enthused" part of this book for me comes from my love of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Most of my friends cannot understand what I see in AS; it is mostly the ethic that is based on rationality. I despise her economics which ignores the greed which I see as the primary driver in our economy (our corporate barons are NOT driven by the virtues espoused in John Galt's speech and practiced by the heros and heroines of AS business leaders); and I despise her politics which does not offer any regulation of greed (as opposed to innovation).
Civalia seems to offer a rationally derived ethic with a more consistent politic and economic structure.
There are appendices that explain the physics and economic aspects; most of the physics part I get - still that little part of entropy eludes me - the economics part: well I sure get that "positive feedback" might be an explanation for our bubble/bust economy but the practice in a "negative feedback" system eludes me.
AND, the fictional story kept me interested also. As is AS, the story is about applied rationality, most of the players are good people, the villains are bad, and the good guys win in the end. I would recommend this book to fans of Atlas Shrugged: the ethical system is more lived than explicit but much the same, the heroes are more realistic and less grandiose, the tragedy is less compelling but the outcome more possible.
I have never rated a book on GoodReads before and now that I see there is no place to offer a rating I'm wondering what will happen to this "review". I give it a rating of 4.5 stars.
September 16, 2020
Sci-fi cautionary novel – or as the author would have it, an alternative-future hard-science fiction – communicates a shift from conventional thinking to an alternative understanding of the numerous existential threats, including climate change and overpopulation, facing humanity (a paradigm shift), making our home uninhabitable. This can be summed up as entropy. Civalia (2020), offering a choice of the advantages of cooperative living versus competitive living, is a first novel by my friend Scott Morton – retired from a varied career as a ranch hand, building contractor, mechanic, professional engineer, UW professor of mechanical engineering, inventor (named on ten patents covering a wide range of fields), and author with hobby of restoring and displaying antique cars – who wrote on the title page: “Patrick and Nora, I may not be able to leave a better world, but I can leave a roadmap of a better path to get there.” The novel isn’t set in the far dystopian future or in outer space with exotic alien beings, so it’s not that kind of science fiction. On the inside of the cover page: “This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously… The science is real, and we ignore it at our peril.” As to the technology in Civalia, the bulk of it is available, though perhaps not fully developed; only one is plausible, not yet explored, the artificial shell material. At the end of the book are two appendices – “The Physics of Civalia” and “Civalia Economics” – along with a recommended reading list. In the preface, Scott as his alter ego writes: “On April 21, 1969, Ian McHarg, a landscape architect, recorded a radio program entitled, Is Man a Planetary Disease? Two years later he answered his question when he gave the 1971, B.Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture for the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, entitled Man: Planetary Disease.”
The engaging story completely captivated me with its diverse cast of appealing characters (with a few exceptions), reading sometimes like a how-to-build-an-intentional-community handbook told in a highly realistic, detailed account of on-the-spot reporting of dialogue and incidents that morphs into a crime drama of attempted murder followed by courtroom legal actions. In the novel the narrator gives his name as John Tantivy, with the nickname Seeker. (The word tantivy can be a noun or an adverb meaning “a rapid gallop or ride” or an exclamation “used as a hunting cry.” But the author intends an association with Jonathan Swift.)
The engaging story completely captivated me with its diverse cast of appealing characters (with a few exceptions), reading sometimes like a how-to-build-an-intentional-community handbook told in a highly realistic, detailed account of on-the-spot reporting of dialogue and incidents that morphs into a crime drama of attempted murder followed by courtroom legal actions. In the novel the narrator gives his name as John Tantivy, with the nickname Seeker. (The word tantivy can be a noun or an adverb meaning “a rapid gallop or ride” or an exclamation “used as a hunting cry.” But the author intends an association with Jonathan Swift.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews