| I think I've done my best to go all in. You can judge for yourself from the following timeline: 2008: After a couple grueling winters in Canada's oil field, I come to the conclusion that switching off fossil fuels is going to be the defining project of the coming century and that it might be the best place to apply my natural talent at math and science. 2009: Begin studying Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering (undergraduate program) with dreams of leveraging the clout an engineer has towards advancing the technology that underpins our way of life. 2014: Graduate, start looking for clean energy jobs 2015: Take a job in telecoms, continue trying to break into the renewable energy industry 2017: Give up on breaking into the renewable energy industry. Rethink my initial assessment that the limiting factor for switching off fossil fuels is brain power. Come to the conclusion that it's really lacking capital and initiative. 2019: Co-found a startup in the horticultural space, with ambitious plans to make local food and medicinals production easier whatever climate disruptions happen. Keep the day job to ensure reliable capital. 2020: Join a second greenhouse start-up in a less directly involved capacity. 2021: The first startup fails (not official yet, but my partner and I have agreed to pursue other projects). I tell people this and some say it sounds pretty depressing, but none of it has ever made me feel depressed. I guess I don't question that I'm doing my best, so I've never felt like giving up; though I've definitely had to acknowledge I was barking up the wrong tree a few times. Gordon White, whose work on this subject I follow, says it's important to distinguish the rescue mission from the salvage mission. There are aspects of modern life that are worth rescuing, but most are just worth salvaging, they're tools that can be used to get through the coming times. From that perspective, I've never felt particularly bad about taking part in modern society, because I see myself as getting out as many resources as possible for building what comes after. My attempts at building anything have so far been fruitless, but I don't feel as though I'm playing the wrong game as it were. Christianity has a similar sentiment, 'in this world but not of it', and that resonates as well. I participate in a modern western lifestyle, I even enjoy many aspects of it. But I don't think it's the only thing worth trying and I won't mourn its passing to the same degree as most. |