Polycrisis and Evolutionary Traps: The Humanity of Taylor Swift vs. Elon Musk, and the Power to Heal
By Patricia Burke of Safe Tech International, Image courtesy Floris Freshman
As the solstice approaches, for some, the laws of nature invite contemplation about the balance between yin and yang, darkness and light, will and surrender, and expansion and contraction. Many women (and informed men) recognize, already, that It’s time to question the lack of consciousness and care fueling the frenzied, domination-driven ‘race for space.’
(See One Million Satellites Planned, November 1, 2023; “As of December 31, 2022, the number of satellites being planned by 300 companies and governments exceeded one million”)
It is time to surrender to the errors of our ways.
The Reuters Investigation, Behind the Scenes Costs of SpaceX Rush to Mars, Moon, Militarization, and More Money
Prior to the recent November 18 SpaceX launch, Reuters published an investigation of workplace injuries associated with SpaceX’s quest to ‘save humanity by colonizing Mars.’
Trigger warning for sensitive individuals impacted by reports of harm to others:
Regarding SpaceX’s corporate carnage, Reuters reported, “Many were serious or disabling. The records included reports of more than 100 workers suffering cuts or lacerations, 29 with broken bones or dislocations, 17 whose hands or fingers were “crushed,” and nine with head injuries, including one skull fracture, four concussions and one traumatic brain injury. The cases also included five burns, five electrocutions, eight accidents that led to amputations, 12 injuries involving multiple unspecified body parts, and seven workers with eye injuries. Others were relatively minor, including more than 170 reports of strains or sprains.”
“After years of failing to report annual injury-and-illness statistics to regulators, some SpaceX sites started filing the data in 2021 or 2022. The data for 2022, which are more complete, reveal injury rates at three major SpaceX industrial facilities that far exceeded the space-industry average.”
“One severe injury in January 2022 resulted from a series of safety failures that illustrate systemic problems at SpaceX, according to eight former SpaceX employees familiar with the accident. In that case, a part flew off during pressure testing of a Raptor V2 rocket engine – fracturing the skull of employee Francisco Cabada and putting him in a coma.”
“The sources told Reuters that senior managers at the Hawthorne, California site were repeatedly warned about the dangers of rushing the engine’s development, along with inadequate training of staff and testing of components. The part that failed and struck the worker had a flaw that was discovered, but not fixed, before the testing, two of the employees said.”
“Cabada’s wife told Reuters the company has ignored the family’s attempts to find out why he wasn’t protected. “It would have been nice to get a call from Elon Musk,” Ydy Cabada said. ‘But I guess workers are just disposable to them.'” – Source
The Cabada family’s Go Fund Me page is here.
Taylor Swift and Grief
What does this have to do with Taylor Swift?
As noted in many news outlets recently, a fan died in excessive heat shortly before Taylor went on stage in Rio de Janeiro. She responded with apparent shock, grief, sincerity, and grace. Hollywood Life reported,
“Taylor Swift, 33, is mourning a fan who reportedly died at her Eras Tour concert at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Friday night. The singer took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message that revealed she learned about the passing and is “devastated” from the shocking news.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it is with her shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by by this,” Taylor wrote in her message. ‘There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.‘”
How does this contrast with the SpaceX corporate culture of harm to worker rights and human rights chronicled by Reuters?
SpaceX ‘It Was a Success‘
On November 18, a SpaceX launch didn’t go as planned. Business Insider: SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded again. Elon Musk’s Mars dreams remain grounded, for now. “SpaceX launched Starship and its Super Heavy booster toward space for the second time [] The rocket exploded again, but this time it came within seconds of completing launch. Elon Musk wants Starship to settle Mars. NASA wants it to put astronauts on the moon. But it has to fly first.”
Yet, on November 27, Motley Crew exclaimed, “Don’t Cry for SpaceX. The Starship Test Was a Success.” (“Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer.”)
“KEY POINTS
On Nov. 18, SpaceX blew up another Starship spaceship and its Super Heavy booster — but that’s just the start of the story.
SpaceX got Starship to fly twice as long as last time in Saturday’s test flight.
At this point, regulatory delays may be the biggest obstacle to SpaceX doubling Starship’s flight time all the way to 100% success.” – Source
SpaceX: Regulatory Delay is ‘the Problem.’
Reporting prior to the November 18 launch about the authorization process, the Spokesman Review noted, “[ ] delays have frustrated SpaceX. “[ ] we’d very much like the government to be able to move as quickly as we are. If you’re able to build a rocket faster than the government can regulate it, that’s upside down, and that needs to be addressed. So we think some regulatory reforms are needed.”- Tim Hughes, SpaceX’s senior vice president”
‘Mishaps are Part of the Learning Curve‘
On Nov. 21, Valley Central News reported SpaceX launch produces less litter and debris but is still harmful, environmentalists say. The article noted that there were no wildfires this time, and that the retaining wall for the launch pad held.
“In a statement posted to its website, SpaceX said this second flight “will provide invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship” and admitted that mishaps — including the loss of the spacecraft about four minutes into its flight — are part of the company’s learning curve.
Success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary. Data review is ongoing as we look for improvements to make for the next flight,” the company said.
But there were no wildfires from the blast, which Jim Chapman, president of Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, says is a vast improvement to the April 20 test flight, [] Chapman says he is concerned, however, if deluge water is entering the tidal flats or nearby protected lands of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. “You can’t discharge into wetlands without hurting it,” Chapman told Border Report.
Mary Angela Branch, a board member of Save RGV, says she is waiting to hear what will come ashore from the Gulf, since the rocket blew up so many miles from the launch site. [ ] several members from Brownsville and the town of Laguna Vista reported “’the thunderous launch was felt at their homes and one member said he thought his house was going to explode off of the slab.’” – Source
It’s Not Only About Employees, or the Vicinity of the Launches and Landings, and it’s Not Just About SpaceX: It is About ‘Evolutionary Traps and Polycrisis Dead Ends‘
Physics.org recently published the article New research maps 14 potential evolutionary dead ends for humanity and ways to avoid them noting, “The new study shows how humanity could get stuck in ‘evolutionary traps’—dead ends that occur from initially successful innovations. In a first scoping effort, they identify 14 of these, including the simplification of agriculture, economic growth that does not deliver benefits for humans or the environment, the instability of global cooperation, climate tipping points, and artificial intelligence.”
The article includes an example of an evolutionary trap – seabirds not being able to discriminate between marine plankton and marine plastics. “In classic evolutionary traps, organisms exhibit a preference for behaviour that lowers biological fitness through either survival or reproduction.”
While investors were reportedly impressed that SpaceX introduced a new fire suppression system for its recent launch, and that it was airborne before it blew up, where is the balancing oversight that examines the entire scope of impact?
Ozone? Noise? Clean Water?
Nina Beety spoke before the California Coastal Commission about SpaceX and aerospace hazards, including ozone, on Friday, November 17.
Another important contributor to the conversation about de-evolutionary trajectories is Paris Marx at Tech Won’t Save Us. In 2021, Paris interviewed Eric Roesch in SpaceX’s Regulatory Evasion Has Consequences. “Eric Roesch is an expert in environmental compliance and risk assessment who writes about the intersection of capitalism, markets and greenwashing. Eric wrote about the damage the Starship launch was going to have, SpaceX’s violation of the Clean Water Act, and Elon Musk’s general regulatory evasion. He also shared [] photos of the aftermath of the Starship launch.” – Source (You can follow Eric’s newsletter on Substack.” The interview of Eric by Paris is here. Support his work here.)
From the April 2023 article: SpaceX’s Regulatory Evasion Has Consequences:
Also, from November 16 Elon Musk is Above the Law Hot Rocket Water Rocks Out
Protecting What is Precious
The study reported in Physics.org about dead ends and evolutionary traps is Evolution of the polycrisis: Anthropocene traps that challenge global sustainability “We set three criteria for identifying a phenomenon as a potential Anthropocene trap: (1) that it can be described as evolving from an initially adaptive process; (2) that it, at the global level, shows signs of undesirable impacts on human well-being or has been hypothesized to show such signs in the future; (3) that it has a trapping mechanism that makes it harder to escape from negative impacts once this mechanism is activated.”
I have a theory about all of this. We need more compassion, and more consciousness.
I believe that Taylor Swift actually loves humanity as a whole, and many individual humans within her immediate circle.
I suspect if Taylor Swift had ten or more children, she would love them as much as she loves her cats, present in real time, in real relationships.
In contrast Elon Musk has taken humanity down a de-evolutionary path towards driverless vehicles because he abhors the idea of sitting next to a stranger on public transit.
We need heart-centered people making decisions about others who have the humility to sit with the pain that has been caused, and to address it.
Measuring Well-Being and ‘Stewardship of a Socially Inclusive and Biodiverse Planetary System‘
It’s a dangerous practice to put so much of the planet’s future in the hands of enabling investors who are caught in their own web of frenzied imbalance, free of conscience and accountability.
SpaceX reportedly already has four more rockets in the works. How else might that money have been spent? Adequate regulation. It could be spent addressing evolutionary traps, which are in fact de-evolutionary.
“For the question of whether modern societies can leverage their cultural evolutionary potential to avoid severe Anthropocene traps and move towards global sustainability, we define global sustainability as a trajectory or state where humans improve well-being through conscient protection and stewardship of a socially inclusive and biodiverse planetary system.” “Basic but sufficiently accurate measurements that capture ongoing social and environmental change are essential to detect and act on traps. Measuring human well-being and natural and social capital is essential here.” – Source
Those who are speaking to undesirable effects require a seat at the table. For example, see Call Me a NIMBY by Katie Singer; and Whales Could Save the World’s Climate, Unless the Military Destroys Them First by Koohan Paik Mander; and Family Injured By Cell Tower Radiation In Pittsfield Massachusetts concerning Courtney Gilardi and her community.
“Next-generation Starlink Internet Satellites are Larger and Heavier and Require Starship’s Greater Power”- Of Course They Do
“[ ] in addition to deep-space exploration, SpaceX also intends to use Starship to launch its next-generation Starlink internet satellites, which are larger and heavier and require Starship’s greater power. Starlink beams the internet to ground stations, allowing users in remote areas to connect to the web.” – Source
PLEASE DON’T FALL FOR IT. This is not for you or for me.
Unintended Consequences and the Ratchet
How Many Musk Enterprises Does It Take to Ratchet a Polycrisis?
“Maladaptation becomes apparent through negative impacts on human well-being, from incremental to catastrophic.” “Foresight involves enhancing our aptitude to predict both Earth system and social dynamics and depends on the ability to learn from available information gathered through measuring and monitoring what matters.”
Is a rocket ‘sustainable’ because it will eventually be ‘reusable’ after we destroy the ozone layer in the “learning” process?
Elon Musk refers to humanity as a multi-planetary species, but unless we stop, turn around, and start cleaning up the messes we have made here on Earth, do we have the right to assume that we can master living elsewhere?
A Case of Human Maladaptation: Artificial Light
“The concept of evolutionary traps has been used almost exclusively for studying how non-human species respond to cues in anthropogenic environments. Key examples include artificial human lights attracting insects, island species responding naively to the presence of introduced predators, and seabirds not being able to discriminate between the cues of marine plankton and marine plastics.” – Source
See the 3-minute video here on The Importance of Light by Quantum Biology Collective
While biologists caution that artificial light confuses insects, how is it that we have assigned Elon Musk the authority to preserve the light of consciousness on Mars?
Until we start recognizing and monitoring the effects of our pollution of the earth’s electromagnetic circuit, and until we start considering the effects of screens (which have become the primary manifestation of light for most of humanity, including children) we’re headed down that dead end street Taylor sings about.
Concerns about Musk are not limited to SpaceX; there are concerns about another Musk enterprise, Neuralink.
Not all of the responsibility for current challenges lies with Elon Musk, but his influence is extensive, and his actions are not indicative of a necessary course change.
Every consumer of satellite-related and wireless technologies, including GPS and cell phones, has the right and response-ability to question safety, for everyone, everywhere.
I’d like to think that if Taylor Swift were in charge of SpaceX development, that she would have already sat with the families of the dead and injured workers and called for corrective measures. I’d like to think that the satellite launches would be halted. I’d like to think that if Taylor were in charge of the FCC, that we would have already halted the misbegotten idea of a smart grid and wireless smart meters. I’d like to think that cell towers and 5G would not be installed.
Put a Woman in Charge
Keb’ Mo’ singing Put a Woman In Charge with Roseann Cash, with a reported 927K views:
“The time has come to turn this thing around.”
Read: Don’t Irradiate the Birds!, November 28, 2023 here: https://cellphonetaskforce.org/dont-irradiate-the-birds/
In terms of a classic evolutionary traps where “organisms exhibit a preference for behaviour that lowers biological fitness through either survival or reproduction” See also: Mobile phone use may affect semen quality A team from UNIGE and Swiss TPH has published a large study covering more than a decade of data on the effects of mobile phones on semen quality of young men.
Thank you for yet another brilliant and mukch-neeeded contribution to technological sanity!