18. Tools
Scientific Method
• Disposing Pre-conceived notions and filters in
favor of…
“facts?”
19. Tools
Terms and Analysis
• Describing Time Spans
– Human History versus Facebook History
• Making Inferences
– Things at the bottom are older
• Classifications
– Things that are similar can be grouped together
21. Tools: Inferences
Sparkly Words
Geologic Features
• Layering
• Group layers into 11 “periods”
– No dinosaurs in last 2 periods
• Chemical Decay Rates
22. Tools: Time spans
Sparkly Words
Describing Geologic Time spans
• Looking at early “records” of Earth, we label
increasingly refined segments
• SuperEon > Eon (4) > Era (10) > Period (22)
– Epoch (7 in the last two periods)
23. Tools: Classifications
Sparkly Words
Taxonomic Classifications
• Species
– All humans alive today are one species because they constitute a
group of individuals that could breed with themselves but not with any
other group.
24. Tools: Classifications
Sparkly Words
Taxonomic Classifications
PRIMATE
Old World
Monkey
Hominid
Hab
• It can go like this then:
Sapi
ilis
ens
Au
Homo
• Species
• Groups of Similar Species = GENUS
• Groups of Groups of Similar Species = FAMILY
• Groups of Groups of Groups of Similar Species = ORDER
• etc
25. Tools: Classifications
Sparkly Words
Taxonomic Classifications
• One sign of life versus another
– How does it relate? What’s similar?
– What’s different?
Phylum Spinal cords Chordate
Class Live birth; nurse Mammal
Order Looks “monkey-like” Primate
Family Looks “great ape” Hominid
Genus Looks “human” Homo
Species Humans Sapiens
26. Tools
Sparkly Words
Fossils
• No bones…only stones
• Locations
– Siberia
– BC
– Australia
– Texas
– Utah
– Scotland
– Etc
What do they have in common?
27. Tools
Sparkly Words
Extinction Level Event (ELE)
“major mass extinctions far exceeding
background extinction rate”
28. Terminology, Classification, Inferences
are tools used in discussion of extinction and
can be reused to think critically, discover and discuss
our vulnerability to it
29. Tools
Which is it?
• WE are vulnerable to extinction
– NO!
• We are vulnerable to extinction
– NO!
• We are vulnerable to extinction
– YES!
31. Frame
Earth as a Project
First 88 % of earth’s history
• Requirements Hell
– molten requirements swirled
• Alpha
– continental mockups formed
• Dogfood
– the earliest friendly users were introduced
– atmosphere provided, etc
Ends: microscopic hard-shelled users arrive
32. Frame
Earth as a Project
• Requirements
• Alpha
• Dogfood
• Early Adopters
• Power Users RC1: Early Adopters
Fish,
• Noobs Arthropods
Amphibians
Reptiles
33. Frame
Earth as a Project
• Requirements RC1: Early Adopters crashed a lot
• O-S extinction event:
• Alpha •
•
27% of all families
57% of all genera
• Dogfood • D-C extinction event:
• Top spots were all traded throughout the
• Early Adopters last half: Fish, arthropods (things with
shells), amphibians and reptiles
• Power Users • 19% of all families
• 50% of all genera
• Noobs • 70% of all species
34. Frame
Earth as a Project
• Requirements
• Alpha
• Dogfood
• Early adopters
• Power Users
• Noobs RC2: Power Users
archosaurs dominate
RC3: Power Users Redux
dinosaurs rule
35. Frame
Earth as a Project
• Requirements
• RC 2 “Great Dying”
• Alpha • Out: Mammal-like reptiles
• 57% of all families; 83% of all genera
• Dogfood • In: Archosaurs, Therapsids Large Amphibians
• Early adopters
• Power Users • RC 3 “Dawn of Jurassic”
• Out: Archosaurs; Therapsids; Amphibians
• Noobs • 23% of all families; 48% of all genera
• In: Dinosaurs
36. Frame
Earth as a Project
Most recent 1.5 % of earth’s history:
• Requirements
RC4 becomes v1.0
• Alpha Tropical period heading for cooling
• Dogfood Small users prosper, fauna diversify
• Early adopters v1.1:
Mammals and birds revised
• Power Users Introduction of “Hominids”
• Noobs v1.2:
Introduction of “Homo” (Humans)
37. Frame
Earth as a Project
• Requirements
• RC4 Mass Extinctions
• Alpha – Dinosaurs out
– Mammals in
• Dogfood • 17% of all families
• Early adopters • 50% of all genera
• 75% of species
• Power Users
• Noobs
44. ELE
The Story So Far
• Species go extinct
…which is advantageous for other species
45. ELE
The Story So Far
• Extinction takes a while
…or does it?
46. ELE
The Story So Far
• Mass Extinctions are not 100% across species
• Mark the transitions from span to span
• Data incomplete
…is that supposed to make me feel better?
if “me” = “humans” maybe not….
47. ELE
The Story So Far
• We care about extinctions because we are
only one species
…We may just go in a background extinction
48. ELE
The Story So Far
• Extinctions don’t destroy the environment
…the Earth persisted through all ELE we can detect
50. ELE
Questions
• Do you personally know how much and in
what way we depend on other species?
…direct use of a dozen varieties
of plants and one or two meats
…but what does it take to
support those?
51. ELE
Questions
• How many species here?
…Human Biome Project
shows 10,000 +
53. ELE
Questions
• How much control do you think we (as a species)
have over:
• favored terrain
• atmosphere
• food supply
• our own bodies?
…40% of humans poop outside
not even a bucket…
54. ELE
Questions
• Will we adapt fast enough to react to a
sudden event?
• What does “sudden” even mean?
0.00000004 %
…will it matter?
55. ELE
Adaptation
The Ron White Factor
• “There was a guy down in Florida who
said that, at the age of 53 years old, he
was in good enough physical condition
to withstand the wind, rain and hail of
a force-3 hurricane.
• “Now, let me explain somethin’ to ya:
it isn't that the wind is blowin’, it's
what the wind is blowin’.
• “If you get hit by a Volvo, it doesn't
matter how many sit-ups you did that
morning.”
59. What Then Must We Do?
Reuse
Conserve Recycle
Rechargeable
Vegetarian Work out
Give, not toss
Multi-use devices
Solar-powered car Values
Garden Prejudices
Buy locally
Paperless
Sustainability
Telecommute
Go natural ZPG
Challenge your beliefs
Think Critically.
Discover & Discuss.
66. Append
About Kakapos (Strigops habroptila)
• Critically Endangered, giant, nocturnal parrot
• It is a classic example of evolution on an isolated island
• The only flightless parrot in the world
• It is also the largest parrot known
• It is possibly the longest-lived
• Mossy green plumage mottled with brown and yellow
• The face is owl-like and framed with modified whisker-
like feathers
• The scientific name habroptila means ‘soft feathers’
• Has no indigenous predators and so “doesn’t worry”
68. Append
Making a Difference
One day an old man was walking along the Soon afterward, the man came upon a
beach. It was low tide, and the sand small child on the beach who was
was littered with thousands of stranded frantically throwing one starfish after
starfish by a rare minus tide. another back into the sea. The old man
The man began walking very carefully so as stopped and asked the child, "What are
not to step on any of the beautiful you doing?“
creatures. Since the animals still "I'm saving the starfish," the child replied.
seemed to be alive, he considered "Why waste your time?... There are so
picking some of them up and putting many you can't save them all so why
them back in the water, where they does it matter?", asked the man.
could resume their lives. Without hesitation, the child picked up
The man knew the starfish would die if left another starfish and tossed the starfish
on the beach's dry sand but he back into the water... "It matters to this
reasoned that he could not possibly one," the child said.
help them all, so he chose to do
nothing and continued walking.
69. Append
Year of Living Dangerously
Billy Kwan, seasoned freelance photo-journalist based in Jakarta, Indonesia
Guy Hamilton, Journalist, neophyte, foreign correspondent from Australia
BILLY: And the people asked him, saying, what shall we do then?
GUY: What's that?
BILLY: It's from Luke, chapter three, verse ten. What then must we do? Tolstoy asked the same question. He wrote
a book with that title. He got so upset about the poverty in Moscow that he went one night into the poorest
section and just gave away all his money. You could do that now. Five American dollars would be a fortune to
one of these people.
GUY: Wouldn't do any good, just be a drop in the ocean.
BILLY: Ahh, that's the same conclusion Tolstoy came to. I disagree.
GUY: Oh, what's your solution?
BILLY: Well, I support the view that you just don't think about the major issues. You do whatever you can about
the misery that's in front of you. Add your light to the sum of light. You think that's naive, don't you?
GUY: Yep.
BILLY: It's alright, most journalists do.
GUY: We can't afford to get involved.
