Selected from Delta's seatback entertainment a documentary called Spaceship Earth about Biosphere 2. I had wondered why there hadn't been more data released on this project and this helped explain the dynamic.
What is going on with the funding of this project coming from a family who made their money in oil? When they have a quote from the ex-Goldman new leader Bannon talking about the opportunities of "carbon enriched" atmosphere and I'm not at all surprised this guy went on to be involved with problematic ventures like Cambridge Analytica and Breitbart news.
The emphasis on theater (improv?) first struck me as bizarre and cultish at first, but I could see how the idea of "yes, and..." coupled with a beginner's mind might be great for figuring out complex interdisciplinary projects if the alternative is to get domain experts in the room who are mostly focused on defending their ego. What if we took this idea of life being an act further? Similar to the Musk and other tech visionaries entertaining the Matrix-like idea that life is just a simulation. Would that free us up to make more mistakes and try more things?
Roy Walford struck me as a tragicomic character. It seems like he was onto something with caloric restriction and longevity, but to make these claims in his 60's about having half a life left just seemed like hubris. Then to die less than 2 decades later. I was annoyed by how much weight lifting he was doing while also seeming not to want to do the actual manual labor needed to feed the crew of the biosphere.
Bananas and whole foods plant based diets struck home. How crazy the adjustment to minimal refined sugar and even carbs must have been for these folks. They had animals, but it didn't seem like they would be able to eat them in any meaningful quantities. I wish they had talked more about that, about the "anecdata" they recalled even if their collected data had been lost in the leadership transition.
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