A Sustainable Society in Real Time

In this episode, we explore what it might actually feel like to live in a sustainable society in daily life.

Would we be a population of slimmer people?
Would hypertension become a thing of the past?

The effects of a sustainable society may be subtle—but over time, even the work we do may begin to carry an added dimension.

We also consider how tools like AI might help manage abundant complexities, while keeping human stewardship at the center.

In the end, the most meaningful aspect of a sustainable world may be the opportunity to take part in maintaining it.

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Question

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My name is Todd Francis. Welcome to It's Sustainability Time, the podcast where we endeavor to challenge the future. So this podcast is all about sustainability. Welcome to you from the glorious Connecticut Shoreline. Beautiful day here. Hope all is well with you across the USA and across the world, around the world. And I keep coming very quickly to one thought, which is what does it actually look like to live in a sustainable society? What's the experience like? More than just the air, more than the food, more than the water. What does it feel like to wake up and go to work with a sustainable society around you?

Healthier Bodies Through Better Systems

SPEAKER_00 0:55

My thoughts say that the first thing that you would notice is the size of the people. We'd be lighter people, all of us would be slimmer, trimmer, leaner, meaner, healthier. Not because they're trying harder to maintain themselves weight wise, not because they're watching their portions better, not just because they're cutting down in between meal snacks. It's something else, deeper. It's because the systems around them are different. More support of everything does more to support interest in a healthy diet, interest in not overconsuming. Quality food is more accessible.

Work Stress Shapes Everyday Choices

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Work environment, first of all, might seem very different. Less constant pressure, more aligned with daily life. Sleep might be more consistent, regular movement might be built into the day. Over time, those small differences begin to add up. It's not about individuals being more determined, being stronger. It's about systems that are more supportive. Under pressure, tight deadlines, long hours, unpredictable schedules lead to stress that shows up in eating, but also shows in many other aspects of our lives. Many. Stress is a large determinant in a great many things, including who you determine to spend the rest of your life with. But if a work environment is more responsive, more aware of what we actually need to function well, stress comes down. Other habits grow in its place. Habits, opinions, beliefs, concerns, wants, likes and dislikes, these habits will begin to shift naturally slowly, not all at once, but gradually, to a place where you might drop into a sustainable society not recognize anything. When asking you to be overly judgmental about the things that are around you, the post office, your government, the church, law offices, market. You don't have to fight against these environments. We're saying that these environments need to come aboard and do more, be more to support better outcomes for all of us, for humanity. Must be more entwined with who we are, not try to lead us into becoming something else. We will work, we will produce, and they be added characteristic to our work, contributing to a more sustainable future, and supplying us with health. So all of these jobs are professions, part-time to full, they begin to align with each other, but become various contributors to our health now and the future. Part of a sustainable society, different roles share direction.

Why AI Is Needed At Scale

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Okay, so stopping pulling back for a second, let's say something that might be disorienting. Listening so far to obvious sense. My next comment is that I don't think that the whole sustainable future process in a country as large and the United States as the United States, 300 million people plus, on that scale, I don't believe such a society can come about without AI. You can live sustainably, I can live sustainably, we can be sustainable influences on a great deal. We can come together and have proper legislation, we can have proper activity, but all the things to hold a nation together sustainably will have to have data support. There's a lot to manage, so many inputs, too much to verify as going in the right direction if we're going to coordinate it all, so much perspective to be brought together by so many misaligned forces across the United States. So much to manage, so many parts moving across different regions, so many interests, so so many inputs, so much data, so many moving parts across different regions, industries, systems. There's so much going on to achieve true sustainability. We have to have, let's not even let's not call it accountability, let's call it a form of transparency, which has no politics related, which has no belief that there's a need to have a watchdog upon this. Just actual management has to be some level of transparency concerning all of the data that needs to be held together to maintain a sustainable nation in this fair land and beyond it. AI takes a lot of data, puts it together very quickly, and sees a great deal more than we can alone. Small societies have lived sustainably for eons. About 300 million people plus, I'm not too sure about that. Difficult to manage. If we're on the same page and believe in each other, living sustainably, we can produce something which is meaningful. Difficult thing to manage. You tell me how it can be done. So AI, it can organize complex databases, identify patterns across systems, it can help match people to opportunities, identify patterns across large systems, difficult thing to do for us with paper. Difficult thing to do. AI cannot define who we are, it cannot be the inspiration for us moving forward, it cannot inspire us to be cohesive. They can't tell us great many things, how to frame this discussion. They can't define us, which is important. All that still belongs to people. And here is here so leading us leading us to leading us to maintaining sustainability has to be resilient, must be maintained. The system cannot drift. A sustainable future does not drift, it's it's maintained.

Sustainability As A Maintained Path

SPEAKER_00 8:52

We cannot fall back on older patterns unless they're good ones. Sustainable societies, we have to, we must have ongoing awareness of the positives and negatives. We have to have ongoing coordination with goals that we care to obtain. Make adjustments where required, and we have to respond to things that don't work. Sometimes we get to use, we start to use language such as war, the war on the war against poor environment, the war against poor nutrition. These contain a sense of urgency, certainly, but they also can shape how we think about certain how we think about our environment. Toxins to remove instead of potentials to explore and expand. Sustainability is not starting with conflict, it's not conflict in the center, it's not conflict at the end. It's the points of adjoinment of what sustainability is, it's the lifefulness between us. It's about improving how our system functions. It's the next step to how we influence the change, it's the next step to how we approach the issue. War or even fight may not be the best perspective from which to start. So when you step back and think about all of this, something comes very clear, something comes into focus. Sustainability is a consistent, it's a pathway, it's a trail. Always, it's a yellow brick road starting from the first step. Your very first step is part of the yellow brick road. Positives to explore and move forward. The best part, I have concluded, the best part of living in a sustainable future is being part of one, is being part of the work to sustain it and push her forward. The best part of living in a sustainable future, what an epiphany. What's it going to take to live this way? Of course, more resounding interaction with the people, more thoughtful institutions that do more to support the better sides of us. And that is the thing that is so pleasing to me about it. Is we can be part of it right now, be a sustainable person, live a sustainable life, find ways to feel yourself prosper every day. Sounds like a good sounds like a good thing to me to do. I've enjoyed your presence, enjoyed your company.

The Joy Of Building It Now

SPEAKER_00 11:59

I have a book coming out very soon. I'll tell you what it is next week. Have a great sustainable day out there, a great sustainable future. Build one for yourselves and your children, everyone's children. And we'll see you next time.