Pragmatism and Apocalypse

Am reading Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation Into Civilization's End by Lawrence E Joseph (ISBN: 978-0-7679-2448-1). It's an impressive book: Funny, inciteful, intelligent and well-researched. The best thing about it, though, is that Lawrence Joseph presents both the scientific AND the philosophical/spiritual arguments for cataclysm in 2012. In a word, his writing is pragmatic. Only six months ago I pooh-poohed the 2012 scare as just that - another scare. But now the fever grips me and I am...concerned. Fear is growing inside me.

We have three years til 12/21/12. That gives me three years to get my house in order. A goodly amount of time! Time to get in sound physical shape, to perfect my diet, to become a capable gardener, to get LittleFoot up and running, to gain additional rural/urban homesteading skills, to get my financial house in order, and to learn a skill that will allow me to make a living in the post-industrial world.

I'm already addressing several of these aspects, with more plans on the drawing board.

The iPhone

I bought my first cell phone (ever!) 3 weeks ago, and it has revolutionized my life. It is capable of doing so many things that it is best described as providing "All information at all times." It functions as a phone, camera, movie camera, scanner, GPS, video game console, level, flashlight, ruler, TV/movie monitor, Kindle ebook reader, MP3 player, internet browser, email interface, fuel economy gauge, currency converter, calculator, compass...the list goes on and on. It has voice recognition for Google internet searches. It turns spoken word into text. It scans barcodes and does automatic price comparisons. It provides directions and maps at the touch of a button. It tracks me live on maps as I drive around. I can send and receive text messages and voice messages with it. It is now one of my most prized survivalist tools. I predict that in a few more years, tiny cell phone-based notebook computers will replace laptop computers. I can't wait!