Theses & Desiderata for a Physical-Material SONGS Infrastructure

Symbol: Photovoltaic Cell

Theses:

Communications networks continually and crucially “carry” cultural developments and individual possibilities in them for better or worse.
In a non-dystopian future, sustainable communications networks will inevitably be constructed (“sustainable”= made with and powered by materials with minimal negative impacts on humanity along with its environment according to the best available metrics).
In a non-dystopian future, individuals and communities locally and globally will be able to choose to access and build sustainable communications networks (or not) according to their own needs and purposes.
In a non-dystopian future, maximally collaborative and minimally harmful congruences of individual/local/spiritual-intellectual cultural resources and communal/global/physical-material cultural resources will be sought, prioritized, and implemented.
The understanding of “non-distopian” has to be worked out as an ongoing collaborative self-reflective effort involving the sciences, arts, and humanities.

Desiderata:

Disengage existing communications networks from fossil fuels and connect to power sources driven by renewable energy (i.e. zero carbon) as expeditiously as possible (according to the best available metrics & technologies).
Make affordable sustainable communications networks, optimally compatible with existing and future ones, more accessible and buildable both to individuals and diverse global populations.
Continue to develop sustainable building and powering materials (batteries, antennas, etc.) driven by renewable energy sources and innovative uses of the radio frequency spectrum for smaller- and larger-scale communications networks that remain adaptable to change.
Continue development of a humanist and STEM-based “metrics” to assess shorter- and longer- term economic costs and other efficiencies involved in transitioning to sustainable communications networks.

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