Hey everyone! We’re all here because you promised to explain what this new project is about, right?
Semuu…
Looking forward to it.
Alright, let’s begin with the basics: What exactly is the environmental problem?
To be honest, for a long time, whenever I heard the word environment, it felt… distant. Like someone else’s problem.
It was vague. I didn’t have the words—or the confidence—to say what needed to be done.
Yeah, same here. People keep saying the planet’s in trouble, but it’s hard to know what exactly we’re supposed to do.
In construction, they say energy-saving standards will soon be mandatory. The government’s pushing toward decarbonization.
Exactly. There’s no doubt humanity has reached a point where we need to take this seriously—together.
But think back—when we were kids, they were already talking about saving energy, weren’t they?
Yeah, I remember hearing about energy issues, overpopulation… It’s been decades. Hasn’t it gotten any better?
Not at all. Quite the opposite.
Since the 1970s, when we were kids, global energy use and population have more than doubled.
Why? Because our modern world runs on two things:
1.A system called capitalism, which can’t stop growing.
2.A modern mindset I call the Ideology of Division and Shifting Burdens.
And right now, scientists warn that Earth is approaching a tipping point—a threshold beyond which damage becomes irreversible.
So… capitalism’s the villain here?
Not entirely. Capitalism brought us wealth and comfort. But there’s a core problem:
It’s said that the system needs to double in size about every 20 years just to stay afloat.
Like a runaway train—it can’t stop.
Look at the data: GDP, energy use, population… they all show the same relentless growth.
Our World in Data のチャートで見る
▲世界GDPの推移
▲世界の直接一次エネルギー消費量の推移
▲世界人口の推移
But maybe technology will save us. Capitalism drives competition, which drives innovation. Maybe new tech will solve everything.
Yes, we need technology.
But to keep up with this exponential growth, we’d need a technological revolution as big as the Industrial Revolution every few decades… then every 20 years… then every 10…
It’s simply impossible. And behind this whole crisis lies the Ideology of Division and Shifting Burdens.
Division and… shifting burdens? What’s that?
I see environmental problems as having two sides:
1.A practical side: resources, energy, the economic system itself.
2.And a philosophical side: the cracks in modern thought.
The Ideology of Division and Shifting Burdens belongs to the second side—the philosophical one.
Next, I’ll explain what it means.
Semuu… (I just wanna start building already…)
When we say environment, the discussion often jumps to energy or emissions.
But our way of thinking—the mental lens through which we see the world—shapes how we approach problems.
Before talking about solutions, we need to ask:
- What mindset created this modern worldview?
- How does it relate to the environment?
That’s why the story begins with philosophy—so we can see the roots of the problem before jumping to fixes.