11:58: Civilization May Be on the Brink of Collapse, But It Can Still Be Saved

Author biographies are provided so that prospective readers can assess whether authors are qualified to write on the subjects of their books. From an orthodox perspective, there is little to suggest that Jeb Taylor is such an individual. However, orthodox perspectives are proving to be extremely unreliable, so perhaps it is time to consider alternatives. At a very young age Jeb recognized that technology was rendering civilization unsustainable, and began to rebel against it. This rebellion manifested itself in unusual ways. For example, when Jeb was 18, he spent a winter alone in the Alaskan wilderness teaching himself aboriginal survival skills. And the following summer he canoed down the Yukon River to learn additional skills from Athabaskan Indians. These efforts were expended largely because Jeb was convinced that the only way for humankind to achieve sustainability was to forego modern technology and revert back to more primitive life styles. Jeb spent much of the next 20 years in wilderness settings learning to live off the land-- relying on hunting, fishing, trapping, harvesting wild plants, and gardening to provide for his needs. This regressive approach even led him to spend part of a summer living in a rock shelter in northeastern Oregon where he pursued a largely stone tool existence. Interestingly, this site was later "discovered" and reported on as a potentially important aboriginal site in an archaeological journal. In time, Jeb realized that it was the irresponsible use of technology--not technology per se that was responsible for civilization's problems. He began to regard civilization as a risky evolutionary experiment whose ultimate success required that we learn to manage technology sustainably. We have clearly failed to do this. After careful consideration, Jeb concluded that the reason why we are failing is that managing technology sustainability requires a level of social awareness and sophistication that we are currently unable to attain--because we embrace socially conservative beliefs and traditions that will not allow us to. Change can be scary, but maintaining the status quo is actually a death sentence for civilization. Jeb wrote 11:58 in an attempt to encourage the adoption of more progressive and sustainable social attitudes and behavior--before it is too late. It might seem imprudent to trust someone who spent most of their life on the fringe of civilization to offer advice regarding its preservation. However, maintaining that distance enabled Jeb to develop objective perspectives and insights that few people ever experience. Besides, our social leaders are not providing us with meaningful guidance today--so it is definitely prudent to consider carefully conceived alternative perspectives.