THE TECHNOLOGY OF PARADISE

Acheron

In the inspirational novels offered on this website, Death of the Innovator and Triumph of the Innovator, the reader is presented with stories of an interdisciplinary genius who plans, in the first case, and builds, in the second case, a paradise on earth, via an efficient, renewable and harmonic technology enabling people to thrive healthy, wealthy and free.

Can fantasy be made reality?

At the outset, it is pivotal that all who read this article understand that we do not live on a planet with a free exchange of the best ideas-the book Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries by Jonathan Eisen proves that indisputably. Thus the first point that must be made is that any who share suppressed technological information with the public are literally risking their lives.

Even so, something must be done, so what follows are some gentle first steps to point out the best of what is already commonly available in the general direction of optimal technology.

It would be inspiring if we could simply turn to the educational programs which the people of planet Earth participate in, supposedly to create better citizens, to teach us such efficient technology, but clearly we cannot, as evidence shows clearly their minds and souls have been purchased. The proof of that assertion is shown by observing that the bulk of what is most essential to creating independent citizens-what you will read in this article, for example-is rarely, if ever, taught in schools. Any nation championing its gross national product over the health and independence of its citizens clearly reveals its true character. The two primary purposes of an educational system and ideal technology should be: one, to teach citizens to be healthy, and two, to teach them to live intelligently, independently, and sustainably, in total harmony with nature, on their own land. By these criteria, every educational system on earth is a failure. If we believe that no society can be considered responsible until it has truly mastered the best ideas of all humanity through history, especially regarding optimal health and independence, then what we are seeing is not only failure in educational programs, but irresponsibility. The paragraphs that follow shall build the case.

So let us now explore what an intelligent educational system could be like if it were to teach citizens responsibly. Pestalozzi, the famous educator, often spoke of the benefit of hands on education, as did Thoreau. Yet hands on education is rarely practiced, with a view towards turning out healthy, independent citizens.

Since the path to ideal health was already expertly tackled in Natural Healing Self Empowerment on this website, let us initiate ourselves on ideal technology in relation to thriving independence.

In Walden, Thoreau certainly offered an unprecedentedly clear focus on living wisely, hands on. After describing the angst of living in the middle of the 1800s, he writes: "Let us consider for a moment what most of the trouble and anxiety I have referred to is about, and how much it is necessary that we be troubled, or at least careful." He then suggests many men might have a greater chance of living a productive life if they were to drill air holes into toolboxes by the side of railroads, live there, wake up each day and go about their own preferred business without having to perform some mindless task they loathe simply to afford a bigger home. Even so, he proceeds to gather his own stones and build his own small home very cheaply, even itemizing the cost for us all, then living by a pond for about a year, thus showing that all the grief of a lifetime endured by those ever suffering from the anxiety of rent or mortgages can be made unnecessary. He never states his way was the only way or the ideal way, but it is prudent not to forget his example as we seek a better ideal.

One of the primary tasks of technology is indeed to build a home. So what are some of the best home building resources commonly available? Geodesic domes, as suggested in the Innovator books, are especially efficient-they enclose the most space with the least material, and are among the strongest of all building types, capable of withstanding fires (in the case of the argon pillow dome), earthquakes, and tornadoes. An overview of the works of R. Buckminster Fuller's technological efforts in this area appears in the book Buckyworks, and is a good introduction to geodesic dome thinking. From there, you may explore many practical options. In Germany a company called Bambutec offers an innovative geodesic building paradigm. They have their own proprietary technology for turning industrial grade bamboo, or spruce, or other materials, into geodesic structures, whose strengths can be analyzed via computer modeling. There are many geodesic dome framers out there if you scout the web. Check prices and options and choose.

Geodesic domes are but one of the many fantastic options in natural, cost effective construction. Adobe is a form of construction that simply uses earth and straw and other natural ingredients. Fireproof when using the right bricks, it used to be relatively weak, but in recent decades innovators have made special mixes that are waterproof, stronger, and durable, and as one adobe builder joked, you cannot fault the price-adobe is dirt cheap. Similar to adobe, compressed earth blocks offer an arguably even more effective building solution. You can either purchase a manually operated block maker for about a thousand dollars, or spend more for an automated one, but in each case, a machine can be provided into which is placed an appropriate mix of dry soil, clay with a plasticity index low enough such that it will not compromise the final material, and some aggregate. After an application of about 3,000 psi, compressed earth blocks are produced, with a comparable if not greater compression strength than similar building bricks. Homes constructed with compressed earth blocks often register a lower than ambient temperature, while the walls themselves are mold resistant, fire resistant, waterproof, and able to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. In some cases, structures may even be erected with unskilled laborers-with no mortar. Alternatively, Thomas Elpel talks about slip form stone construction techniques in Living Homes, while Charles Long believes he can outdo the slipform method with his own techniques mentioned in The Stonebuilder's Primer. Yet another option is a flank or prop home, where the dwelling runs longitudinally while abutting a wall of earth to provide free and effective insulation on that side. Others go even further to exploit natural insulation, and build earth homes totally buried underground, where the temperature is a steady 68 degrees.

All of these methods can be far more cost effective in providing sustainable shelter than traditional home buying.

Beyond the mere building of floors, walls and ceilings, it is also wise to consider the basics of construction in general. The old book publisher, Ortho Books, still has copies floating around of their old paperbacks, which are very useful introductions to many do it yourself construction techniques. Examples include How to Build Your Own Greenhouse, Basic Carpentry Techniques, Basic Masonry Techniques, Basic Plumbing Techniques, and Basic Wiring Techniques. It is practical to take the time to understand these basics, so you understand typical problems and methods used to solve them-you will thus be better able to appreciate any solutions later offered to you that are even more efficient.

Many of these more efficient solutions will inevitably pertain to new revelations from utilizing plain old rocks. We should never forget that no matter how sophisticated any technology might be, it all begins from something in the mineral, plant or animal kingdoms. The key to your success, therefore, is never really your money so much as your knowledge.

Regarding water, one should select a property with water or the ability to get enough water in to start a greywater system. You can plan to have a reservoir that feeds your house with all the water it will need for bathing and washing. After use the water can cycle to a pit to be distilled back to the reservoir, then sent through a slow or fast sand filter for home use. Drinking water can be obtained from a well or rainwater collection which is then also purified in either a slow or fast sand filter.

Composting toilets, such as the minimus, can enable homes to odorlessly recycle their own waste sustainably using humus and sawdust for example, and be built by the individual. As Buckyworks suggested, there are devices called Living Machines, that can recycle wastes for sustainable living in sufficiently large communities. Books on the amazing innovator Viktor Schauberger, like Hidden Nature, offer even more possibilities for sustainable living, mentioning copper gardening tools, special compost piles surrounding trees, and curved pipe water purification systems. Earth based sanitation also liberates you from dependency on others. Freedom is always best.

As for food, the great genius Jean Henri Fabre taught us that healthy soil has four primary elements: clay, humus, lime and sand. Clay allows plant roots to firmly anchor in the soil; humus provides nutrition for the roots, especially bacteria to fix nitrogen; lime allows lesser plant life to decay rapidly to humus, among other benefits; and sand allows for aeration. For those not close to seashores, sand can be homemade by crushing rock to dust, as rock ground to dust forms an ideal fertilizer, as described in greater detail in Natural Healing Self Empowerment. Rock crushed to various piece sizes can also form slow or fast sand filters to purify water. Gardens and miniature trees fertilized with rock dust can furnish plenty of foods. Miniature trees are about the size of a person, and grow normal sized fruits, but more frequently on the branches. So far the options include apple, pear, lemon, almonds, cherry, peach, plum, banana, orange, tangerine and fig!

Want glass for your shelter projects? Rocks like mica can occur in, or even be artificially be transformed into, a remarkable transparent form able to withstand higher temperatures than average glass. And with the right insights, limestone rock can not only be transformed into glass, but can form pozzolanic concrete, an especially durable and waterproof form of concrete.

Put simply, the revelations of rock powder are infinite!

Power generation often lies at the core of any efforts at independence. We hope to share some of the more amazing ideas on this subject, and special heating and cooling systems, when the time comes, but for now, note that if you google an article entitled, "Gardening as an Anarchist Plot", you can read of a man who powers his home via a relatively cheap solar panel, connected to a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery, which in turn feeds an inverter for devices requiring alternating current for operation. There are actually a multitude of sustainable power generating options suggested in Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries by Jonathan Eisen, so if you read that book you can begin to sense the possibilities. Hydrogen may be extracted from water, permanent magnet motors are possible, as well as earth batteries and implosion systems.

It is not only helpful, but also cheaper for you to understand as much as you can. It can be shocking to see how even the most basic aspects of technology can show signs of corruption. For example, in plumbing, many may choose to supply a water line to a house from a street with a smaller diameter pipe than they could, since it is cheaper-at least at first. The truth is that a smaller diameter pipe-basic physics-has greater resistance to water flow. "No problem!" many reply, "We just install an electrical pump that can make up for the lost pressure from resistance!"-yes, an electrical pump that must then be endlessly paid for, when a slightly more expensive initially, wider diameter pipe could have offset those costs forever!

While fires can provide sustainable natural heat, and ammonia systems-ammonia could conceivably be extracted from urine-can provide cold, there is a rather neglected invention that could be improved to attain efficient heating and cooling: the vortex tube. Present designs are based on feeding a stream of compressed air into a tube, which then spirals the air inside, creating a small vortex. With one end of the tube constrained, hot air can be expelled from one end, cold from the other. Presently max temperatures are usually about 350 degrees F for heating, and well below zero for cooling. Could modifications of vortex tubes be the key to amazing new heating and cooling possibilities? It seems all too likely. A vortex lies at the heart of water purification systems developed by Schauberger, as it does in power generation in some designs. The lure of the vortex is too potent not to be part of the technology of paradise.

Vegetable oil lamps, such as the classic olive oil, can always provide bright, nontoxic, sustainable, cheap light, if you can make your own wicks, or buy them. But the future of lighting will rely in the direction of neglected phosphorescent concepts found by Tesla and others, where lights shone brightly when struck by broadcast power as Vassilatos describes in Lost Science.

More than a century ago, the prophetic science fiction writer, Jules Verne, wrote a rather astonishing piece of fiction called The Mysterious Island. In the course of this amazing book, a group of US Civil War soldiers wind up as castaways on a deserted island. With an engineer to guide them, they practically reconstruct the essential history of technology on their island, beginning with fire, and working their way up to the telegraph. Imagine if every high school graduate was thus educated! What would all the insane politics of our species matter if all could be free on their own land, beholden to none? It is not as hard as you might think. In recent times, Kevin Dunn has made his own unique book on chemistry available for purchase on the web, called Caveman Chemistry. Going through that book is like taking the ideas from the children's chemistry book (available as a free downloadable pdf if you hunt for it on the web) The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments, combining it with The Mysterious Island, then going beyond!

Chemistry is not the only science one needs to understand for independence. Mechanics in general are certainly helpful. As mentioned in my article in the science section, The Challenge of Paradise, there are many excellent background books like Conceptual Physical Science by Paul Hewitt to introduce a person to basic science, but these science ideas can certainly be much enhanced by easy to read, strongly visual technology books like David Macaulay's The New Way Things Work. Electronics can certainly be just as essential as mechanics. You may wish to have fun with a book like There Are No Electrons by Kenn Amdahl before tackling a cheap book on basic electronics.

If you take all these preparatory steps, mastering the information provided in each case, you will be ready to tackle building the technology of paradise.

What would the technology of paradise be like? The great innovator, Viktor Schauberger, best describes the essence of ideal technology in one simple phrase: cold silence. The ideal technology must inevitably be the most efficient technology. Technology essentially involves taking energy in one form and transforming it into energy in another, more useful form. Typical engines take chemical energy and transform it into mechanical energy, for example, while generators may take mechanical energy and transform it into electrical energy. In all such transformations, the efficiency is measured by dividing the input energy by the output energy. There are many who mysteriously cheer when the efficiency of a technological system reaches as high as 40%, but such extreme losses are also indications of extreme friction, friction which most commonly manifests as heat or noise. Since the ideal running system would have the least heat and noise, we can say that the ideal technological system would operate in cold silence.

Showcasing the scope of plentiful possibilities for paradise, the book Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries, by Johnathan Eisen, and Lost Science, by Gerry Vassilatos, suggest that a new synthesis of physics ideas is possible, much like the actual synthesis of health ideas presented in Natural Healing Self Empowerment, and the imagined synthesis of Triumph of the Innovator. The clues of what we will see in this synthesis are already clear: we will have optimally efficient energy systems, providing water, sanitation, food, shelter, power, heat, cold, light, telecommunication and transportation in total harmony with nature. We will grow plants with rock dust, never using pesticides or herbicides, and likely gain water from the air--or the earth itself as some pioneers, like Stephen Riess, have already extracted massive volumes of water from rock. This water will be purified using Schauberger's insights. Innovative heating and cooling systems will do the same for air, relying on the power of negative ions, which promote dilated blood vessels, stabilized pH, increased blood alkalinity, strengthened bones, urination, stabilized respiration and breathing easier, decreased pulse rate, enhanced heart function, hastened physical recovery, calmed and relaxed nerves and healthy growth. Positive ions from too many electronics do the opposite.

Polytope Press is preparing the foundation for the technology of paradise by working on ten template files to initiate the spreading of the technology of paradise. These include the first ten items: precipitators, pluvions, purifiers, perions, plentifiers, pulverizers, pozzolani, pulsators, polarizers, and pharons. All of these are intended to accomplish the goals of the independent homestead with supreme efficiency. The speed at which the ideas are developed and spread depends directly on your support. But the concepts are ready now for development.

The end result will be nations of independent homesteads run by completely healthy families, unknown to poverty and disease, and uninterested in war.

And ultimately, the atomic theory presented here will be used to transform matter from one form to another, setting desired parameters with computer modeling.

We present more details on the technology of paradise, on the topics either lightly covered or not covered at all in this article, in the next article on The Template Economy, but in this article you at least have some of the best resources of all time for moving in a sustainable direction, a direction of harmony with nature.

With the foundation thus provided, let the building begin!

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