Dr. Timothy Morton will turn your notion of ecological awareness on its head. Discarding all cozy notions of being one with nature, he has coined the term “dark ecology” and advocates for an appreciation of one’s surreal, creepy connection with all other things. He dissolves the concept of nature and sees no clear line between life and non-life. Dr. Morton is the author of Ecology Without Nature and The Ecological Thought, but our conversation ranged far beyond ecology (assuming anything can, in fact, be beyond ecology). So shake your brain out of its torpor and brace yourself for a deluge of fascinating ideas and more than a few awesome metaphors. I can safely say this was one of the most challenging, thought-provoking, sometimes-bewildering, and totally fun conversations I’ve ever had in my life.

In terms of connections with other conversations, Tim questions the teleology of progress that has appeared, implicitly, in many conversations but most notably in my talk with Max More. He also questions assumptions about nature (and our relationship with it) that pop up in Peter Warren and Jan Lundberg’s conversations. You’ll find a multitude of other connections (his timeframe is akin to Alexander Rose’s) but, one of the most intriguing is that he takes issue with both the anthropocentrism of Max More and John Fife and the biocentrism of Chris McKay and Jan Lundberg.

What do you make of all this? The comment window below is begging for your thoughts.

Also, if you like this conversation, you should check out Tim’s blog. Could that red curtain in the background be some kind of Twin Peaks reference?