Clif Ware
@socioecowise.bsky.social
Retired emeritus professor of voice (singer, teacher, author); Socioecological philosopher--seeking a systemic understanding of humanity's relationship with the rest of the natural world in creating a sustainable future; Substack: hhttps://clifware.substac
How are you managing life in this supersized, overextended, multiple-scaled, and rapidly changing world? Individually and collectively, we need to rethink who we are, what we want, and where we are headed.
Spaceship Earth – A Metaphor for Our Planet and its Passenger-Caretakers
Life on a supersized, overextended, multiple-scaled, and rapidly changing world
clifware.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:21 PM
How are you managing life in this supersized, overextended, multiple-scaled, and rapidly changing world? Individually and collectively, we need to rethink who we are, what we want, and where we are headed.
This timely historical-fiction novel by Oliver Hawker features courageous WWII German resisters of Nazi authoritarianism, a theme currently under intense global scrutiny.
clifware.substack.com/p/the-ragged...
clifware.substack.com/p/the-ragged...
“The Ragged Edge of Night” – a True Survival Story by Olivia Hawker
A meaningful WWII story about heroic resistance and life under tyrannical authoritarianism
clifware.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:58 PM
This timely historical-fiction novel by Oliver Hawker features courageous WWII German resisters of Nazi authoritarianism, a theme currently under intense global scrutiny.
clifware.substack.com/p/the-ragged...
clifware.substack.com/p/the-ragged...
If you enjoy reading historical-fiction novels featuring interesting characters, threatening situations and conditions requiring courage and grit, this book by Oliver Hawker is for you.
“One for the Blackbird One for the Crow” – a Historical-Fiction Novel by Olivia Hawker
A story of sacrifice and survival in frontier America
clifware.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:04 PM
If you enjoy reading historical-fiction novels featuring interesting characters, threatening situations and conditions requiring courage and grit, this book by Oliver Hawker is for you.
This free downloadable book provides a cooperative perspective regarding the wise use of AI as a partnership in learning and communicating. clifware.substack.com/p/burnout-fr...
Burnout from Humans: A Little Book About AI That is Not Really About AI
Is developing a co-stewardship relationship with AI possible?
clifware.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:45 PM
This free downloadable book provides a cooperative perspective regarding the wise use of AI as a partnership in learning and communicating. clifware.substack.com/p/burnout-fr...
This post and a subsequent post present facts and perspectives about high-techs growing power in society, along with why and how it should be used wisely.
The Age of Humachines: Big Tech and the Battle for Humanity’s Future
An up-to-date perspective of modernity’s technological past, present, and unknown future
clifware.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:02 PM
This post and a subsequent post present facts and perspectives about high-techs growing power in society, along with why and how it should be used wisely.
This 7th post featuring topics relevant to Socioecological Polarization focuses on stages of human development, from egocentrism of childhood to the ecocentrism of wise humans concerned about sustaining life on spaceship Earth.
Socio-Ecological Polarization and Stages of Human Development, from Egocentrism to Ecocentrism
Socio-ecological cultivation of well-balanced human beings
clifware.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
This 7th post featuring topics relevant to Socioecological Polarization focuses on stages of human development, from egocentrism of childhood to the ecocentrism of wise humans concerned about sustaining life on spaceship Earth.
This Thanksgiving Day 2025, we Americans have an opportunity to ponder the full meaning and relevance of gratitude, for life and the positive contributions that all animate beings and inanimate entities provide in supporting our well-being.
Thanksgiving – a Time for Celebrating Gratitude
For life’s awesome wonders, abundant gifts, and positive opportunities!
clifware.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:03 PM
This Thanksgiving Day 2025, we Americans have an opportunity to ponder the full meaning and relevance of gratitude, for life and the positive contributions that all animate beings and inanimate entities provide in supporting our well-being.
Opposites abound in life, including in the political sphere with conservative (traditional; right-wing) and progressive (liberal; left-wing) representations. The Yin/Yang explanation of Eastern thought helps explain this phenomenon.
Socio-Ecological Polarization – the Integration of Opposites
Seeking a middle-ground balance between opposing conceptual and physical domains
clifware.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Opposites abound in life, including in the political sphere with conservative (traditional; right-wing) and progressive (liberal; left-wing) representations. The Yin/Yang explanation of Eastern thought helps explain this phenomenon.
Last week’s post featured negative Dark Triad personalities of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. On a positive note, this post features Light Triad personalities, which we need more of if we wish to overcome societal polarization.
Socio-Ecological Polarization and Light Triad Personalities
Understanding the thinking and behavior of positive personality types
clifware.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Last week’s post featured negative Dark Triad personalities of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. On a positive note, this post features Light Triad personalities, which we need more of if we wish to overcome societal polarization.
There’s a surplus of Dark Triad personality types making the news, many in powerful positions of government. Who do you think exhibits the three types of malevolent personalities?
clifware.substack.com/p/socio-ecol...
clifware.substack.com/p/socio-ecol...
Socio-Ecological Polarization and Dark Triad Personalities
Understanding the thinking and behavior of negative personality types
clifware.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:19 PM
There’s a surplus of Dark Triad personality types making the news, many in powerful positions of government. Who do you think exhibits the three types of malevolent personalities?
clifware.substack.com/p/socio-ecol...
clifware.substack.com/p/socio-ecol...
Societal polarization is largely the result of our thoughts and behaviors, as expressed through our personalities. This post addresses prominent personality types, particularly extroverts, introverts, and ambiverts. Which are you?
Socio-Ecological Polarization and Prominent Personality Types
Describing, identifying, and understanding the three principal personality types
clifware.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Societal polarization is largely the result of our thoughts and behaviors, as expressed through our personalities. This post addresses prominent personality types, particularly extroverts, introverts, and ambiverts. Which are you?
Polarization in society is the result of many interrelated factors, including beliefs, values, and behaviors – everything that makes us who we are, the combined products of inherited and acquired personality traits.
Socio-Ecological Polarization – Our Inherited and Acquired Personality Traits
Identifying and understanding complementary ways of thinking and acting
clifware.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Polarization in society is the result of many interrelated factors, including beliefs, values, and behaviors – everything that makes us who we are, the combined products of inherited and acquired personality traits.
The polarization we’re experiencing within society and the ecosphere is getting more apparent by the day. This post is the first of five addressing various aspects of socio-ecological polarization.
Socio-Ecological Polarization and Our Two-Part Brains
Understanding how our brains determine conservative and progressive traits
clifware.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The polarization we’re experiencing within society and the ecosphere is getting more apparent by the day. This post is the first of five addressing various aspects of socio-ecological polarization.
After a year of blogging, I’ve paused to thank readers who care about how we humans relate to the rest of nature in creating a sustainable future.
A Note of Appreciation to Readers
Thanks for your socioecological interest and constructive activism
clifware.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:10 PM
After a year of blogging, I’ve paused to thank readers who care about how we humans relate to the rest of nature in creating a sustainable future.
This post (No. 53: Our Socio-Ecological Predicament) is a one-year retrospective overview of the upstream drivers producing our growing metacrisis. Perhaps you will agree, or perhaps not.
Our Social-Ecological Predicament: A Retrospective
The ego-drivers of our predicament and appropriate eco-wise responses
clifware.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:59 PM
This post (No. 53: Our Socio-Ecological Predicament) is a one-year retrospective overview of the upstream drivers producing our growing metacrisis. Perhaps you will agree, or perhaps not.
This post (No. 52: Soil – The Foundation of Life) concludes a four-part series featuring the essential natural elements of air, water, and soil, a dynamic life-sustaining triad.
clifware.substack.com/p/soil-the-f...
clifware.substack.com/p/soil-the-f...
Soil – The Foundation of Life
From inertness to fertility and life energy
clifware.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
This post (No. 52: Soil – The Foundation of Life) concludes a four-part series featuring the essential natural elements of air, water, and soil, a dynamic life-sustaining triad.
clifware.substack.com/p/soil-the-f...
clifware.substack.com/p/soil-the-f...
Should we be concerned about the future of water? You bet. Chances are water will be far more precious than gold. clifware.substack.com/p/water-curr...
Water – Current and Future Prospects (Part 2)
Transforming from harmful water-use and scarcity to conservation, restoration, and regeneration
clifware.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Should we be concerned about the future of water? You bet. Chances are water will be far more precious than gold. clifware.substack.com/p/water-curr...
“Water, water everything, but not always fit to drink”, a play on a familiar phrase from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798) seems appropriate for this post. Will future wars be fought over this precious life-sustaining substance?
Water – Lifeblood of the Earth (Part 1)
From a flourishing world of plenty to a declining world of scarcity
clifware.substack.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
“Water, water everything, but not always fit to drink”, a play on a familiar phrase from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798) seems appropriate for this post. Will future wars be fought over this precious life-sustaining substance?
Air, a common natural element shared by all lifeforms, is increasingly being affected by human-produced pollutants that harm the health and wellness of all earthly beings and things. How can we respond?
Air – The Breath of Life
Polluted air and its pervasive impacts
clifware.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Air, a common natural element shared by all lifeforms, is increasingly being affected by human-produced pollutants that harm the health and wellness of all earthly beings and things. How can we respond?
2025 has proven to be another exceptionally warm year globally, a continuing confirmation of climate-change’s effects, including extreme weather events – heat, wildfires, floods, and droughts.
A World on Fire – The Climate Crisis Accelerates
Understanding and responding to a growing human-caused predicament
clifware.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
2025 has proven to be another exceptionally warm year globally, a continuing confirmation of climate-change’s effects, including extreme weather events – heat, wildfires, floods, and droughts.
The ultimate source of “Beauty” (quality, value) is found in Nature, in all of its manifestations. This post presents several poems referencing our symbiotic connection with the rest of Nature.
Notable Poems – The Synergy of Humans in Nature
Expressions of wisdom from eco-centric poets
clifware.substack.com
August 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The ultimate source of “Beauty” (quality, value) is found in Nature, in all of its manifestations. This post presents several poems referencing our symbiotic connection with the rest of Nature.
How do we humans relate to the rest of Nature? Here are some words of wisdom from eco-centric humans.
Notable Quotes – The Synergy of Humans in Nature
Words of wisdom from eco-centric humans
clifware.substack.com
August 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
How do we humans relate to the rest of Nature? Here are some words of wisdom from eco-centric humans.
Developing a “big picture” systemic understanding of life requires the expansion of an individual’s “worldview box”. The quantitative and qualitative dimensions of contents determine how we humans negotiate life’s many challenges.
Developing a “Big-Picture” Worldview
Using an outside-the-box, wide-angle systemic lens
clifware.substack.com
August 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Developing a “big picture” systemic understanding of life requires the expansion of an individual’s “worldview box”. The quantitative and qualitative dimensions of contents determine how we humans negotiate life’s many challenges.
The extent of ignorance experienced today, especially in the U.S., is demoralizing to a majority of citizens. It’s also influencing dangerous trends in all areas of life, from polarized social issues to increasing ecological harms. This post addresses this issue.
A Little Learning (or Too Much Ignorance) Can Be a Dangerous Thing
How our knowledge and beliefs affect our socioecological predicament
clifware.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 2:35 PM
The extent of ignorance experienced today, especially in the U.S., is demoralizing to a majority of citizens. It’s also influencing dangerous trends in all areas of life, from polarized social issues to increasing ecological harms. This post addresses this issue.
Some material growth is very harmful, especially when considering long-term timeframes. Thankfully, there are also many examples of beneficial material growth.
Material Growth – Both Harmful and Beneficial
Bad and good material forms that shape behavior
clifware.substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Some material growth is very harmful, especially when considering long-term timeframes. Thankfully, there are also many examples of beneficial material growth.