Sunday, December 30, 2007

iBlackle to Fight Solastalgia

An article from Wired's January 2008 Issue by Clive Thompson mentions a new kind of depression - Solastalgia - the sadness caused by environmental change. Australia is suffering the most of it, the article writes. And it strikes me that Blackle, the original inspiration of iBlackle, hails from the land of Down Under. Even moreso that the man who coined the word solastalgia is an Australian.
As iBlackle's lone developer, I am neither Australian, nor am I Solastalgic, but I would like to make it clear that I feel the pain too. That's why I started iBlackle on a humorous vent 2 months ago.
Although iBlackle, as a parody - seems to be making fun of ecological websites, it maintains that the damage to our planet is no laughing matter.
In fact it stuck to my mind that John Doerr (the venture capitalist who inspired the developers of CO2Stats.com) literally cried at the end of his talk about the environmental crisis. Dude, he could be Solastalgic! Well, he cried out of passion, wherein I would have peed my pants out of nervousness when giving speeches.
The saddening environmental issues of our Planet is real and it is no joke. And that is why iBlackle is here: To counter the pain and misery caused by environmental damage, via the use of comedy and humor to at least quell the sadness, to educate the masses in ecological issues, and raise public awareness on environmental matters.
Do Not Be Sad: iBlackle is Here to Save the Planet and Fight Solastalgia!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great idea. The very idea of solastalgia is to first clearly identify it and then defeat it. You are also correct in seeing creativity, including humour, as the key to countering desolation and extinction. Have a look at my Blog on: http://healthearth.blogspot.com/
for more on the importance of defeating solastalgia.
All power to you.

Glenn Albrecht.

Anonymous said...

Glenn,

Thank You. More Power to you too! You got nice lyrics on your healthearth blog. Music is another arsenal in the Battle against solastalgia, and songs are very powerful in spreading awareness on how to save our planet. So keep up the song-writing thingie!
Oh, and by the way, I love the HealthEarth Logo and the concept behind it! Groovy, Baby!

- iBlackle Developer