You have to keep on hacking

There's a really interesting article at the NY Times about Steward Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog (which led to the famous WELL BBS) and is the coiner of the phrase "Information wants to be free".

The article describes how Brand has become a heretic in the environmental movement that he helped found, as he is a proponent of technologies such as nuclear power and genetic engineering, and he believes that "mainstream" environmentalism will start to embrace such ideas within the next 10 years.

Mr. Brand divides the environmental movement into two camps - the romantic camp and the scientific camp. At the end of the article, there's this:

Ultimately, there’s no safety in clinging to a romanticized past or trying to plan a risk-free future. You have to keep looking for better tools and learning from mistakes. You have to keep on hacking.

The article is well worth a read.